Hi
What do people think about the "new" rules whereby learners have to learn how to perform oil/brake-fluid/PAS/coolant level checks as part of their test?
On paper, I think it's a good idea - people have an idea and an awareness of weekly/daily checks they have to do to make sure their vehicle doesn't brake down.
My concern though is that all the learner has to do is learn whereabouts under the bonnet the caps/levels are on the instructors car and repeat them parrot fashion. This would be great if every car had them in the same place, but more than likely those who couldn't be asked to check levels anyway will look under the bonnet of their new car and think "Woh! This is nothing like the instructors car, too confusing to me!" and promptly shut the bonnet. Worse still "Aha! looks a bit different to me but this cap marked 'P.A.S.' is in about the same place as I fill the radiator with water - yes, that must be it! Looks a bit low to me ..." , with dire concequences.
Why not get learners to learn a few of the generally universal signs/stickers manufacturers use. For example, a cap with a circle with lines either-side and an explanation mark in the middle is the brake fluid, and it almost always has a big black dustbin-lid-shaped servo behind it.
End of rant!
Mike Farrow
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As long as they know how to fill up the 710, I'm sure it'll all be fine ;)
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I strongly disagree - I think that everyone who drives should have some knowledge of the way that a car works, and what basic checks need to be performed to keep it in "good" safe order. I understand that this is not necessary for, as an example, a washing machine - if it stops working then call a repair person out, because it does not cause a safety hazard to other people (except in exceptional circumstances....). However, a car is a lethal weapon and neglect could cause the engine to seize, for instance, when on a motorway, prompting a massive crash. (A former colleague witnessed one such incident and fotunately nobody was injured in the ensuing mayhem). As an example, anyone trained to use a lathe would be expected to perform certain basic safety checks periodically to make sure that it was not about to injure them. I see no reason why, with the traffic densities we have today, anyone using a complex piece of machinery such as a car, should not be expected to know how to conduct basic maintenance/safety checks. Airline pilots conduct such checks before every flight.
(also rant over....)
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Yes, but airline pilots are trained on every plane they fly. I'm not saying teaching people the checks is wrong, it's just the way it's taught. My girlfriends sister has just passed her test and just learnt parrot-fashion where to check things on her test (instructors) car. She won't get a car for at least a few more years, and the likelihood is it won't be the same as the one she used in the test, so out comes the handbook.
What's the points of teaching learners to do checks like this on a car they'll never drive again!
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The signs are the same for any car you buy.what I find annoying is a person that wont recognise this.in most cases it turns out they cannot be bothered.not really a case of dont understand.they don`t want to.if this is the case.not anything you can do.Tend to think its there prob not yours.
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Was mech1
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"What's the points of teaching learners to do checks like this on a car they'll never drive again!"
Surely it teaches them good habits? Same as teaching them to use mirrors, indicators, lights etc. Chances are that these controls will differ also on "their" cars in a few years - still should get into the good habits of using them. Perhaps test should include tyre checks also?
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Rather a pointless excercise in all. The candidate does not actually touch anything in the engine bay, merely points to things such as the dipstick should the examiner ask how the oil would be checked.
Instructors hate it. Bonnets are not designed to be opened five or six times a day every day, and the number of ADI's complaining that the flimsy plastic release catch fitted on most cars has broken or the cable has stretched grows by the day.
Constant banging shut of the bonnet also tends to dramatically shorten the life of headlight bulbs too.
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Why not have a collection of vehicle handbooks in the testing station and require the candidate to identify the relevant sections for a vehicle chosen at random?
Problem solved?
Kevin...
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Not really. You would not believe how many people are either dyslexic or who have such poor reading skills they are effectively illiterate.
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I once went to to look at a fairly old Fiesta that a lady had for sale. I wasn't familiar with the car, and asked her where the bonnet catch was. She replied "No idea -- I've never opened it". There was no service record either, so I made my excuses and left (as they say in the News Of The World).
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I'm frustrated that the industry hasn't come up with some common colour coding to make it easy for non-technically-aware people. If we colour coded the dipstick and oil filler one standard colour, coolant another, etc we'd cut the number of mis-fills.
I seem to remember that Rover did this a few years ago, but then the idiots marketed it as a "woman's car" instead of as a common sense way forward.
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I was surprised myself when I looked under the bonnet of my car and found little or no signage as to the idenities of various caps/reservoirs (89 Escort).
OK, so you probably couldn't teach a learner to spot every conceivable logo manufacturers use, but the following 'pointers' to learn may be more beneficial:
1. BRAKE FLUID - Usually a small reservoir in front of a big dustbin-lid shaped servo. Thin pipes coming out the bottom of it.
2. ENGINE OIL - Dipstick (Followed by "... no, not you Mr Examinar, that was my answer ..." ;-) ).
3. COOLANT - Probably the biggest reservoir you can see. Pipe going to the radiator if you can see one! May be marked by instruction (50% Water/50% Antifreeze), and symbol(waves with a thermometer poking out, outline of a radiator with a fan in the middle.
4. WASHER FLUID - Symbol usually of a windscreen with a fountain coming up in the middle of it.
5. PAS - Steering wheel? "PAS"? (Don't know this one really, haven't got it!).
Maybe more importantly, how about teaching learners the concequences and dangers of filling up the wrong liquid in the wrong place (not guessing!), opening the coolant cap when hot, not carrying out the checks at all!
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