I think the Car Talk Guys, Click and Clack, the Tappett Brothers (also known as Tom and Ray), got it wrong today. A caller with a Geo Prism described a problem, but she had already made a preliminary diagnosis of her own, and the guys allowed that to skew their judgement. Being the de facto tech support weenie at my place of work, I have a very healthy skepticism when it comes to user diagnosis.

So, anyway, she calls in saying her accelerator pedal is sticking. She's tried applying WD-40 to the area around the pedal, but it hasn't helped. She said that when she pushes on the accelerator, the car doesn't go anywhere right away, and that this is worse on wet days. She doesn't notice any correlation to temperature. The thing that yanked my head around was when she said that people in adjacent lanes at the traffic light think she is showing off because her engine is revving but she isn't moving.

The guys diagnosed carbon buildup around the throttle plate. But the revving is significant. The throttle is opening just fine - it's the transmission that ought to be looked at. Or at least something further down the powertrain. If the throttle were gunked up, there wouldn't be any revving, or much response from the engine at all.

I don't meant to slam the dudes; I happen to love the guys and listen every chance I get. I specified the Car Talk mug when I pledged to NPR this year. These guys are great and funny and pretty damn knowledgeable. I am just amazed to disagree. *shrug* 

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