The cults is done it again

In London back in 2007 I recall a woman getting a flat opposite the pub I was at. Three guys went to help. Ten minutes later they departed, her still with a flat tyre. I went over and asked what the issue was. She said the guys said her jack was broken and they couldn’t help.

I took one look at the scissor jack, still in place, UPSIDE DOWN. I loosened the wheel nuts, flipped the jack, changed the wheel and she was on her way.

Car knowledge isn’t implied these days. As cars have become more reliable and complex, less and less people need to be or are interested.

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Originally Posted by JDNSW

Yes. The Vedette was built in Australia by Chrysler for two or three years before being replaced by the Valiant in 1961?.

For those not familiar with the model, it was basically the French version of the Ford Zephyr, only fitted with the side valve V8 instead of the six, and slightly larger. Ford was unable to make it work for them, and sold the Vedette works complete to Simca in about 1955. Simca dropped the larger of the V8s and used only the smaller one, fitting alloy heads and increasing compression to produce the same power. The lighter weight enabled them to change the steering ratio, and going to 15" wheels enabled brake drums to be upped to 11", which in turn enabled the pivot point of the McPherson strut to move inside the drum. These changes transformed handling. It was restyled by Farina in 1958, ending up with "wraparound" windscreen and high tailfins.

It was better equipped than most Australian cars at the time - it even had a heater! Upholstery and trim were not up to the standard of the French model. It was larger, roomier, faster, and handled better and much better braked than the contemporary Holden, but suffered from a three speed column shift that did not have a very brilliant RHD conversion! Boot was particularly cavernous - large enough that the spare stood upright on the left of the boot, inside the tailfin. Also had better lights than the Holden.

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I remember as a kid my father always wanted to buy a Vedette / Beaulieu but for reasons I don't know, he never did. Traded in the old Vanguard on a Simca Aronde instead, then an Austin Freeway before a string of Toyotas (my mum still has a Yaris). He always refused to buy an "Australian" car - but loved the VL Commodore I bought in Alice Springs - maybe because it had a Nissan engine in it.

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Originally Posted by trout1105

It's NOT rocket science all you have to do is pull out the dipstick, wipe it then put it back in and pull it out and look at the oil on the end of it.
A trained monkey could do this[bigwhistle]

Seriously IF you can't read a simple dipstick then you have no buisness lifting the bonnet anyway.

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Wrong! of you go for retraining Monkey (light hearted chuckle)

Modern dipsticks are sealed - you know, to keep all the nasties in the engine and not breathing to atmosphere....
So when you pull it out, wipe it, then shove it back in, you can - and I HAVE witnessed this - push oil away from the dipstick and get a false reading...
You can also have excess oil dragged into the tube from the first extraction/wipe and get a false high reading.

I've also seen people do it on slight inclines / angles, and others do it when the engines just finished running....



Now tell me - in line with the other "easy" tasks for trained monkeys - how do you disconnect/change a battery on a modern vehicle? Just pop the bonnet and whip off the negative right? [bigwhistle]



It's not difficult - but it is different to what I first began my mechanical / electrical journey working on [thumbsupbig]
And I prefer the new - more complex to work on however much less likely to need working on.

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Originally Posted by Tombie

Simple - a dipstick only reads if you take it out and read it right (which many no longer know how to do properly).

Easier than checking the tyre pressures and adjusting,but yes some cant do that either.Maybe they shouldnt have a vehicle,if they cant do the very simple stuff.

An oil level sensor - ties directly to the ECU and adds a level of safety. If level gets critical, vehicle faults and shuts down. Preventing a Numpty from seizing their engine.

A dip stick does not does this, nor does the idiot light - often when it’s come on some level of damage has been done.

Does the D4(staying on topic), do this,that is shuts the engine down if the level gets low?Calibrating the control would be critical to stop nuisance tripping,but stop an engine failure in time.Oil level in a moving operating vehicle continually moves..A better way might be to electronically monitor oil pressure and shut the engine down..Or fit a level float which many vehicles have,and brings an idiot light on,but not shut down the engine, then again,many may ignore it.The level lights generally flash on and off as the oil level in the engine moves up and down,giving the driver an indication the oil is getting low.


By the same logic - why have a temperature gauge? Surely the old Torana “you’re stuffed” light is all that’s needed?

Perhaps get rid of the fuel gauge? Put a dip stick on the tank? Works for my boat….

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Great idea,maybe get rid of the wipers?Just have to stop every so often to clean off the screen?[biggrin]
And while stopped,easy to dip the fuel tank.....Temp guages on many vehicles these days are electronically controlled and useless anyway.probably ignored by most no doubt.Why not shut the engine down if the temperature gets too high?Some do,go into limp mode,great idea if the guage is basically useless.

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Originally Posted by Tombie

Very few Autos since about 2000 have one
Many engines of several makes no longer have one

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So LR must be the odd one out, had a bit of an "experiment" without them,but now almost every late model offering,with the new engines has one.

Seems a bit strange to go "backwards",if they are a great idea.

Maybe they have been listening to customers,but i highly doubt that is correct.

https://www.ownerinfo.landrover.com/

Anyway,i think the Dipstick issue has just about been worn out[smilebigeye]
Each to their own[biggrin]

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Originally Posted by Tombie

By the logic above - why don’t we have a crank handle still installed [emoji56]

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My first car did have a crank handle.

One of my two cars (the 2a) has a crankhandle. Very helpful when you have inadvertently left something switched on over the weekend!

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Originally Posted by Arapiles

My first car did have a crank handle.

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My first several cars had crank handles, and it's one of the reasons I loved Range Rovers - until they dropped it too. (Had it longer than most)

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Originally Posted by JDNSW

One of my two cars (the 2a) has a crankhandle. Very helpful when you have inadvertently left something switched on over the weekend!

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My 74 RRC has the crank handle hole in the front bumper.

Pretty sure the rebuilt 70's 350 in this RRC, with 700,000 k's on it post rebuild, has a crank handle fitting in the crank snout, but they didn't quite line up when I tried it once.

DL