The NHTSA Final Rules for the Car Allowance Rebate System were published today and one of the mor interesting parts of the document was found on Page 39. 

In this section the NHTSA has outlined its concerns for fraud and the temptation for some to put these clunkers back in service.

To prevent this from happening, the NHTSA is advising car dealers how to play “doctor death” to deliver a lethal injection to the clunker’s engine. 

I’m sure car dealers are going to love this extra work.  The clunker’s death certificate will have cause of death marked as “Sodium Silicate”.

Sodium Silicate is Clunkers Death Agent

Here is what the document says.

“The agency has determined that a quick, inexpensive, and environmentally safe process exists to disable the engine of the trade-in vehicle while in the dealer’s possession. Removing the engine oil from the crankcase, replacing it with a 40 percent solution of sodium silicate (a substance used in similar concentrations in many common vehicle applications, including patching mufflers and radiators), and running the engine for a short period of time at low speeds renders the engine inoperable.

Generally, this will require just two quarts of the sodium silicate solution. The retail price for two quarts of this solution (enough to disable the largest engine under the program) is under $7, and the time involved should not substantially exceed that of a typical oil change.

The agency has tested this method at its Vehicle Research and Test Center and found it safe, quick,and effective.”

The Deadly Oil Change

This is just another “new burden that car dealers and scrapyards will have to deal with under the CARS program.  I never knew that you could disable and engine using this method so I guess it is time to buy stock in companies that sell Sodium Silicate.

Tags: lethal injection, nhtsa final rules, sodium silicate