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People are probably far less likely to even skim a 500 page manual. Personally, I’d have one book that details vital vehicle maintenance and safety info, and another for all the superfluous crap. Easier to stress that the entire maintenance manual needs to be read, and the other book can be skimmed if the consumer can be bothered.
But, I’d speculate that it’s not really a user manual, rather a grimoire full of spells for warding off evil civil litigation attorneys. One of my vehicles has a recall on the owners’ manual because it failed to explicitly detail what the self-explanatory child restraint stickers mean (though, the manual does detail how to properly use child restraints). Pretty much everything else you buy these days generally comes with a small pamphlet with warranty info and a URL to the user manual PDF (or, if it’s sufficiently cheap, doesn’t even have any documentation available).
Mad props to those who forged that 500 page manual though. I would not want to be a technical writer.
Yeah, I definitely missed the train of thought that subscribes to the idea that bulky, awkward steering wheels armed with shaped charges pointing directly at your face would save lives.
TLS FTW!
I wish more forums saw the importance of security certificates. Thanks for putting out that little extra investment and effort!
[quote=”Evil-i” post=169033]I’ve got this irrational thing for the old “personal luxury” cars, like the Cordoba and Monte Carlo.[/quote]
Ah, the era of weird front fascias. I can definitely empathize, I love me a land yacht. I think the Cordoba might have had something to do with my Gran Fury fetish. Had an ’83 Cordoba when I was 18 (no, unfortunately it didn’t have Corinthian leather). Can’t beat that leg room. Wish I knew anything about cars at the time, the thing was pristine. I pretty much wrecked it, stored it irresponsibly, and let it get stolen.
Yeah, cameras are largely good for prosecution rather than apprehension. I do IT work for a restaurant chain, I get to go fetch the surveillance footage for the cops/media every time one of the shops gets robbed (which is fairly frequent, especially around the holidays). We’ve never received a tip off from surveillance footage. But, on the other hand, a cop occasionally recognizes the perp – We had one guy break into a shop and literally rip the safe from the floor (protip: if you’re installing a safe, use all four bolt holes. Otherwise, you can just rock it back and forth until the bottom snaps out.) Soon as we pulled up the footage, one of the cops knew exactly who it was. Like 451Mopar said, cameras will do best on the outside. Hard to get a decent wide angle inside a car. You’d probably just get a good shot of the crook’s ear.
I can see the commercials for the class-action lawsuit now, but I really like onyx’s seat tazer idea.
You could also get one of those flame-thrower theft deterrent devices they sell in South Africa:
Probably the same reason I spend $90 on computer power supplies when one can be had for $10 – because the $90 PSU is cheaper than replacing the $200 motherboard when the $10 PSU destroys it.
The radiator can drain and still be sufficiently clogged to restrict flow. It’s especially suspect since you were burning coolant, as leaky gaskets allow combustion contaminates into the cooling system. Also make sure the fins on the outside of the radiator aren’t mucked up and air can freely flow through them.
Check that both cooling fans turn on when the engine reaches temp. Also, make sure the thermostat’s in correctly. I’ve had them go cockeye in the thermostat housing when I thought it had properly ‘snapped’ in.
Could well be trapped air – I know my Neon needed to be burped quite thoroughly after being drained. Hopefully that’s the case.Good luck!
Nice! Sounds like you carried on in the safest way possible. Glad you found the problem – and even better, it was a free fix!
Congrats! Nice and clean. Doesn’t much suit my tastes so I’ve never paid one much mind before, but that’s a pretty cool car.
Wow, $500 for that Jeep!? I don’t think I could even find a salvage for that price in my neck of the woods. I mean, not that I would want to…
The likelihood of an incident is probably pretty low, but the risk is certainly very high. I wouldn’t. Not unless I had an expensive fiber optic scope, anyway. Even then, it’d make me nervous – but I tend to err on the side of caution. Personally, I’d just drop the tank and remove the filler neck for inspection, but that’s a reasonably easy task on my vehicles. I don’t know how much of a PITA that is on an ’03 Kia Rio.
[quote=”Stewielax8″ post=168758]i unplugged my battery with the car running and it continued to run[/quote]
Don’t do that. Your alternator outputs alternating current, your vehicle’s systems use direct current. AC can’t be rectified to DC without the battery, so when you remove the battery’s lead while the engine’s running you end up with large transient spikes of alternating current traversing your electrical system – not a good thing at all. It wasn’t even a good idea in old points engines. Next time, just measure the voltage at the battery while running. Should be about 14.5V.
OBD-I systems sometimes have codes stored when the CEL is not on. Try running a self-test:
Let’s see….
First was a 1976 Ford Econoline, 5.8L. Junk – yet was stolen
Next, 1983 Chrysler Cordoba, 5.2L. Loved that car – stolen
1996 Plymouth Neon, 2.4L. Nobody wanted to steal that one. Sold for scrap.
1983 Ford Econoline, 7.5L. Stolen
1988 Ford Thunderbird, 3.8L. Parked out front, has effectively taken the Cordoba’s place in my shriveled black heart.
2003 Chevy Venture, 3.4L. Also parked out front.This thing:
1976 E-150 351w C6.
Was a total piece of crap. Also turned out the title was no good. I think I put more miles on it on the tow strap than under its own power. Didn’t pay a dime for it though, so was a fine educational experience.
Edit: ‘Course, it was fully assembled when I got it…
[quote=”myfavecoupe_” post=167739] I’ve read the patina protects the copper from further corrosion so I’m starting to think it’s not a big deal.[/quote]
It’ll reach a point that oxygen has a difficult time reaching the copper beneath which dramatically slows oxidation, but any wire in an automobile will be long gone before that point.
A wire might put up with it for quit a while, but the stuff spreads like cancer. Once it reaches a PCB, the thin copper traces are toast.
