Gas fillers and other musings

Nothing is sacred. No standardization at all. Which side is your filler on?

Ranger-Left
Cougar-Right
Dodge-Left
Tbird 92-Right
Tbird 86-Right

How do you blow your horn?

Ranger, Tbird 86, Tbird 92, Dodge-Center of the steering wheel

82 Cougar- you simply have to rember that the bozo's put in on the end of the turn signal stalk. Simple in a road rage situation.

How about releasing the seat belt?

Ranger-center button on the buckle
Cougar-same as Ranger
Tbird 92 and 86 same
Dodge-push the center all day. Ooops the button is on the top of the buckle.

Change oil filter-don't get me started.

Battery location is a good one. Under the hood, right? Not so fast. The Dodge has the battery in the left front wheel well. I'm sure the owners' manual is correct that the wheel does not have to be removed!

Nobody can standardize setting the clock. Typically you have to figure out the code after reading the 3 chapter of the four book of the owners manual. Wrong! It depends on who manufactured the radio.

Spare tires: OMG!

Are they inside, outside and how much disassembly is require to get at one only to find out it's flat or a mini-spare that cannot be used on the rear because of the locking differential. Take the tire off the front, install the mini, rejack the car in the rear where the flat is and install the big tire that used to be on the front. What brain surgeon thought up that one.:confused:

How about remote trunk release.

In the glove box.
One the floor next to the driver's seat
On the dash board
In the console

Power windows, this is a good one. Just don't get in a unfamiliar car at 110* You'll die of head stroke figuring it out.

Pulling switch up makes window go down
Pushing switch down make window go up.
Push the top of the button and window goes up
Reverse to make window go down.

Key fobs. This is absolutely nuts.

Push unlock once and drivers' door unlocks, push twice for all door locks. Don't accidentily push panic at midnight, the neighbors hate that.

Some cars the driver's window lowers 1 inch when you unlock the door. Good in a rain storm. What if the window doesn't drop? The door will not unlock. That's convenient.

I also don't think ANY cruise control systems are alike.

Buttons on steering wheel. These work great and are simple.
Stalk mounted on left
Stalk mounted on right

Don't ever drive or rent a BMW with i-drive. It took 15 minutes to get the car started on the TV show Top Gear. Setting a radio station was out of the question.

OK I'm done ranting now. When you have a small fleet like I do it does get rediculous.

 

I'm all for ranting...I do it a lot!
But I have to say, I'm kind of glad some things haven't been standardized (another word of the feds getting involved in every aspect of the car experience.)

Remember push-button transmissions...the feds forced those to go away with the standardization of PRNDL.
All those ridiculous symbols embossed into everything? Feds.

I guess an example of easing up on regs that has made things worse IMO is headlamp regs...now everything looks like windswept slits, instead of the old lamps I like.

Bumpers...well, don't get me started!

Oh well, not sure what the heck I'm talking about, but that rant felt great!

David

 

Tbird?
Have you been watching Andy Roony again?
Good Read.

 

He's on a roll...

 

T,
lay off the coffee. !!!!!!


my fillers are all on the drivers side.
(the wifes mercury doesnt have a fuel filler cap!)

the buick has tab switches for windows, pull back for down, forward for up

the truck has these crank thingy's that put up the windows!

both cars have center horns, the truck has buttons on the spokes if the steering wheel

 

Yeah, Chrysler engineers were given the problem of what to do about crowded engine compartments. (I would have told them to make the engines more efficient so you don't need all the emissions plumbing, but they don't listen to me...) Anyway, they decided that the battery could be put down low, tucked behind the bumper cover. Only thing is...they only had to engineer how to install the battery the first time, n ot how to replace one. Poor engineering.......

 

TBird, you should've heard Henry Ford criticising Adam's invention of Woman!

Good ranting guys!

 

Tbrd, how about hood releases? After working at a Ford dealer for so long, I never could understand why Ford didn't make all hood releases the same. Okay, the first one's pretty easy to find; they're usually under the dash and fairly visible. But the second one where you have to put your hand under the hood to release it? Forget about it. No two are the same and they're always counter intuitive. I never have been able to find one just feeling around; always have to bend over and look for the fool thing.

 

You got that right. You pull the internal handle and you get 1" to feel around for the secondary latch. Some on the left, some on the right, some in the middle and none feel like a release.

 

I have a bit of standardization in my 3, all the same dash, all the same control locations, wagon gas on the left, other 2 rear center (Toronado behind plate, 88 has a door in the center of the rear bumper)

all 3 hood releases very similar (2 are identical, Toronado a bit different hood)

cruise = same on all
lights = same on all 3
wipers = same on all 3
clocks = same on all 3

I had a bit of a plan in mind....

 

TBird, I hear ya.

My nextdoor neighbor, who is also my cousin, just turned 80. She had an 85 TBird since 87 and it has recently started to give her problems. Her granddaughter just traded that car in for a 2001 Honda Civic. My cousin came over to ask me how to turn on the lights. She was used to a rocker switch on the dash (although her TBird lights were auto, she drives with her lights on during the day, too). It took a couple minutes for me to figure out that her lights are on the turn signal stalk. I've had cars with pull-switches (used to be the norm, I think). I've had rocker switches, push-buttons and turning switches. I've never had the switch on the end of the turn signal stalk before.

My Park Avenue has a pull-switch, but the lights are completely automatic, so I rarely have to use the switch. However, the trunk button is just below (or above... :confused the fuel door opener, somewhat under the dash. Every once in a while, when I pull up to the gas pump, I hit the wrong button and open the trunk, instead of the filler door, and the gas station attendant will just go and close the trunk right away...he must see that mistake often.

Last week, I test-drove the new Buick LaCrosse. The Parking Brake is now controlled by a button on the console, works like a lot of power window buttons these days...pull up to engage, push down to release (or maybe vice-versa). It was crazy!

 

gas station attendant??? what year are we in?

 

hey in jersey, you arent allowed to pump your own gas!

 

Not the year we're in...it's the state we're in. In Oregon, it's illegal to pump your own gas.

In New Jersey, they recently changed their laws to allow self-serve, from what I've heard.

We're the last holdouts.

 

I need to move