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Dear Auto Speak: I was thinking how a lot traffic noise arrives from engines and how much from tires on pavement? My dwelling is near an city expressway.

Will our neighborhood get any quieter when all motor vehicles are electric and there are no inside combustion engines on the road? — Larry

Expensive READER: Inside combustion engines make the most sounds when they’re functioning really hard — like when they’re accelerating or moving a automobile up a hill. And they’re not usually doing work that tricky when a car is just cruising down the freeway.

If you are in the vicinity of a flat segment of highway, Larry, these automobiles are in significant gear. That implies most of their engines are turning at a modest 1,800 to 2,500 rpm. So, the bulk of the noise you might be hearing is tire noise.

You can ensure this your self. Upcoming time you’re cruising down the freeway, transform off Beyonce for a second and see what you can listen to most — the motor or the wind and street sound. It will be the latter.

Sound strength doubles for each individual 10 mph or so of speed. So street sound from visitors at 70 mph is likely to be a great deal louder than street sound from 30 mph visitors. As you and your family can attest.

Electric automobiles are extra most likely to enable with sound on slower and residential streets, where by acceleration can make as much sounds as tires. And they are going to be specifically beneficial in minimizing sounds when big vehicles go electric powered. That’ll enable your situation, Larry. But electric drivetrains, on their personal, won’t address your freeway sounds challenge.

The very good information is there are other systems that could support. Heaps of sites are employing rubberized asphalt to pave streets now. Which is asphalt mixed with bits of aged tires. Form of a homeopathic tactic. Tire vs. tire. People roadways are a whole lot quieter. And there are experimental street surfaces becoming made that may decrease noise even extra.

And in the meantime, there are sound-canceling headphones.

Expensive Car or truck Converse: I have a 2004 Saturn Vue with a Honda V-6 engine and 150,000 miles. I bought the vehicle with 54,000 miles on it. I have no sizeable challenges with it other than that when going uphill at about 1,700 to 1,900 rpm, there is a slight “stutter” in the motor.

My mechanic, who is a wonderful, trustworthy guy, can’t get the motor to do this inspite of numerous exam drives. A buddy encouraged me to improve the transmission fluid. What do you believe? — Mark

Expensive READER: Modifying the transmission fluid is like rooster soup, Mark. It cannot harm. But I feel it is a great deal far more most likely you have what we connect with a “pass up.”

Not to be confused with the Saturn Vue, a car or truck that was widely regarded to be a “miss” for Saturn. A skip is an motor misfire. It truly is most most likely to be recognized when the motor is below load, like when you might be climbing a hill. It’s generally electrical in character and ordinarily effortless to deal with — after you can find and determine the result in.

Usually, an motor miss will flip on your car’s “look at engine” gentle and retail store a fault code in the personal computer. Your mechanic would then use his scan device to check out the code, which will tell him what portion has malfunctioned.

But if a trouble is intermittent and of quick length, the computer system may take into account it a phantom occasion, and not retail store a code or convert on the examine motor gentle.

In that case, it could retail store the information and facts as a “pending code.” Which is facts about something that went mistaken, but it has not occurred regularly adequate to become a sample but. So inquire your mechanic to look at for pending codes.

Misfires are most typically caused by bad spark plugs, negative plug wires or undesirable ignition coils. Those all are part of what we connect with the secondary ignition process. And you are going to be happy to know none of that is dwelling equity line of credit degree things.

If there are no pending codes, you can wait around right until the problem gets even worse, at which stage it will change on your test engine light-weight. Or, if they’re because of to be improved in any case — and, at 150,000 miles they in all probability are — you can get a guess and change the plugs and wires and see what comes about. Superior luck.

Ray Magliozzi dispenses advice about autos in Automobile Speak every single Saturday. Electronic mail him by traveling to cartalk.com