Until the Rosetta Stone was discovered in 1799, no living person could say for sure what those inscrutable ancient Egyptian characters we call hieroglyphics were trying to convey.
It’s become not much different inside many new cars.
Instead of plain English – check oil, for instance – there is an inscrutable symbol that lights up when the oil level (or pressure) is low. What could it possibly mean?
How could one know?
That light lit up while my sister was driving her Subaru Crosstrek recently. Not knowing what the light meant, she puzzled over it and kept driving. This is generally not a good idea. Engines tend to not run long when they’ve lost oil pressure, as from running too low (or out) of oil.
It is why in the past cars had an immediately comprehensible “oil” light that lit up if they did not have a gauge that registered oil pressure. Such lights were often characterized as “idiot lights” by those who esteemed gauges – chiefly because when the light came on, it was often already on the verge of too late. A oil pressure gauge will give you more warning that there’s a problem developing with the lubrication system – just the same as a temperature gauge will let you know the engine is beginning to run hot before it actually overheats – if you pay attention to the gauges.
Idiot lights were meant for the people who didn’t pay attention. The idea was that at least they’d notice the light burning bright in the dash and – because it was impossible to not know what the light meant (unless you were illiterate) – the driver would immediately understand there was a serious problem and stop driving the car immediately.
But when the curious little icon lit up in the dash display of my sister’s car, she understandably had no clue what to make of it. How could she be expected to know what it meant since it is not clear what it means? The icon shows what looks like a tea pot with a squiggly line underneath.
It could mean Ra is displeased. Or perhaps Anubis sends salutations?
Maybe time to stop for tea – in Egyptian?
And so she kept on driving. Luckily, it was just that her engine was about two quarts low and so she made it home without her Subaru’s engine locking up or suffering some other oil-related catastrophic failure.
But that could easily have happened.
It would have been much less likely to happen if an idiot light had illuminated. “Oil” is not hard to understand. Nor the implications. One does not even need to be someone who knows how to change the oil to understand that when the “oil” light comes on while the engine is running, it is time to shut off the engine and check the oil.
It is ironic that as car dash displays have become more “informative” they convey less actually relevant information. The dash displays in most new cars tell you all about such near-irrelevances as how many miles-per-gallon the car is delivering (something that you already know and could have a good idea about by watching the fuel gauge in relation to how many miles you’ve driven) and whether you’re driving in the “green” or “eco” zone. Some have supplementary holographic projection displays that tell you how fast you’re driving – something the speedometer already does – and what the speed limit is on the road you’re on.
But critical things such as the oil and temperature are often not displayed – or displayed inscrutably. There is also no longer commonality, adding to the confusion. I have to decrypt what the icons are meant to convey in each new vehicle I test drive because the symbology varies from manufacturer. There is no longer the sensible standardization – and easily understood language – that existed even in the Bad Old Days when very few cars except for performance cars came equipped with gauges. Most cars – even luxury cars – had a speedometer and a fuel gauge and that was typically it as far as gauges.
But they did have those crucial idiot lights.
If the oil pressure dipped below a certain threshold – because the oil pump was failing or maybe because the oil level had gotten too low – the light would come on and you would know and understand. Only an idiot wouldn’t understand. Hence those lights were not so idiotic, were they? And they were the same – whether you happened to be driving a Chevy or a Ford or a Chrysler.
“Oil” meant oil. Just as “temp” meant temperature.
So, what happened?
Well, one thing was the mass importation of foreign cars from countries where English is not the native language and so “oil” is as inscrutable to the people who live in those countries as あぶら – that’s oil in Japanese – is to English-speaking Americans. So the makers of those cars decided to go with icons rather than English.
And if you don’t know what those icons mean, you’re as clueless as someone staring at a row of hieroglyphics in an Egyptian tomb before someone found the Rosetta Stone.
. . .
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I require help and don’t want to wait for the “Eric Answers” button to fail…
2010 Nissan Cube
Failing at stops and decellerations.
Engine fails to come to idle and then fails.
Sometimes at stop.
Not a code to be had.
For my dad. 🙂
Hi BaDnOn,
It’s likely one of several sensors, such as mass airflow or maybe the Idle Air Control motor…
Thanks, Eric.
That’s what I think as well, but it’s a bizarre and intermittent problem.
OK, I decided to GooGull it and the AI response was, “The most common reasons are the fuel system, air intake or ignition.” Gee, lack of air, fuel or spark, who knew? [If this is The Great Threat of AI we have nothing to worry about]
However, this might be of some help…
https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/nissan-cube-stalling-when-stopping.1086606/
Haha, welcome to the future, Mark!
I believe I read this thread, and it concurs with the MAF sensor being dirty. I’ll relay this again to my dad.
He loves that mobile toaster for some reason, but he really wants something old-school with a carb. If that opportunity presents itself one of these days…
Idle air motor sounds suspect to me.
When an EFI engine is at idle, there is a small solenoid-activated valve that ports air around the butterfly valve in the throttle body. This allows the engine to get enough air to idle when the butterfly is fully closed.
Pull the IAM off and try cleaning it out with some carb cleaner and lube it lightly to help it move freely.
Typically a clogged IAM will show a surging / poor idle, or if it gets bad enough, no idle at all.
Thanks, ‘Picyou.
If you work on cars and trucks from about 1996 on, it’s worth your while to get a cheap OBDII diagnostic tool….it can give you codes, likely causes and allows you to reset codes in order to limp home…..I bought mine in 2019 and it has saved my bacon more than once……most recently last week when I got PO0174, PO0175 and another related potentially to the mass airflow sensor and/or PCV valve……turns out that my air filter was long overdue for changing and cleaning the MAF sensor cleared up the problem…..it can also check to see if your alternator is properly charging your battery. In my case, I have a 2007 Toyota Avalon with 295K miles on it and I’m shooting for 350K before buying a slightly but not much newer model. Don’t get me wrong, I rue the day I sold my 1967 VW beetle but that ship has sailed. Eric’s Frontier is a lot like my 2002 Tacoma….drive it til it drops and further. They don’t make them like that anymore.
P.S. – if you have a good relationship with a professional mechanic, you can get every value off of every lead on the ECU…..
Second this. Scan tools are worth their weight in gold. I just recently picked up a new Launch X431.
Giuseppe,
That is a good idea, and I really should have one of those on hand. My older trucks are OBDI, but the it would be a great thing to have for the newer vehicles. I do think it’s strange that my dad’s Cube isn’t throwing codes, though.
If it’s not throwing a code, that’s actually a huge part of knowing what it isn’t. It means you can rule out any bad sensors. Usually that will mean the mass airflow sensor is good, because the MAS is a primary input for fuel mapping. So no code will usually mean the MAS is ok. It just means you have to start your search with things that aren’t sensored. As the idle air bypass isn’t a sensor but rather just a solenoid, it usually won’t generate a code, and is also an excellent place to start the search for idle problems.
Hey BaDnOn –
I concur with Eric and everyone else about the air filter, mass air flow sensor and idle air control cleaning, and checking the battery for full charge. I’d like to add that you could address the fuel side of the equation, too, by changing the fuel filter (if equipped) and either running a couple bottles of fuel system cleaner through the tank, or having the fuel injectors professionally cleaned.
I say that because I worked on a friend’s Ford Escort years ago with the exact same problem of idle failure and stalling and I swapped out the fuel filter and it improved somewhat. Then he had the injectors cleaned and flow tested and it ran like a new car.
A lot of times you’ll get a little water in the gas tank, and because gasoline and water don’t mix, it will pool at the bottom (near the pickup) if there’s enough of it. Adding some fuel system cleaner / injector cleaner, whatever, can help a lot because alcohol being miscible in both gas and water, acts an emulsifier, allowing the water to mix with the gas and get cycled through the system.
These icons are ridiculous. That “oil” symbol looks like the oil can that was used in the Wizard of Oz. And, notice the “check engine light”. It has a comical “air cleaner” on top and what appears to be a belt driven fan out front.
Sheesh.
Straws in the wind:
1. “The insolvency proceeding of [motorcycle maker] KTM group is the largest bankruptcy ever filed in Upper Austria,” according to Petra Wögerbauer of KSV1870, the credit protection agency managing creditors’ claims. Upper Austria is the federal state of Austria where KTM’s Mattighofen headquarters are located.
‘Saving KTM as a going concern is vital to the economy of the region, also because if KTM AG, the company responsible for manufacturing KTM, Husqvarna and GASGAS motorcycles goes under, then all of the related businesses go under as well.
‘For that reason, KTM’s creditors have an interest in the survival of the company. If the insolvency proceedings fail, they are likely to receive much less than the 30% of outstanding debts owed to them.’
https://motomatters.com/news/2025/01/24/ktm_s_24_billion_debts_largest.html
2. ‘Polaris, known for producing ATVs, UTVs, jet skis, and snowmobiles, surprised investors with guidance for a 65% year-over-year decline in adjusted earnings per share for 2025, coming in far below expectations.
‘Citi analyst James Hardiman told clients earlier that the downward revision was very “alarming,” warning that President Trump’s tariff battle with China could result in additional downward pressure on EPS for the full year.’ — ZeroHedge, Jan. 28
These companies are in what sector? That’s right — consumer discretionary. Peeps are not feeling flush, and are not buying costly toys. Recessionary winter is coming. Orange Man Hoover will be blamed.
UTV’s and ATV’s and the like have been ridiculously overpriced in the last decade or so. A Polaris Ranger is like $15,000. I’ve bought cars for less.
Hi Jim,
Just wait – it gets better! On deck for tomorrow is an article about Kawasaki’s new hybrid bike…
Hybrid bike from Kawasaki?
What does it have, the weight of an 1100 with the power of a 650? 😀
Pretty close! Article just went live…
Eric, my son sent me something from Kawasaki two days ago from Instagram maybe, that they were bringing back a two stroke. It looked legit.
How far does an ICE go minus alternators electricity?
Very useful instrument upgrade since we ALL drive electric cars already. The charger is very good too
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D9R6N8SN?ref_=icdp_ba_mweb_mb_pd_bap_m_grid_rp_0_3_gf&clientRefMarker=pd_bap_m_grid_rp_0_3_gf&heartsTeamIdentifier=buyagain&psc=1&heartDisabled=true
Off-topic, but I see, at this time, the Senate is voting on confirming one Sean Duffy for Transportation Secretary.
Surely Mr. Duffy is an Eric-Petersian critic of government’s oppressive and overbearing role in transportation, right?
First peek at his Wikipedia entry yields:
“Sean Patrick Duffy (born October 3, 1971) is an American politician, prosecutor, lobbyist, and reality television personality who is currently a co-host of The Bottom Line on Fox Business…”
*Sigh*
Modern cars also have idiot gauges, not just idiot lights.
Look at the temperature, for example. Most cars have these. Once the car is warmed up, that needle is rock steady, in the middle of the temperature range. If your car overheats, it’ll suddenly stop pretending everything is ok, and immediately jumps into the hot zone. You don’t see it approaching the hot side, because the ECU hides that. It’s normal for engine temperature to fluctuate in a drive. It should be cool on the highway, can get a bit hotter stuck in gridlock.
The problem with real gauges is that people will complain to the dealer that they’re running warm or cool and it results in service visits, so manufacturers dumbed down the gauges. Now, to get actual readings, you need to read the values from OBD-II via your code scanner.
Don’t get me started on electric oil level gauges in lieu of a dipstick…
“The problem with real gauges is that people will complain to the dealer that they’re running warm or cool and it results in service visits, so manufacturers dumbed down the gauges.”
Bingo.
OEMs just trying to deal with customers that have absolutely no idea what gauges are for.
Then you end up with something like a 2012 BMW X5 that has no useful gauges other than the Speedo, Tach, and fuel gauge.
The ultimate BS is the fuel economy gauge. If you’re heavy in the throttle it goes to something low like 12 mpg. If you are light in the throttle it goes high – 50 mpg.
The problem is that when stopped at a traffic light or idling it indicates 50 mpg. Note to idiots that designed this gauge: When stopped and idling, fuel economy is effectively 0 mpg. Face palm! Fail.
You’re just misunderstanding the economy gauge. Every car I’ve had for the past 20 years has had an instant and an average setting, and of course the average is going to show something more than zero when you’re not moving.
The instant shows zero mpg as you’d expect.
> idiot gauges
I like gauges with calibrations, i.e. numbers, on them.
“To measure is to know.”
——- Lord Rayleigh
Dumb, de dumb dumb….down!
Butt, UC, those are *Arabic* numerals.
So, it must be “da Joos,” again, keeping us from Arabic knowledge and wisdom.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovbkDxYWhpY
GD&R 🙂
I was talking’ to the mailman, late last week.
He had a letter in his sweater,
He was stutterin’ bad,
He said. “Things are gettin’ better back in
Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba Baghdad!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F4m-VTan-4
Well, I packed my bags and bought myself a ticket
To the land of the date palm tree
Hello Baghdad airport
And goodbye Tennessee
I just stepped down from the airplane
When I heard my Captain say,
“Whack a whacka, nuke a city,
Whack a whacka, nuke a city,
Would you like to play?”
Let’s play dirty in the Middle East,
We can bomb all day
Rockets fly in the eastern sky
You might die today…
[Help me out, here]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVi67FX_s1A
The day Chevy overheated (garage installation and repair soon!) it was fine for about 30 miles, and though I’m not one to ignore the gauges, it was the idiot light that grabbed my attention.
The temperature must’ve suddenly spiked as the coolant depleted. I believe the culprit was a faulty radiator cap. I quickly pulled over, but it was too late to save it from a likely blown head gasket.
This was one time I would’ve appreciated an “idiot chime” that would’ve sounded at about 220*F or so.
Old Yeller (my 1979 Pontiac Gran Prix) gave me an excellent visual when the cooling system had a problem – Old Faithful level of steam rolling out of the hood and front end, just like the movies! Seam let go on the radiator, 3 miles from home. Made it into the driveway just as the red light came on.
Howdy Eric.
The lessons learned from the Rosetta stone are lessons for all of life. For decades, scholars puzzled over Egyptian hieroglyphs. They struggled to read and understand them, because they presumed the symbols must have some deep, archaic meaning.
The Rosetta stone made it quite clear that the hieroglyphs were merely LETTERS. And, using a simple letter swap, it was discovered that even a child could read Egyptian hieroglyphs. What was once thought nearly impossible to translate, actually became laughingly easy.
The lesson is people tend to overthink things. Especially when you give them degrees and call them “experts”.
Dude – Google try it
You’ll discover that hieroglyphs weren’t deciphered by Joe Blow that was hanging out on a street corner.
How about you stop slandering large swaths of the readership here.
They were translated thanks to the Rosetta stone, genius. It’s literally a translation guide. Stork = A, Wave = B, and so on. As I stated, prior to that, hieroglyphs were thought to be words, not letters. Not one thing you said disproved anything I said, or even took exception to it. All you want to do is hang out on my nuts.
In fact, the Rosetta stone had both Egyptian Hieroglyphs and ancient Greek (which is actually pretty much like modern Greek), so anyone who could speak Greek, could now read Hieroglyphs.
And yet you offer no response about who actually made the connection regarding what the stone was or by being able to read the languages and make the connection between the three of them.
What pray tell is your actual expertise?
Although you seem to be claiming authoritative knowledge on all things ranging from people’s medical problems, to Jewish history, radiation, to how the ancient pyramids were used for three phase power generation.
I mean that’s all well and good but at some point where did all this expertise come from? Since you never offer any sort of citations for your wild claims it’s sort of hard to figure out where all this expertise came from. Especially since you seem to look down on those with an education and have no problem slandering them.
Here’s where you know it’s all bullshit folks:
“Although you seem to be claiming authoritative knowledge on all things”.
We will all now sit and wait for you to cut and paste something which even REMOTELY indicates I’m any kind of “authority”. Surely, I’ve said this somewhere.
I watched doctors kill my grandmother, who died of “liver cancer”.
I watched doctors kill my step father, who died of “colon cancer”.
I watched doctors kill my mother, who died of “lung cancer”.
I chose another path when I started bleeding out of my ass.
And I’m still alive.
If you think this is a claim of “authority”, then you’re more deluded and nut-riding than even I previously thought.
It’s a claim of experience.
Anything you want evidence for, just ask.
This one never does.
it rides nuts.
But “can I get a citation or something for that?” is apparently beneath it.
I won’t pander to your mind games of, “why didn’t you give a citation that I wanted in my mind but was too afraid to ask for.”
I don’t care about you.
Not nearly as much as you seem to care about me. 🙂
LOL.
If someone has no clue what the oiler can symbol means or that funny little temperature symbol,,, how can one be sure they can actually read,,, OIL,,, WATER 🙂
The wifey got an alarm for low water level,,, you know that little floaty thing. Stopped, bought some distilled water, let it cool and topped it off. No prob.
Keep in eye on it Ken. Coolant should not be ‘used’ by the system. It has to be going somewhere.
“The DOGE Team is looking for world-class talent to work long hours identifying/eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse,” DOGE said in a message on X on Sunday. “These are full-time, salaried positions for software engineers, InfoSec engineers, financial analysts, HR professionals, and, in general, all competent/caring people.”
I had to chuckle at this. DOGE is supposed to look for waste, fraud, and abuse. Engineers, financial analysts, HR, but no accountants or auditors. If one is looking for embezzlement or how to drive down costs I have yet to have a client call their HR person or their software engineer to locate it.
My guess is we really don’t want to find fraud or cost savings.
Gotta have some place for those millions of H1B engineers Musk and Trump love.
PCR has a nice write today.It’s a short 5 -10 minute read. I’m not a PCR fan Boi but every now and then he accidentally has a good informative write..
https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2025/01/28/an-economic-lesson-for-president-trump/
Yup – lived it. Worked with lots of h-1b visa holders.
On the one hand you have to feel bad for them. The are truly wage slaves that are paid less and then they are tied to the company and its sponsorship.
On the other, why bother to do the hard work to get a STEM related degree when wages are being artificially lowered by the h-1b visa holders. This becomes a viscous circle that reduces native STEM talent and further justifies the corporate position that they can’t find qualified labor and have to rely on H-1b’s.
This isn’t even inclusive of the difficulty a white male has in trying to gain acceptance into a STEM degree program when the limited number of spots are being allocated to minority groups.
Don’t get me started on the number of women that take up these STEM slots in college, maybe work for 5-10 years and then drop out of the workforce completely to become stay at home mothers. Again, creating a shortage of qualified talent . . . You guessed it . . . Justifying more H-1b hires.
Welcome to Mericanistan!
Hey Raider Girl,
So NOW they want to pay, huh? I’d be happy to work part-time and remote to scan for anomalies/inconsistencies in databases/spreadsheets etc. And hell, I could even engineer a little software these days, being the burgeoning data scientist I am.
But you’re right. I guess auditors/accountants are included in “financial analysts”?
You know, my brother was a CPA, and at one time, would be paid to internally audit companies for unscrupulous practices. He said he quickly learned it wasn’t all about looking through spreadsheets, though. He learned to simply go around and listen to the office gossip about who was doing what, and that was much more valuable information. 😀
Hi BaDnOn,
I don’t consider financial analysts to be accountants/CPAs/EAs/auditors. They are usually behind the scenes to make investment recommendations. Yes, they review financial statements, but the few that I have met have very little concept how those numbers on the financial statements were created and classified.
IMO, it would make more sense to hire auditors as a subcontractors, instead of running them through payroll where the US taxpayer has to pay for vacation, holiday, employer taxes, retirement, health insurance, etc.
The biggest mistake Trump made was signing an EO to make this part of the government. This needs to be a third wheel completely separate from government tampering. Somebody working for the departments they are auditing is more likely to be bias because their paycheck depends upon it. That is how we got into this mess.
“This needs to be a third wheel completely separate from government tampering.” -RG
I completely agree. Perhaps just a recurrent extra-governmental audit would suffice.
It reminds me of “We have conducted an internal investigation and found ourselves to be free from any ‘wrong-doing’.”. …Which is what I want to say to the next AGW that levels an accusation my way.
“My guess is we really don’t want to find fraud or cost savings.”
Bingo!
DOGE is nothing more than waste writ large.
Oh yeah, harkens back to aerospace yesteryear. One “flavor of the month” rapid response improvement teams. Drag everyone off to a weeklong pow wow including design, mfg, tooling, & industrial engineers. (All who have projects to get done by a specific date now idling going nowhere) Factory guys whose co workers have to pickup his work to stay on schedule. Shoot, don’t want the little ladies to feel left out so include the boss’s assistant & the gals from scheduling too.
One of these boondoggles was substitute a cheaper material for some protective shields in the electronics overhead areas. Rapid Improvement of course means no time to look at every possibility and you’re a dinosaur for any “wait a minute” questions. Well, off the change process went. Delivered airplanes now with the substitute material that once the FAA reviewed the change “does this meet flammability specification XYZ?” “Show us your certification testing”. Oops. Yea, there was a reason the original expensive stuff was used, it didn’t support combustion. The new stuff burned real nice. Millions in retrofit parts and labor.
David Stockman has a detailed plan…I doubt the Trump administration will have much interest in really fixing the problems….
Sad to say, the typical “Operator’s Manual” isn’t carefully examined after a vehicle is acquired, even though the financial investment is significant to all but the filthy rich. It will be there to tell you that “Duh – I think I’ve done a bad thing…”, after you’ve pulled over when the failure announces itself in no uncertain terms.
Newer vehicles have so many “bells & whistles” that nag, so it’s easy to just ignore all of the light-show/electronic bleating, and get moving. Idiot lights don’t make it idiot-proof. This is just one of the symptoms of a chronic lack of awareness among the motoring public today.
Ignorance is not bliss – it’s expensive.
Eric, I think you mentioned that your sisters car is new some time ago?
if so, she is burning/using/dripping oil. If 5000 miles now, then it’s 2qts over that timeframe.
Have her recheck at 1000 miles (relative). IF no leaks, it’s burning it as you know.
If so, Subi will say 1qt in 5000 miles is normal, of course.
She may be able to ‘seat’ the rings better by really hammering the little thing. But it has to be put under maximum load for a decent amount of time. Not just one full throttle accel moment. More like climbing pikes peak a few times at WOT.
One quart low in 5000 miles??? LOL, that’s literally nothing…
During the “recent unpleasantness” with Chrysler Stellantis/Cerebrus, my van with the 3.8L V-6 motor was consuming a quart of 5W/20 every 900 to 1,100 miles…alarming, to say the least!!!
Chrysler said only consumption of 1 quart every 750 miles would be grounds for warranty claim issues!!!
Reading blogs from others with same problems and changing to using 10W/30, which the engineers designed the engine around, and having the valve cover gaskets redone reduced oil usage to 1 quart every 5 to 6,000 miles.
Trust the engineers before you trust marketing & sales…YMMV
Agree to a point Saxons, I was just stating relative figures. Eric said 2qts low, but not how many miles, so we don’t know. For me personally, I think 1qt in 5000 is fair, but not more. Just me.
I used to have a 1976 Mercury Marquis that burned/leaked 1 quart of oil every 3 days. Car was great other than that. Learned to buy cases of the cheapest oil I could find and keep it in the trunk. Check oil before EVERY trip.
Hey its a feature not a bug, the self changing oil system
If you think women and cars is bad, try teenage girls! So, we had a 95 Subaru Legacy that was one tough little car and survived 4 teenage girls driving it. Girl #1, “Dad, the *genie* light is on!” – Yep 4 qts low. Years later, Girl #2, “Dad, the engine is clacking” – Yep 4 qts low. Years later, Girl #3 ran off the road and punctured the oil pan. Well at least she called immediately thereafter and didn’t try to drive into work that day after all the oil left the ruptured pan!
Had a similar experience with my daughter, checked the dipstick – dry, add a quart – still nada, third quart just barely shows. Took almost four quarts, amazing the engine didn’t sieze.
My now 91 y.o. Dad retired from driving about four years ago and gave me his 2013 Corolla, which I drove for about eight months before handing it down to my “little goil”, who’d just completed a Mormon mission. Had but 25K miles. I’ve been on her constantly re:upkeep, as for that kid, that’s a Godsend
I am don’t approve of her shooting puppies, but kudos for Kristi for being “boots on the ground”.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/noem-joins-immigration-raid-catch-dirtbags-top-sanctuary-city
To be a good leader you have to know what the men and women that you are managing are going through. Yes, it is a photo op, but I applaud her for showing up. It is a lot more than Mayorkas did.
Eh. Not impressed.
Wanna’ guess why she went to NYC instead of Denver where similar ICE raids were occurring?
If you guessed getting a taxpayer paid junket to NYC is a whole lot more interesting than an all expenses paid trip to Denver I’d say you’re on the right track.
Denver is a whole lot cheaper to visit. But there aren’t as many Michelin star restaurants in Denver and those are only one star.
Hope she paid her NYC entry fee.
I hate being so cynical but alas this is what I’ve witnessed in my years watching politics work.
Hi BID,
Are you insinuating Kristi went to NYC for better pizza and bagels? LOL. I don’t know. If I had my pick I would start somewhere warm like Miami or San Diego. Heck, in Texas she could get better weather and very good Tex-Mex food…and she could play cowgirl on the Rio Grande by taking out a few Mexican cartel members.
She’s used to cold. Wanted a change of pace and wanted to see the big city lights 😉
One of my aunts had a 1969 Chrysler Imperial that not only came with gauges for fuel, coolant temperature, amperage, and oil pressure, but also a feature known as the Sentry Signal System. If the coolant was overheating, oil pressure, amperage, or fuel was low, a “CHECK GAUGES” light on the dash came on and a buzzer sounded.
My godparents had a 1974 Chrysler New Yorker that featured tiny red LEDs in the gauges that lit up when something was amiss.
That was, what, 50 years ago?
I’m pretty sure plenty of people don’t know what an oil can looks like, just like plenty of people don’t understand that the save icon on the computer is a 3.5″ floppy disc. Its an outdated symbol. Just like the check engine light is always a V8 with a round air filter.
As a side note on idiot lights, some old base model cars that have those lights in the spot where the gauge would go -GM square bodies- blast you with a gauge size light that ruins your night vision in the process. It works though. Just annoying when you go into 4×4 and the 2″ diameter 4WD light comes on blast.
Of course, a normal oil idiot light would only have come on when the Subaru was like 5 quarts low and the pump was sucking about half air with the remaining oil. Until then, the pressure would be normal.
Maybe an idiot light controlled by a more modern level sensor would be the ticket.
I have a similar gripe about the “oil pressure gauge” in my 04 Dodge pickup. Sure, it’s a gauge dial on the dash: but it’s only controlled, as I understand it, by an oil pressure switch- through the computer, which makes up what it thinks should be a normal oil pressure for the running conditions and shows that on the gauge. So you know you do have enough oil pressure to close the switch, but the 20 lbs at idle or 40 when running or 60 when cold is just the computer’s idea of what it thinks you want to see. Kinda defeats the whole purpose of a gauge!
Yes, I was appalled when I found this out on my 01 RAM Cummins. I ran a secondary mechanical gage and they didn’t agree at all. It is normal to read low, so the engine computer “fixes” it so you don’t worry…
My daughter had a Subaru Outback, the oil was sipping out of the engine, all of a sudden, engine failure.
Probably out of neglect, it wasn’t me.
You have to check the oil.
Gauges are important, tells you what you need to know.
When the altimeter light flashes, it might mean you are going to crash into the mountain.
TAWS alerts pilot with either/or a bright light, bright display icon and audio warning in headset. Good and annoying!
I wonder where they came up with some of those dashboard icons. They seem to be universal across makes, some sort of industry standard. And no, it is not immediately obvious what they all mean unless you study the owner’s manual to decipher the hieroglyphs.
Are they mandated by the .gov?
ISO Symbols are what are used. ISO is an international organization.
NHTSA issued the original version of FMVSS 101, Controls and Displays, in 1967
Can’t have OEM’s all doing their own thing don’t cha’ know.
It’s part of why all cars have become so bland. Standardization. Can’t have a German car that has the oil filler labeled ‘OEL’ – no telling what the wage slaves might put in there.
It all sort of goes back to what Eric is always reminding us of; the need to take personal responsibility.
If you can’t be bothered to figure out or infer what OEL means – it’s your fault for putting coolant into the oil filler of an air cooled engine!
Yes, VP fuel can cap top threads are ISO 1007 “standard ” requiring NPT tapped to take an american brass hose adaptor.
Anything to FUCK everything is the only “standard”.
Bicycle mechanics are most terrorized by having to juggle continuous new “standards” pushed out by greedy filth who sell plastic “frames” now for around $5k. While 80lb chinese mopeds already constipate CL used bicycle section?
Cars are still relatively sane.
“Anything to FUCK everything is the only “standard”.
ROTFL. So true.
Not to knock your sister Eric but if someone spends tens of thousands of dollars you would think they would have at least pulled over and glanced at the manual inside most glove boxes to look what it might be. It’s been my experience that dashboard lights that come on suddenly quickly cause pain in the wallet.
That said; a family member drove his car for months with a flashing check engine light along with a shaking engine, it turned out be a dead coil. I only found out this was happening when we were all in the same car and his wife asked me if this was normal!!!! After the bad coil was replaced the car ran OK but shortly thereafter a problem with the catalytic converter turned the check engine light on again. Subsequently this same person ignored a whining noise in his next car, needless to say I noticed it and when he had it checked the bearings in the rear end were shot. Had he had it looked at when it started the car would still have been under warranty and a “free” repair, needless to say when it was finally diagnosed the warranty was over. He drives a Subaru now and I expect something similar to happen again.
Totally true, Landru –
But she’s a female and (I know, here comes the cry of outrage) many females are just clueless about cars. So are many men, unfortunately.
Yes, I know squat about cars, but even I am smart enough to pull over and open the manual. Then I call hubby and put on my best damsel in distress routine.
My advice to women who don’t know cars…marry a man that knows cars. Otherwise, it does become very expensive.
Good stuff, RG!
My sister is with a man who’s a retired Marine officer who is a great guy and very smart – but knows nada about cars. Luckily, nothing catastrophic happened… this time.
“My sister is with a man who’s a retired Marine officer who is a great guy and very smart – but knows nada about cars”
So is he really a man? Just sayin’
Don’t answer; I don’t want to wreck Thanksgiving dinner.
“So is he really a man?” Not an unreasonable question under the circumstances.
Another buddy’s wife calls him the moment anything untoward happens with the car, that way if he says to keep on driving it she’s off the hook if anything bad happens.
Needless to say maintenance in that family is not what you call proactive!!!! 😉
PS- they do have a lot newer cars than I do though.
Engineers say RTFM, read the f–king manual.
It’s rude but it’s also kinda true. Why do we complain when a complex system is complex? Part of the reason cars (and many devices, computers, TV, etc) are so complex is that people don’t want to be bothered to understand the guts so the designers have to put pretty skins and try to anticipate ways people will misuse or abuse a product or neglect maintenance.
That said our Subaru has the idiot light but it also tells you why it came on in the little status LCD, telling you the oil is low or pressure has dropped.
A nice benefit of all these cars spying on you is that they are also collecting a lot of useful information. You can have a touch tire pressure, oil pressure or temperature, coolant temp, etc.
Well, at least in theory, user interface designs are usually horrible. But an OBD dongle and an app on your phone can solve that. You’ll have hundreds of pieces of data about your car.
Hi Richard.
Isn’t it funny how Linux systems let you very easily pull up data from HDD/ SSD health to the battery life remaining in your wireless mouse/ keyboard but in Windows 11 they hide the copy and paste option?
Linux not only gives you enough rope to hang yourself but to show you how to tie the knot and secure the free end.
Love Linux…been using it a long, long time.
“Engineers say RTFM, read the f–king manual.”
The problem is a very large portion of the population is functionally illiterate.
Many OEMs are moving toward videos online instead of, or at least augmenting the owners manual . . . Cause the wage slaves can’t even read and comprehend the owners manual.
Sad but true.
Yall see this? Nissan planning 2000 US job cuts
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/nissan-planning-cut-2000-us-jobs-and-reduce-production-25
“It is ironic that as car dash displays have become more “informative” they convey less actually relevant information.”
Preach on it, brother. The only necessary information is provided by a speedometer, a tachometer, voltage indicator, oil pressure indicator, and temperature gauge.
‘あぶら – that’s oil in Japanese’ — eric
Alternately, the Japanese kanji character for oil is 油. The water radical on the left side 氵means liquid. Not sure about the right-hand part. But it probably means ‘out of the earth,’ since the 田 symbol without the little tick on top means ‘rice paddy’ or by extension, ‘earth.’
あぶら (ah-bu-rah) is Japanese hiragana phonetic script showing the pronunciation. 油 is pronounced the same way. But the pronunciation of kanji characters is not self-evident. Many kanji have two pronunciations, one deriving from the original Chinese.
Here’s the same 油 character, used on a bottle of Chinese sunflower oil:
https://tinyurl.com/2s3n2wt4
But in mandarin Chinese it’s pronounced Yóu.
Japanese and German manufacturers came up with the symbols in the 1960s so they didn’t have to have different dashboards that had “Oil” in 10 languages.
It’s only the British cars that don’t have indicators.
That’s because the way you know you’re out of oil is when they are no longer leaking.
“That’s because the way you know you’re out of oil is when they are no longer leaking.”
LOL! So true!
And when the electrics don’t work, you’re out of smoke…
Lucas, British Prince of Darkness
Here ya go mate!
http://www.bctriumphregistry.com/smoke.htm
Family has two Land Rovers, 1985 and 2004. We’re gluttons for motoring punishment. What fun rigs when “sorted”.
Jag u are!
‘It could mean Ra is displeased. Or perhaps Anubis sends salutations?’ — eric
LOL. Ra is back. And boy, is he pissed.
Here is my dad, writing in August 1967 about the idiot light on the dash of our 1964 Chevy wagon:
‘Afternoon temperatures made us know we were back in Texas. Had turned on air conditioner in Amarillo in the morning for first time since day we left home [for Colorado]. 101° or so that afternoon. Car motor got hot in Wichita Falls for first of two or three times when we would stop. As we sped up to 80-85 to pass a big truck going into Ft. Worth that afternoon, it also showed hot for a few minutes.’
Well, this TEMP light is a real idiot’s delight, as deejay Vin Scelsa used to call his show on WFUV in New York City: what was its ‘hot’ threshold? The owner’s manual didn’t say. If it was 190° (as suggested by the light flickering on and off), that’s on the warm side but hardly an emergency. Whereas if its setpoint was, say, 220°, then engine seizure could be imminent.
Transparency, so we can make our own decisions, is not an awful lot to ask. OPEN THE BLACK BOX, HAL.
Jim: “Ra is back. And boy, is he pissed.”
But could you blame him the way the world is today?