Dear Tom and Ray:
Here is my question. If you own a car with a manual transmission, which is better: starting the car with the clutch out and the shifter in neutral, or pushing in the clutch while you start the car? - DonaldRAY: You know, Donald, not everyone takes the time to think about important issues like this. But I'm glad there are still a few of us around. I mean, the last time we got a letter about this issue, it was from some guy named Friedrich Nietzsche.
TOM: Actually, Donald, it's a very good question. And there are two good reasons why you should always step on the clutch when starting your car.
RAY: First of all, it makes the car easier to start. When you push in the clutch pedal, you disengage the clutch. That action "disconnects" the engine from the transmission. So when you start the car - which is hard work - you're only turning engine parts and not transmission parts, too!
TOM: That's especially important when it's cold out. In cold weather, the oil thickens and makes everything even harder to turn.
RAY: But starting the car with the clutch pedal pushed in is just as important in the warm weather, too. If you want to know why, go look at the 6-foot-wide hole in my brother's garage door that's strikingly similar in shape to the front end of the Mazda Miata he was testing last week.
Dear Tom and Ray:
For a couple of years, the speedometer cable in my 1984 S-10 Blazer squeaked. As it approached 100,000 miles, I finally took it to a Chevy dealer to get it greased. Then I began to notice that even though my speedometer was reading 15 mph over the speed limit, everyone was passing me, including little old ladies in second gear, and normally ticket-happy highway patrolmen.
I checked the speedometer against my wife's car on the highway one day and found that the speedometer registers 5-10 mph faster than I'm actually going. When I took it back to the dealer, they said nothing they did could have made the speedometer read incorrectly. Could they be at fault? How do I get it fixed? - Carl
RAY: Well, Carl, the dealership may, in fact, be responsible for the speedometer problem. If they put too much grease into the cable, some may have gotten into the speedometer head by accident. That could possibly cause an inaccurate reading.
TOM: But we hold you partially responsible, too, Carl. After 100,000 miles and two years of squeaking, you were too cheap to spend a measly 50 bucks on a new speedometer cable. Now you're paying the price for being a cheapskate. Remember the Click and Clack Great Unyielding Truth: It's the Stingy Person Who Spends the Most.
RAY: Anyway, Carl, here's one way to tell if they put too much grease into cable. Wear white pants every day for the next six months. And when you get home at night, take a look at the pant legs below the knee. If you see drops of grease, that'll tell you the extra grease is slowly working its way out of the speedometer head.
TOM: Which means that in 5,000-10,000 miles, it'll be accurate again. Until then, just drive five or 10 miles an hour over the speed limit. And when you get your first ticket, you'll know it's fixed.
The Magliozzi brothers' radio show "Car Talk" can be heard each Saturday at 10 a.m. on KUER FM 90.1 If you have a question about cars, write to Click and Clack Talk Cars c/o King Features Syndicate, 235 East 45th Street, New York, NY 10017.