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Sorry to be sexist, but do any women actually bother to read their cars handbook after they have just bought it? I think (I can't be certain) that all diesel engined cars have glowplugs that need to warm up for 5 secs or so before the engine is started, however the number of times I have seen women get into there brand new clio/saxo/corsa etc diesels and try and turn the engine over straight away is amazing. The noise it makes is awful, surely it can't be doing the engine any good either? Also, petrol caps, rocket sience to remove for some women come fill up time. Never mind, at least they are safer drivers (alledgedly), but that is another story!
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Oh please. You're not sorry to be sexist at all. Do you really think all men understand engines just because they are men? Would you let me fix your car? Unwise, I think, yet I am a man. Diesels are relatively new to most people in this country. I doubt whether many drivers of either sex have any clue about them. And the newer common rail diesels barely need any glow plug assistance anyway, so people buying new in a few years won't need to be "educated" to your level of expertise.
Chris
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It depends on the woman! See earlier thread on Stealing Diesels, in response to which Guy Lacey wrote:
> The Co. I work 4 uses a large number of diesel plant and all
> shifts ignore the procedure of warm-up and simply crank until
> start and then rev like hell....
I didn't get the impression that Guy worked with women ...
Personally I would read the handbook and refer back to it at regular intervals - like every time I needed to open the bonnet, because I usually struggle with this and wonder if I'm trying to do it wrong.
And while we're being sexist, I don't know any woman who has ever closed the bonnet without removing the prop first.
Miller wrote:
> Also, petrol caps, rocket sience to
> remove for some women come fill up time. Never mind, at least
> they are safer drivers (alledgedly), but that is another story!
Again, it depends on the woman and the petrol cap. I've had some very awkward petrol caps, including one which a friend was unable to open when he borrowed our car.
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Depends which diesel you have.
My Astra DTI has no wait for glow plugs at all, and starts every time just like a petrol.
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Moved by the author to "Women and diesles again".
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Phew Miller, you've put your head above the parapet. I was not going to comment but, "She" told me to. Two of our circle of friends have gone over to diesels, both have had to have the tank drained because they filled it with petrol and, one of them, full of inignation, has had a row with the local dealer over the poor starting of the car and the "faulty" warning light which stays on a bit longer than the others. Both are blokes. ! ! ! !
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I don't think women read the manuals any more than men read instructions when assembling flat packs etc. It's an admission of defeat!
Mike
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People are the same. You haven't time to read. So as a last resort when all else fails, then you read the instructions! I blame the schools for not putting more priority on practical subjects. Even my local technical college is diverting from engineering courses to push arts courses. Apparently financially encouraged by government funding!
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Miller wrote:
>
> Sorry to be sexist,
Got to go with Chris on this - I hope you were writing 'tongue in cheek". You're not sorry to be sexist at all.
FWIW, I have never noticed any consistent difference between female and male behaviour insofar as driving is concerned.
Even the Insurers view of women as safer drivers is a reflection of amount of miles driven, in what circumstances, at what time of day and not a reflection of differing skills.
Certainly I know my wife is much more in tune with manuals, handbooks, other written instructions and the need to read them than I am.
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More a case of schools trying to reach targets by pushing easy courses such as arts, rather then courses such as engineering or science which might tax brain power. Hence the year on year 'improvement'! in exam pass rates - or is this changing the subject!
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Steve wrote:
>
> More a case of schools trying to reach targets by pushing
> easy courses such as arts, rather then courses such as
> engineering or science which might tax brain power. Hence the
It is changing the subject, sort of, but I reckon part of the shift away from "practical" subjects is also to do with economic change. Schools have been starved of cash for years and arts courses are far cheaper to run than science courses. On top of that, thirty years ago we were a manufacturing economy. Now we're mostly a service economy. I agree that we need to encourage people to do science and engineering subjects even if they don't end up working in those fields (how many people studying English end up being writers?). But as someone who did mostly science subjects at school and now has three degrees in arts subjects (I found the arts more challenging), I can tell you that the arts are not an easy option - in fact if you want funding and support as a postgraduate but your degree is a bit off-colour, you're better off in the sciences. In some places (Liverpool University for one) you can do a fully funded PhD in Physics with a degree in English. If the arts look easy it's because our whole culture is arts-biased, so the popular arts are familiar to everyone from newspapers, radio and TV. I think that bias is a mistake, but then I also think that the arts and sciences are not as different as many people imagine.
Chris
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I went to art school. Whilst in the seventies you could do a motor vehicle maintenance course; I believe you get your understanding and knowledge of engines and cars by being interested in them.
Getting back to woman and diesels, my wife does not understand engines and I accept this. I had a diesel company car which my wife drove occasionally. She normally drives a petrol mondeo 2.0. She was OK with the glowplug light (95 Laguna) after I had explained principle; but the only thing I used to get slightly hot about was her driving the diesel the same way as the mondeo. Not easy when you are chopping and changing cars, but she would tend to rev the engine and make gear changes the same as mondeo. She still does not understand need for care with cold engines.
(I read the handbook usually once then ram it back in the glove box in a frenzy because you cannot find simple explanations for finding anything! Did you know that the Peugeot 406 handbook does not even include recommended tyre pressures! and they're not on any labels on the car)
I have been a passenger with a few lady colleaugues and been stunned at their knowledge of engines and the best way to treat them. If you asked any bloke what is the basic difference in operating principle between a diesel and petrol engine I suggest that they would not be able to tell you!
'Better handbook' campaign- HJ?
mark
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I am programme manager for motor vehicle training at a college of FE, and we have a few few females on the courses. In general they are better than males, as they tend to think a bit more, and are generally better qualified from school. We still get dozens of males apply from schools, sent by the careers advice people, with really bad or no GCSE grades. That's the view still of the motor trade. What we need of course is a whole rack of higher grade applicants with a-c grades to cope with the modern technology. Trouble is with the good females, it's virtually impossible to find employers to give them work experience, on the grounds of sexism, which is rife.
We carry on striving.
Regards,
Mike
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I don't have any problem wrt glowplugs with my wife, if only I could stop her putting petrol in it!
Once, fair enough, but twice. Luckily she'd only put a gallon of unleaded in the second time before she realised it. Topped it up with diesel and it ran ok.
Geoff
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