Apparently these are the top-ten ways people ruin thier cars! = which are you guilty of?
tinyurl.com/4fkdt8
|
|
I'm especially guilty of No 10 - and more so when SWMBO is in the car with me!
|
That article if full of errors and is poory researched. Except for item 10, which is completely correct.
Lets start by picking holes in No1 - has anyone ever had to have an auto box replaced because of wear caused by leaving it in park? Complete and utter bull if you ask me.
|
I'm with Moonshine, generally on this one.
&
Imagine changing ones lube oil every 5,000
Yank oil must be totally useless
210,000 without a spanner & still counting
Edited by dieseldogg on 09/12/2009 at 09:32
|
Pressure washing a modern engine is probably a good thing to avoid, there's very little to gain and a lot that could go wrong.
Oil change every 5k miles? In the US you can get an oil change for peanuts, there are a raft of franchise outfits all competing for that business. They all advocate the benefits of frequent oil-changes and after a while, if you repeat something often enough, people will start to believe it.
|
"You need to change your oil every 5,000 miles at the most."
Americans.
|
"By using the parking brake, you lock up the non-drive wheels as well as the drive wheels"
Eh? Do US parking brakes work on the hydraulics?
|
|
5k oil changes do work for some that is 12 months others can be 3 i do mine at 5k or every 6 months, engines can live longer.
|
|
|
>Eh? Do US parking brakes work on the hydraulics?
No, but they do usually work on the rear wheels. Most American cars (as distinct from SUVs) these days are FWD.
Edited by WillDeBeest on 09/12/2009 at 12:17
|
|
|
"By using the parking brake you lock up the non-drive wheels as well as the drive wheels" Eh? Do US parking brakes work on the hydraulics?
Whats the problem with that, transmision locks front (driven) wheels, parking brake locks rear wheels (with cable).
|
>>No, but they do usually work on the rear wheels. Most American cars (as distinct from >>SUVs) these days are FWD. >>
Whats the problem with that transmision locks front (driven) wheels parking brake locks >>rear wheels (with cable).
Ah I see. I interpreted it as meaning the parking brake operated on all four wheels.
"you can make a big difference by turning off your radio, wipers, climate control, all of those accessories, when you start the car"
I don't know about the a/c compressor, but certainly the electrical acilliaries are relayed off during cranking anyway...
|
|
|
|
|
|
OK, I can't resist, point-by-point:
1) Even in the US, not everyone has an autobox, and parked on the flat, the pawl will suffer no harm.
2) How do you accurately gauge that "months of wear" have occurred by simply shifting from reverse to drive quickly?
3) How much quicker does it wear the brakes by using them vs. the gears downhill? Not much I reckon, especially if you infrequently travel down steep hills
4) 5,000 miles between oil changes? What are they using? 20W-50 spec??
5) So pressure washing the electrics is bad, but a regular hose is OK? Rather you than me...
6) Turning off radio when you're starting the car will save the engine? Yeah right. As for idling 30 seconds before starting off, the car manufacturers of today explicitly say DON'T DO THIS! Get going immediately and drive gently until warm...
7) "eventually hear the sound of your own scream as you lose your brakes completely and fly off a cliff in a spectacular fireball of death" . Errm, no. Agreed, people ignore warning sounds, but this is just silly...
8) Whether your car stinks like a tip or not is neither here nor there until you come to sell it.
9) "US cars have the largest ?buffer zone? of any vehicles." Hmm, obviously a gauge showing empty is too confusing for Yanks. As for that fluff about "sucking sediment into the tank, I thought that myth had died years ago. The pumps are mounted at the bottom of the tank after all..
10) Ok, that one is spot on!
|
|
If - as has been found in tests - it can take a minute or more for the oil pump to cause an adequate flow of 'new' oil to reach the highest recesses of a cold-started engine, surely it is only sensible to avoid loading that engine during the crucial period when the thin plating of 'old' oil is being scrubbed off. I think the manufacturers are actually recommending that drivers don't sit with their cars idling for minutes waiting for the temperature gauge to start moving.
|
i just use mine like i stole it
i always stamp my books though in case a little old lady buys it
|
I just use mine like i stole it I always stamp my books though in case a little old lady buys it
Would you buy a second hand car from...........:-)
|
|
|
|
Astonishingly rubbish advice from who else, but Americans!
Back in the real world, i.e. everywhere but the US, cars don't fall apart if they are not stripped down every 5,000 miles. Technology has moved on here - our cars aren't fitted with drum brakes all round, horse-and-cart suspension, and automatic boxes where 'park' daren't be used for fear of breakage.
So maybe we need to update this list with the top ten things that could write-off a "real" car in this modern age?
1. Tick... tock... is your dual-mass flywheel a timebomb?
2. Credit Crunch! How expensive can a DSG gearbox repair actually be?
3. The Misfueling equation: diesel car + unleaded petrol = large bill
4. Diesel Particulate Filters - "the most expensive orange light a car can have"
5. Does not compute? Why your car was probably written by Microsoft
6. In Traction! - That nasty TSC light and what happens when you don't replace your brake fluid every week
7. Emission impossible - why emission control systems really do cost the earth
8. Oil be blowed - why too much oil really can be a bad thing!
9. Full of hot air - how airbags can turn a minor prang into a complete write-off
10. Stop... Start... Whirr-whirr-whirr - how reducing your CO2 footprint could increase your heartrate come repair time.
|
|
No. It's going to hell its own way.
|
|
|
|
