New Puzzler, 9/13/97: Re-FUSING to fix the brakes
RAY: A customer shows up at the garage the other day, an elderly gentleman who's got an old car. He says, "gee, my car is really running lousy. I need some of that fuel system additive that you guys sells." We have this stuff, I don't know who makes it. It's composed of like lizard lips and newt eyebrows.
TOM: Lepo galls.
RAY: Lepo galls and a variety of volatile organic compounds.
TOM: Oyster shells.
RAY: Oyster shells.
TOM: And vinegar.
RAY: So I sell him a can of this stuff, which he is going to put into his gas tank, and I'm not really listening. He says it's running lousy. It's getting terrible mileage. I need to do something. He says, "what do I do with this stuff?" I say well, "you put it in and you fill the tank up with gas and you drive it." So he does it. He says, "is this going to help my terrible mileage? It says it diesels when I shut it off. I need to do something. I can't afford to really fix it. Will this work?" I say, "I don't think so." But he buys it anyway, and off he goes. Several hours later he calls me up. He says, "I've been driving the car all day." He said, "as luck would have it, I had a bunch of errands to run. But I have been in stop and go traffic on the highway for the last hour or two." I said, "yes, yes, and the car is fixed?" He says well, "I don't have any breaks. My breaks have failed. The pedal went down to the floor. It's being towed in. It won't get there before you close, but you will find it tomorrow morning." So sure enough...
TOM: This is thrilling already.
RAY: Anyway, we arrived the next morning to find his car with the keys under the mat. I tell one of my guys, "check out Ed's car, pull the thing in. But be careful because I think he blew a brake line or something." Twenty minutes later he hands me the keys and he says...
TOM: It's all fixed.
RAY: "It's all fixed." I said, "what did you do?" He said, "I replaced the fuse." I said, "you moron. The guy had no brakes."
TOM: Whooa, this is getting better and better.
RAY: He says, "I will repeat. I replaced a fuse, and the car is fixed." Indeed, it was.
TOM: Wow, pretty good, huh.
TOM: Wow.
RAY: Which fuse did he replace? Which number?
TOM: And was it...
RAY: How did replacing a fuse fix Ed's car?
[ Car Talk Puzzler ]
