Why now??

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Thu 19 Dec 2002 20:37
Why now?? - cockle {P}
Why is it that as soon as the outside temperature falls below my comfortable working threshold that things automotive start to go wrong?

SWMBO's car yesterday decided to develop a mis-fire which resulted in the EMU deciding it wouldn't allow her to re-start after stalling with the choke on, obviously deciding that it was better for her to be stranded in the middle of an 'iffy' junction for 20 minutes rather than letting her risk damaging the 'cat' with an over-rich mixture. So a happy weekend beckons trying to find said mis-fire.

But, baby, it's cold out there, so tonight the battery has given up the ghost, totally without warning, of course, so she went to work in my car, guess where my tools are? Yes, in the back of my car outside her office!
I now have the battery on charge having spent the best part of an hour 'persuading' it from under the bonnet with what odds and ends of tools I could find and, obviously, some expletives aimed in the right direction.

While removing the battery I noticed that the front o/s tyre was a bit low, mentioned this during a phone call to SWMBO to tell her that I'd finally got the battery off,'Oh yes, I forgot to mention, I think I've got a slow puncture, it's been going down a bit everyday for a week or so...'

Why doesn't any of this ever happen in the nice warm summer with nice light evenings when it would be almost a pleasure to be out there tinkering away????
GRRRRRR.......




Cockle
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 19 Dec 2002 22:17
Why now?? - J Bonington Jagworth
Well, Murphy's law, of course, but a large part of it is that batteries perform much less well when cold, and winter driving puts a much heavier load on them (wipers, fans, window heaters, lights, etc) on top of which the engine will be harder to turn over and the fuel doesn't vapourise so easily. Surprising they work at all when it's cold, really...

Sympathise over the tools, though. That sort of thing happens to me all the time when I use the other car!
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 20 Dec 2002 08:38
Why now?? - volvoman
Yep - JBJ's right ! It's Murphy's Law - the same reason why your central heating only ever packs up when it's really cold, the guy who normally sorts it out has broken his arm and his mate is on holiday for a month !
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 20 Dec 2002 11:52
Why now?? - terryb
...and why staplers only ever run out when you need to fix papers together!

Terry
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 20 Dec 2002 12:23
Why now?? - Ian Cook
...and why staplers only ever run out when you need to
fix papers together!
Terry


They really ran out the last time you used them. In engineering parlance it's called a "dormant fault".

It's still blooming annoying, though.

Ian Cook
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 20 Dec 2002 12:28
Why now?? - THe Growler
OK, then, what about the "The Other Line Moves Faster" Law?

Take traffic (motoring link), the airline check in, immigration, the bank, w.h.y.

Until, of course that is, you decide to join it, when your new line goes slower. Which therefore means this is an immutable universal law.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Fri 20 Dec 2002 12:31
Why now?? - Ian Cook
There's an associated law, called "Miller's Law" and I think it was published in an aeromodelling magazine a few years ago. The law states that no simple job ever is - simple, that is.

The example cited at the time was the task to fix a leaking washer in the cold water cistern in the loft.

You buy a washer and find it's the wrong type, so you plan to repalce the ball valve with a more modern one...so

You go to turn off the cold water and the tap is jammed...so

You try to turn off the main cock in the street instead, but you don't have a key...so

You go and buy one, turn off the water and remove the offending ball cock and buy a new one. The new one is a different pipe fitting...so

You go and buy another pipe fitting...

...and so it goes on. We've all been there, haven't we. Not necessarily with ball cocks, but certainly with cars.
;-)

Ian Cook
Reply | Report as offensive | Link

We give you the low down on how to save on insurance, little-known tricks and tips, what insurance groups mean and how to use insurance aggregators to beat insurers.

Insurance group finder and how to save on insurance

Cold-snap snow-how: Advice on coping with the freezing weather, including videos, facts and winter driving advice.

Honest John's Guide To Winter Tyres