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My article today applies to women more than men, you’re definitely an intuitive bunch that’s for sure and when it comes to your vehicle I don’t think that you should ever ignore your instincts. A couple of examples I would like to give you makes a mockery of myself as I am a trade qualified mechanic with ten years experience, three of those running my own workshop and the fact that it was my wife that set me straight. I tend to avoid family bbq’s and the like now as the topic of cars seems to raise it’s head more often and of course Belinda has great delight in recounting these sad events!

The first one was not long after I had serviced our family car. Out of the blue Belinda said that the power steering fluid must be low. I asked her how she knew that and she said that the steering feels “different”. I asked her to define different and the reply was that it was “just different”. Having not long serviced the car, I knew that the power steering system had no leaks and I had checked the level at the time. As I usually did I told her not to worry about it and kept working. While I was working away Belinda had lifted the bonnet and checked the fluid level herself. Well you can imagine the ear-full I got when it was down to the minimum mark on the resevoir! The crazy thing is the power steering was still not leaking and although it was down to the minimum level there was still enough fluid in the system for it to operate correctly. How she felt anything “different” was beyond me, there is no logical explanation for it! Another crazy thing is that the level has not dropped at all in the last six months or so! The only thing I can put it down to is that I needed a lesson in listening to my wife, and I was going to get it whether it was logical or not. Belinda 1 - Craig 0

I feel I have an excuse for the next example of stupid male behavior. I had worked very late the night before, I think I got home around 12:30am. We had a tune-up to do on a early model Ford Cortina. Very basic stuff indeed, not rocket surgery that’s for sure. I changed the points, spark plugs, decided the ignition leads had seen better days so I replaced them, went to fire the thing up and it wouldn’t start! Even worse it was back-firing through the carby. What had I done? Re-checked points gap, checked spark plug gap, checked for fuel in the carb bowl, checked static ignition timing, still no go. As I started scratching my head over comes the boss. Have you checked this? Have you checked that? Yes dear, do you think I’m an idiot? No reply to that one! So you’ve changed the points, spark plugs and leads, hey. Yes dear. What about the firing order? What, where did that come from! I didn’t even know she knew such a phrase! “Yes” I said. “The firing order would be 1-3-4-2, like every other 4 cylinder engine in existance. “Shouldn’t you check that in the tune-up guide?” says she. “No, every other 4 cylinder I’ve worked on has this firing order”. “So you didn’t check it before you changed the leads?” The look I gave her must have been enough and off she trotted. She returned about five minutes later and said “try 1-4-3-2″. “Can’t be” I said. I had no other ideas of my own so I changed the leads around to this “new” firing order. No need to say what happened next! I think I heard her singing to herself “go belinda, go belinda”. Bugger! Belinda 2 - Craig a big fat zero!

What I’m trying to say is never ignore your feelings that something isn’t right or if your car feels “different”. Have it checked out and if your mechanic is one of these people like I was and think they know everything about cars, change mechanics! When you are the one that spends the most time driving your vehicle you get to know how it should sound and feel. If something is out of place it may be well worth your while to have it checked. This could potentially save you thousands if you get to a problem early, before it has done more damage. Unfortunately many men have an ego problem (like I did) and because the majority of mechanics are still men you are probably going to have a problem explaining that your car feels or sounds different. Be persistant though because as I’ve explained us mechanics don’t know everything (surprised aren’t you!) and familiarity with your vehicle counts for a lot. I know I drove somewhere between 5 to 10 different cars a day, but I only had time for a quick drive around the block and that is definitely not enough to pick up on what is different about the car from last time it was there for work. So trust your female intuition whenever you think you may have a problem with your vehicle! Take care and Belinda and I wish you all a happy and safe holiday season.

Craig

  Queensland transport have finally come up with changes to the licensing system for new drivers. Not everyone is going to agree that this is a good thing, but with so many young people dying on our roads these days I for one hope that they have a positive affect. Changes include;

• Lowering learners permit age to 16 and increasing the licence period to 12 months.
• Gaining 100 hours of supervised on road experience for learners under 25
• Restricting mobile phone use including hands free etc. for learners and provisional drivers under 25 while under instruction.
• Introduction of two phased provisional licensing system.
• Compulsory L and P plates.
• Passenger restrictions for under 25’s.
• High powered vehicle restrictions for under 25’s.
• Hazard perception test after 12 months on provisional licence.
• Late night driving and other restrictions for disqualified and suspended drivers.

  In my opinion most of these changes are no-brainers, there has been too many young lives lost already. Take care.

Craig

  I feel that this subject has been ignored for way too long, and the relevant people in Government and Transport sectors have something to answer for. From the point of view of a parent and also being someone who can remember (if somewhat vaguely!) the process of getting my own licence, I believe the system used is inadequate. I am basing my opinion on my own experiences and the opinions of many young people I speak with.

  When I sat for my learners permit test, I could not believe that there were only ten questions to answer! Ten questions to get right and I can legally drive with someone in the passengers seat trying to tell me what to do! Come time to sit for my provisional licence and oh no, 30 questions and a drive around the block! Show the examiner what he wants to see, reverse park, hill start with the handbrake, use turn signals etc and you’re home and hosed! Now legally allowed in a machine that kills hundreds of people every year! Now before someone jumps in and sets me straight, I know things have changed for the better in the handful or so of years since I was there (ok, two handfulls) and I am only speaking about Australia here but I can’t see how this system should have ever been so easy.

  I shudder everytime I hear of young people being killed in road accidents, of which there has been alot in the last couple of weeks, but I also wonder if more was done to prepare these young drivers for what they may encounter out there on our roads would there be less of these tragedies occuring? Unfortunately alot of the time speed seems to be a contributing factor in these accidents. I know and I think alot of people will agree with me that at the age you are let loose on the roads you think and feel like you are invinsible. Speaking from a male perspective here, I am not sure whether the fairer gender feels the same or not. This is a dangerous combination, let loose in a motor vehicle and that feeling that it will never happen to me. What I’m trying to say is that you will never stop young people being young people, be it through peer pressure or the adrenalin rush or whatever reason they are still going to flirt with danger no matter how many times you tell them not to.

  Would educating people what to do if they find themselves in a potentially dangerous situation improve their chances? I believe so. I know I stepped straight out of the driving school car and into my mothers V8 Ford Fairlane. Had I succumbed to the (strong) desire to push that car to it’s limits in the first few weeks (or months for that matter) of getting my licence I probably wouldn’t be sitting here writing this today! Say for instance a wet road, limited slip diff ( which the Fairlane had ), an itchy right foot and before you know it you’re sliding around all over the shop ( and probably into one!). Would being able to reverse park or do a hill start have helped anyone then? I think not! I’m not saying I didn’t do things in the car I know I shouldn’t have but I was allways mindful of bringing the car back in one piece, mum loved that car! Young people are allways going to push the barriers with anything, driving being no exception. Being educated on how to react to a variety of situations is the key.

 These days our cars are also alot more powerful in standard form than days gone by and yes they have features like ABS and Airbags etc making them safer, but also the number of cars on our roads has increased which in my way of thinking increases the likelyhood of finding yourself in trouble. Defensive driving, watching what everyone is doing on the road, how to react when you find yourself losing control of the car, tips on how to keep your car in a safe condition, emergency braking etc etc, that’s what young people need to know about I believe.

  Some of you may think I’m being a fuddy duddy and trying to take the fun out of driving, but I can tell you I have been modifying cars all my life and love nothing more than to have a healthy V8 or Turbo 4 or whatever you like under my right foot. I am currently building a replica VK SS Commodore which once fininshed will have around 300 rear wheel horsepower. That car will be awesome to drive but at the same time there is a time and place to really get into it, on the dragstrip! In my opinion, my life and the lives of the people around me are enough to make me stop and think about doing things I know I shouldn’t be doing on the street.

  I would love to hear what other people think on this subject, so please if you come to this blog and have an opinion, let it be heard!

Craig