Scary lack of knowledge and responsibility !
Discussion
carinaman said:
Or how about the drain tubes for the sunroof running into the windscreen washer tank like a water butt? Harvesting the rain to top up the washer fluid?*
That, along with a small tank for concentrated screenwash would be a great idea.... if you could also work out a way to stop road debris, dust and crap getting into the tank with the nice fresh rainwater.Edited by carinaman on Friday 22 July 09:37
Shakermaker said:
My wife doesn't know much about maintaining her car - she can put fuel in it, but if there's any concern, she's only a phone call away from me and I can look at it for her, or, more likely, she's at home.
I take care of that side of things for her, because I know about it and can take the worry off her for doing so since she has no interest in how the car runs, she and I both want it for her to be able to get to work and do what she needs it to do every day with no undue concern. Why should she bother knowing all of this?
We are fortunate to live in a time where we have modern cars that don't break down every day or overheat at the first glimpse of traffic thanks to electric fans, air conditioning, monitoring systems for major components etc.
That's pretty much how it works in our house too. She knows about the pressures, servicing, oil, etc but just aska me to do it.I take care of that side of things for her, because I know about it and can take the worry off her for doing so since she has no interest in how the car runs, she and I both want it for her to be able to get to work and do what she needs it to do every day with no undue concern. Why should she bother knowing all of this?
We are fortunate to live in a time where we have modern cars that don't break down every day or overheat at the first glimpse of traffic thanks to electric fans, air conditioning, monitoring systems for major components etc.
Which is fair enough.
Though I'll pay to have someone do the oil changes. I can't be arsed scrabbling about in the road (no drive) and by the time I've bought all the stuff in only saving about a tenner.
The division of labour in our fleet is simple.
I fix everything needing spanner work, but Mrs rxe does know how to check stuff, and is well qualified at diagnosing strange noises and handling issues. When I have bought a new shed, she frequently comes back with a reasonably accurate list of what needs doing.
She knows what the oil pressure light means (stop, do not pass go, if you're quick enough you might save the engine), but calls on me to actually do the deed. This dates back to a time when she checked the oil, found it a bit wanting, selected the right viscosity from the shelf, but the wrong brand. No dear, the Gulf Ester Synthetic 10W-40 is for the V6s, your diesel uses the Motul. I nearly got a 5 litre container of Gulf shoved up my arse for that one....
I fix everything needing spanner work, but Mrs rxe does know how to check stuff, and is well qualified at diagnosing strange noises and handling issues. When I have bought a new shed, she frequently comes back with a reasonably accurate list of what needs doing.
She knows what the oil pressure light means (stop, do not pass go, if you're quick enough you might save the engine), but calls on me to actually do the deed. This dates back to a time when she checked the oil, found it a bit wanting, selected the right viscosity from the shelf, but the wrong brand. No dear, the Gulf Ester Synthetic 10W-40 is for the V6s, your diesel uses the Motul. I nearly got a 5 litre container of Gulf shoved up my arse for that one....
daddy cool said:
J4CKO said:
"Actually proud of me and (her mate, name removed) for managing to put windscreen wash in my car!!
J4CKO said:
she did have a bad accident the other week where she ended up with the car on its roof,
Was that when all the windscreen wash fell out the car?With stuff like this its no wonder people who I am friends with look at me incredulously when I keep buying £1000 barges with stratospheric miles and never have anything go seriously wrong. To them, those cars are a mere thread away from detonating in a cloud of smoke.
Never occurs to them that 1) I take time to look for a good one 2) get the damn thing's fluids changed and fix anything niggly or that might be close to becoming niggly 3) sort any problems that arise ASAP. Most of the stuff you can do yourself for cheap or, like I do as I don't always have the time, I'll sort most of the parts or solutions and get my trusted indy to do the work.
A strange concept really that if you pro-actively look after something, it very rarely goes bang.
Most people wait until the sump has ran dry and timing belt is frayed to f
k before doing any kind of maintenance. Guy next to me at work bought a nearly new Kia Picanto, one reason for buying? 6 years of a 7 year warranty left. This was nearly 18 months ago now and it was due a service about 6 months after he bought it. Still hasn't been serviced. I don't expect it'll go wrong just yet as they're pretty hardy things, but surely the warranty is now all but null and void!
Never occurs to them that 1) I take time to look for a good one 2) get the damn thing's fluids changed and fix anything niggly or that might be close to becoming niggly 3) sort any problems that arise ASAP. Most of the stuff you can do yourself for cheap or, like I do as I don't always have the time, I'll sort most of the parts or solutions and get my trusted indy to do the work.
A strange concept really that if you pro-actively look after something, it very rarely goes bang.
Most people wait until the sump has ran dry and timing belt is frayed to f
k before doing any kind of maintenance. Guy next to me at work bought a nearly new Kia Picanto, one reason for buying? 6 years of a 7 year warranty left. This was nearly 18 months ago now and it was due a service about 6 months after he bought it. Still hasn't been serviced. I don't expect it'll go wrong just yet as they're pretty hardy things, but surely the warranty is now all but null and void!BIL is a physicist had a 405 diesel estate he kindly gave to my sister after He'd had it 2 years. Failed to start soon after, dad tried to open bonnet but bonnethe release had failed. Apparently had been like that since he had it so assume it, not sure how it got through the mot but hadn't been serviced!
I think it goes in a too hard, too much of a faff, potentially expensive box which only gets opened when it absolutely has to, i.e. MOT time, someone I know was telling everyone how bad her Galaxy was because she had to spend a grand, and refreshingly she got told that a grand after three years of doing nothing is not too bad, she was pleased with her set of new LingLongs though, much cheaper, savvy shopper defeats the evil motoring industry !
To be fair, I dont lavish care on Washing Machines, my mower never gets anything done unless it doesnt work and I am sure there will be something in the manuals about maintenance.
To be fair, I dont lavish care on Washing Machines, my mower never gets anything done unless it doesnt work and I am sure there will be something in the manuals about maintenance.
J4CKO said:
To be fair, I dont lavish care on Washing Machines, my mower never gets anything done unless it doesnt work and I am sure there will be something in the manuals about maintenance.
To be fair you don't sit on top of your mower at 70mph with multi-ton juggernauts around you though!Otispunkmeyer said:
With stuff like this its no wonder people who I am friends with look at me incredulously when I keep buying £1000 barges with stratospheric miles and never have anything go seriously wrong. To them, those cars are a mere thread away from detonating in a cloud of smoke.
My OH said she couldn't understand why her work colleagues seemed to have more breakdowns and car problems than her even though her car was much older. I reminded her of this next time she was grizzling about me making her get it serviced on schedule.
Valgar said:
Now days in the test the very first section is "show me tell me" where you are expected to show them where to fill up oil and check tyre tread etc.
Yes. It's been about for at least a good 10 years. I passed my test on it. I think people who don't want to learn the basics it's disgraceful. It's lik...-being unable to fry an egg
-cook rice
-knot a tie
It goes on and on. If you want to own a car you should be prepared to know the very basics.
It's like buying a bicycle and taking it to halfords every time you get a puncture.
crofty1984 said:
Though I'll pay to have someone do the oil changes. I can't be arsed scrabbling about in the road (no drive) and by the time I've bought all the stuff in only saving about a tenner.
But at least you then know it's been done properly. I recently bought a Merc C180k Coupe for my missus. Only 63,000 miles from new and a fully stamped service history. Agreed the door hinges had a nice layer of white grease on them but from the state of the rest of it, I suspect that is all that had been done. Within a couple of days of getting it, a hole had rotted through the petrol filter causing it to dump fuel all over the road and the crimped on clips suggested it had never been changed since being fitted at the factory and the inside of the engine, while not quite as bad as this onep1stonhead said:
85k miles without an oil change.
wasn't far behind.Do it yourself and you know it's been done. You never know, you might see something else that hasn't made itself noticeable yet but is about to.
Oliverrun said:
https://youtu.be/OUE5fcdBf9Q what happens at 3:19 is concerning 
My M3 hasn't got a dipstick. It's got an electronic display that I can check. If the oil is showing low then I can top it up.
However, it doesn't tell me how much to top it up by, but the manual does tell me not to overdo it as that can damage the engine.
Sometimes it's best not to know stuff.
V8Rush said:
jamieduff1981 said:
CharlesdeGaulle said:
motco said:
It doesn't mean crack on at all - as normal or slowly! What it will mean if you do is that you'll have to put a lot of money in to it, never mind the oil. If you have been running so low on oil that the pump pick-up is exposed, then you will have overheated the very reduced volume of oil and degraded it, and had transient pressure losses for some time before the light comes on due to sloshing in the sump. The engine will possibly have already suffered some damage anyway. The pressure warning light is a big red DO NOT IGNORE THIS light!
Look, I know all that. My point was simply that the low oil level warning light does indicate that the car needs oil. I'm not suggesting for a moment that you run a car until you see that light, or that you don't need to take immediate remedial action, but it does mean you need to add oil. Honestly, it's like pulling teeth in here.
The only time I had one illuminate was on a Transit van which did indeed seize. There was plenty oil in it. The oil pump had failed.
That's the point. Maintaining oil pressure continuously is absolutely mandatory. Interruption to oil pressure will absolutely f
k the crankshaft main journal and conrod big end bearings in very short order.The former certainly will come on while in motion (as well as stationary) and is a "get more oil soon, please" request. The latter is, I agree, more of a "you've already ruined your engine, and it's going to get really bad really soon" warning.
Whether it's a good idea to have red for "excuse me" and amber for "you're stuffed", or indeed sharing both on the same light so the driver craps themselves when it comes on red at 70mph in the outside lane are different matters...
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