The bandaid auto puzzle

How? This would be a great one for Car Talk on NPR radio.

Equus
You seem to be the audience.
The fact that the van is 14 yrs. old with 230,000 miles on it, is a clue to brittle hoses. this inclludes the very small vacuum hoses which come out of the firewall from the various dashboard controls. The air condioner is controlled by such tiny vacuum hoses. In looking, I gently moved those small hoses and noticed one with a crack or split in it. I held my finger on it and my wife was able to turn on the A/C.

I thought "a little piece of tape" just a tiny bit of tape. What has a tiny bit of tape? Voila! A bandaid! I rubbed the hose clean, put a bandaid (not the cloth part) around it and it's been OK ever since.

I sent the story/puzzle to Cartalk, but they didn't pick it up.


Thanks for your interest.

Billy Falcon- Nope, I was listening too, but I couldn't figure it out. Very clever!

Years ago, there was a hole in a large sewer pipe in my basement, probably due to putting chemicals in the pipes, because of clogs. My husband put electrical tape around the pipe, and covered the whole shootin' match with Shoe Goop, which is something that everyone should have in his home. When we moved, it was still holding. after at least 15 years!

Phoenix, Thanks for the reply. Well, I just have to tell another, I split a water hose on my car in Gautemala. I was prepared. I had a replacement hose, but didn't want to change it on the road, My preparedness included both friction tape (for strength) and electrical tape( for water proofing). It got us through the day and that evening i replaced the hose.

I really don't know if they still sell friction tape. No I did not have duct tape.