Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

Perc said:
Can’t trust customers to know where to put fuel
anymore?
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Apparently not! I wonder if this is a response to an incident or just some BP executive who is personally clueless and assumes everyone else is.
 
Matt2000 said:
I wonder if this is a response to an incident or just some BP executive who is personally clueless and assumes everyone else is.
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I've watched the Late Break Shown episode on the Honda Anyone (can't be assed to spell it correctly) and I just love how Jonny Smith basically made the question "WTF is this shit?" into a 25 minute video, that despite being about one of the most drab cars on the market is actually somewhat entertaining.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIB4NhE6WYc
 
Matt2000 said:
Apparently not! I wonder if this is a response to an incident or just some BP executive who is personally clueless and assumes everyone else is.
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Isnt there some rule saying you cant fill up a jerrycan that is in the boot? Therefore the attendant must be able to see where you’re putting the fuel, because a loose jerrycan in the boot can go kablooey?
 
NooDle said:
Isnt there some rule saying you cant fill up a jerrycan that is in the boot? Therefore the attendant must be able to see where you’re putting the fuel, because a loose jerrycan in the boot can go kablooey?
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I've never actually seen this but I suppose there could be. On most forecourts I wouldn't expect anyone to be watching most of the time, too many pumps and they also have to run a small supermarket. It's still common for people to fill up a can of fuel and then store it loosely in the car.
 
Matt2000 said:
You only noticed now? They told me you were a Patron so I thought you would've heard it straight away. My cryptic message in March clearly wasn't enough. :p

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Ah yeah, I've only just now caught up on my podcast backlog. Now it finally makes sense.
 
I'm quite strict on not spoiling things, so I didn't say anything else.
 
I’ve been working on the boat this week, installing a new chart plotter among other 12-volty things. Now, this is not a complicated boat and it doesn’t have a complicated electrical system.

One of the many times I switched the battery isolator off and back on this Wednesday I noticed the fuel gauge barely rising at all. It did move, but slowly and stopped half way across the red. The tank is almost full so it should go up the second the main 12V gets turned on. This was weird and in my brain, a flaccid fuel gauge means VERY low voltage. The navigation lights didn’t power on either, nor did the plotter. I turned it off and back on again, didn’t make a difference.

So what I did next was to turn the key to start without the dead man’s switch plugged in, to keep it from firing up beacuse I was on dry land. This worked fine, the engine cranked like normal and this trick made everything else come to life.

What I think happened is that the current draw from the starter caused the guts of the battery isolator to spark and temporarily make a better connection. Am I right in thinking this might be the case? I can’t come up with any other explanation.

And I guess I should add that all the 12-volty things I installed myself this week is on a new marine fuse box separate from the factory stuff, wired to the negative battery post and to the switched side of the battery isolator. I didn’t mess with anything the factory put in.

Yes, I already changed the battery isolator and terminals, cleaned everything and lubed the posts with battery grease etc. Not starting can be quite a huge issue on the sea. But I’d like to know what caused it.
 
Bad earth connections can cause all kinds of weird issues, sometimes a jolt of current can heat up connections and fix the issue, only for them to cool down again and act weird. Checking those and cleaning any connections is the first thing to do. Shit like brake lights staying on and flashing with indicators are all caused by earth faults.

I've got a weird earth issue on the bobtail that I still haven't properly fixed. Sometimes when turning the key to the start position the engine will turn once and then all the electrics shut off. Everything goes dead. If you wiggle the earth cable, which doesn't actually seem to move, it will reconnect and the chances are it'll be fine after that.

I think changing the cable will get rid of it. Unplugging to glow plugs helped because they would draw a decent amount of current. I guess something is heating up and warping/moving.
 
Today I saw two different city busses stopped after each having an accident with a car. And I myself got nearly sideswiped by a taxi not able to do two-lane left turning. Idiots day, I guess.
 
It's a world wide pandemic. I was rearended yesterday in one of our track trucks ON A RURAL HIGHWAY because the old man in his fake Shelby Mustang was going well over the posted 55 mph* (90 kph) and said to the highway patrol officer that I was, "Stopped in the road". The highway patrolman didn't buy it and I was able to drive the truck away. The Mustang on the other hand was hauled off on a flatbed. I mean what kind of idiot does twice the posted speed limit on a busy Friday afternoon, hit someone, then tries to blame the other party?

*The distance he covered from the time I first saw the car to when he hit me meant he was going over 100 mph. He's lucky he didn't hurt me or kill himself.

Honestly, I don't get it anymore. I'm not sure what it's like elsewhere, but people seem to believe that traffic laws don't apply to them and they can do whatever they want. Example: I was riding with Mrs. CraigB in the Odyssey, we had waited at a red light while the opposite traffic got their turn. Our light turns green, we are about 2/3 of the way through the intersection making a left turn, and this older gentleman on our left heading in the opposite direction that we are turning into, just doesn't stop at the stop line. He got uncomfortably close to hitting the van. It's a tight turn because of a traffic island so they really need to stop at that line.
 
CraigB said:
It's a world wide pandemic. I was rearended yesterday in one of our track trucks ON A RURAL HIGHWAY because the old man in his fake Shelby Mustang was going well over the posted 55 mph* (90 kph) and said to the highway patrol officer that I was, "Stopped in the road". The highway patrolman didn't buy it and I was able to drive the truck away. The Mustang on the other hand was hauled off on a flatbed. I mean what kind of idiot does twice the posted speed limit on a busy Friday afternoon, hit someone, then tries to blame the other party?

*The distance he covered from the time I first saw the car to when he hit me meant he was going over 100 mph. He's lucky he didn't hurt me or kill himself.

Honestly, I don't get it anymore. I'm not sure what it's like elsewhere, but people seem to believe that traffic laws don't apply to them and they can do whatever they want. Example: I was riding with Mrs. CraigB in the Odyssey, we had waited at a red light while the opposite traffic got their turn. Our light turns green, we are about 2/3 of the way through the intersection making a left turn, and this older gentleman on our left heading in the opposite direction that we are turning into, just doesn't stop at the stop line. He got uncomfortably close to hitting the van. It's a tight turn because of a traffic island so they really need to stop at that line.
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Damn! That is a hard hit! I do hope that you are okay.
 
GRtak said:
Damn! That is a hard hit! I do hope that you are okay.
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Surprisingly I'm fine, the truck needs a new trailer plug and bumper (I'll need to look at it real close to make sure there is not other things that needs replaced/fixed). Obviously he wasn't going 100 at the time of impact, but it was enough for a good bump. I refused to talk to the guy, he obviously has no regard of others (or himself) and I knew I wouldn't be able to say anything to him without losing my temper.
 
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