Cars.com

Dear Tom and Ray:

I live in Phoenix, where the temperature runs as high as 120 degrees in the summer. Inside the car, the temperature is much higher. And even though I have air conditioning, it is unbearably hot when first getting into the car and for the first 10 minutes. I am so desperate to find a way to cool down the car's interior, that I have tried putting frozen milk jugs in the back seat in hopes of dropping the temperature a few degrees. I was wondering if it would work to put a big box of dry ice in the back seat when I first get in. Does dry ice give off any toxic fumes? -- Patricia

Tom: Yes. Dry ice DOES give off potentially toxic levels of carbon dioxide. And Jim Davis, head of the Car Talk Chemistry Labs, says that while it's not as poisonous as carbon MONoxide (the stuff we normally associate with tailpipes), carbon DIoxide is toxic when it is more than a few percent of the air we breath.

Ray: And in a closed car, it could very quickly cause symptoms ranging from nausea, to breathing difficulties, to death. Note: Jim says "death" is not recommended (forgive his pedagogical side ... he's a Harvard Chemist in his spare time).

Tom: Dry ice is also not a very practical solution, Patricia. First of all, you've got to get some -- most Amana Side by Sides weren't coming with dry-ice makers last time I checked. Then you have to schlep the stuff to the car with a pair of ice tongs everytime you want to drive somewhere.

Ray: So let's take a look at some more practical solutions to your problem, Patricia. One is to simply leave the windows open -- or partially open. Since it's so hot and dry where you live, you don't have to worry about rain. And if security isn't a big concern for you, this is a quick and simple fix.

Tom: And there are others. One is to park in the shade (a long-lost art). Another is to use a sun shade, which covers the inside of your windshield and keeps the car from heating up as much in the first place. Note: Jim says "remember to remove shade before driving away."

Ray: If those solutions don't dissipate enough heat, you can buy one of those little solar-powered fans that fit inside the window. You put this thing in the window, then roll up the window right below it (so there's no security risk), and then the fan exhausts hot air from the car while you're inside shopping at Sigmund's Cigar Emporium.

Tom: You can probably find one of these fans at the larger auto parts stores or through the J.C. Whitney mail-order catalog. Good luck, Patricia.

Changing your oil regularly is the cheapest insurance you can buy for your car, but how often should you change it? Find out by ordering Tom and Ray's pamphlet "Ten Ways You May Be Ruining Your Car Without Even Knowing It!" To order, send (check or money order) to Ruin, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. You can also order online.

© 1998 by Tom and Ray Magliozzi and Doug Berman Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

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