Tom and Ray debut a new way to spot stupid people: the "I'm Stupid" sign.
Ben Brackett , New Hampshire - 1979 Volkswagen Rabbit
A windchill question. His girlfriend says you need to account for wind chill factor dealing with car in the winter. Is this true? Tom and Ray think she's nuts--the temperature is what matters, not how cold it feels.
Sonja Seattle, Washington - 1984 Saab 900
An ignition question. The drive shaft fell apart, and a CV joint fell on the ground. She had it towed and fixed, but now it's hard to turn the key and the lights are staying on. Likely something got jostled in the tow--may be a motor mount, or something in the shift linkage.
Frank Lato , Minnesota - Volvo
When it's warm, the car has a hard start, rough idle, then stalls. It re-starts just fine. He's also getting black smoke. He has a leaky injector, which needs to be replaced.
Deborah Bubkley Ann Arbor, Michigan - 1982 Toyota Corolla
She had clutch work done, now the car shakes, at low or high speeds. Guys doing clutch may have done something to the driveshaft, not put it back properly. Getting worse, could be dangerous--driveshaft could fall out, and she'd do a pole vault.
Steven Michalek , New York - 1986 Ford Escort
Follow-up to call from last week--couldn't find battery. Looked again, found it, falling out from under the trunk.
Daniel , New York - 2000 Volvo V70
A heating/cooling question. There's a "barfy" smell from the heater- no one's puked in the car for months, what's it from? Recently cleaned leaves and twigs from under windshield wipers. Ray thinks it could be mold spores, but more likely a dead animal--he'll probably have to take duct work out to find it--if he's lucky, it's caught in air filter.
Conrad Glibey , Massachusetts - 1986 Honda Civic
A question about brakes. He thought the emergency brake was frozen, drove really fast to release it, and now it doesn't seem to work anymore. It likely wasn't frozen, but rusted.
Lea Frey , Washington -
A follow-up to her letter and then appearance in Car Talk show number 9641. She was a college student at Mt. Holyoke and was homesick. She has since transferred back to school in Washington, and is much happier.