CAR TALK\This design 'improvement' dumps rooftop rain in your lap.

Byline: Tom & Ray Magliozzi 

Dear Tom and Ray: I just found out the best-kept secret on today's new cars. My new '95 Saturn dumps water on you when the doors are opened after a rain! There are no rain gutters because of "aerodynamics." Thank goodness my two gentlemen passengers had removed their suit jackets the other evening before opening the doors. I would have had to offer to get their jackets cleaned and pressed. The first time it happened to me was right after I came out from a speaking engagement. If it had happened on the way in, I would have had to appear in public with a wet lap! The dealer, who was very courteous, said, "It's a natural characteristic of the car and every new car today." Aerodynamics. Is this progress?

- Jean

Tom: I'm with you, Jean. I was driving a new Taurus recently after a night of rain. I opened the window, and when I came to a stop, half a gallon of water poured onto my left thigh. Boy, did that change my mood in a hurry!

Ray: The federal government has mandated greater fuel efficiency. And one of the strategies employed to get greater fuel efficiency is to improve aerodynamics (i.e. to make the car more slippery and decrease the wind resistance).

Tom: That's why most cars of late look like jelly beans. And why a zillion little changes have been made to front grilles, windshield moldings, headlights, side mirrors and, yes, rain gutters.

Ray: And all of this stuff has improved aerodynamics significantly. But I agree that simply doing away with rain gutters was a dumb idea. They ought to come up with an aerodynamic way to keep water from pouring onto your lap.

Tom: This is the country that sent men and women into space. We've eliminated smallpox, produced super computers ... even rejected New Coke. Certainly we can invent a rain gutter that doesn't significantly decrease fuel economy.

Ray: I'm sure there's a "tidal wave" of support for this, Jean. And we'll keep you posted on which auto makers respond positively. Stay tuned.

Dear Tom and Ray: I recently purchased a 1984 Buick Skylark with 63,000 miles for my wife. I took it to have the a/c charged and the mechanic pointed out to me a plug that was disconnected from the automatic transmission. He called it a transmission lockup, and said if I didn't get it repaired for $235, my transmission would burn up. I've taken it to three other mechanics and have gotten three other answers, ranging from fix it now to leave it alone. What's the scoop?

- Bob

Ray: What's disconnected is the lockup torque converter.

Tom: The lockup converter "locks" the car in gear as if it were a manual transmission when the car is traveling at highway speeds. That improves your gas mileage by eliminating the "slippage" inherent in the torque converter's fluid coupling.

Ray: My guess is that the lockup torque converter stopped working, causing the car to buck and stall when stopped after highway driving. And the test is to unplug it. And when unplugging it stopped the bucking and stalling, the previous owner said, "Fine. Problem solved."

Tom: And we don't really know much about the inner workings of transmissions, but we called three friends in the transmission business and asked them if leaving the lockup converter unplugged would cause any long-term damage. And the vote was 2-0 that it wouldn't (the third guy was in jail).

Ray: So if it were a new car, I'd get it fixed. But on an '84 Skylark, my vote would be to just drive it and leave it unplugged. Good luck, Bob.