Kent's Exploding Ford Aerostar

TOM: It's hot. The question is, what happened to the car, and the hint is that it's June.

RAY: June, and the muffled bang.

TOM: This is more than a muffled pop. It's a bang.

RAY: This called into play all kinds of different pieces of knowledge.

TOM: It's June. It's hot. It's Texas.

RAY: It's June. It's hot, and he has the air conditioner on.

TOM: Of course.

RAY: And when he's driving along the high pressure hose from the air conditioner compressor blows; filling the engine compartment with what? Refrigerant.

TOM: Refrigerant. R-13.

RAY: R-13A, 134A, and it blows all the oxygen out of the engine compartment. Because it comes out in such a huge volume and such high pressure, it displaces all the oxygen necessary for combustion, and of course the freon—

TOM: And the engine stalls.

RAY: — is not supportive of combustion and the engine stops running.

TOM: Wow.

RAY: As soon as he opens the hood, the stuff has a chance to dissipate. He sees the broken hose—

TOM: This is going to cost a lot to fix.

RAY: This is going to cost some serious money and of course he closes the hood and drives off.

TOM: I like it.

RAY: And he makes a hole in the ozone layer.

TOM: Kent himself, personally, is responsible for a little bigger hole in the ozone layer.

RAY: Another pin hole in the ozone layer that's making our temperature go up here in greater Boston, and I thank you Kent. You're doing—

TOM: A great job.

RAY: A great job. Who's our winner?

TOM: The winner is Donald Miller from New York, New York.

[ Car Talk Puzzler ]