Spare The Maintenance And Spoil The Motor
Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday May 23, 1996
Many drivers, especially post-baby boomers, believe a crook car is one without a CD.
These drivers have such faith in the modern automobile they forget it's a different beast to the fridge or the TV, and needs regular maintenance. The demise of service stations whose driveway attendants check the basics means that essential oil and water checks are ignored. Shunned indefinitely, any mechanical device eventually cries "enough", and when a high technology engine lets go, it costs.
According to Graham Podmore, NRMA's Northern Zone road service manager and a patrolman of 30 years' experience, the climb towards Gosford from the Brooklyn Bridge on the F3 is where many unloved motors give up. There's still enough oil in circulation for commuting and suburban use, but not to keep metal from metal during a hard, high-speed climb on a "let's get out of Sydney" weekend. Terminal failure to proceed often results.
In the "good old days", wet weather kept the NRMA busy. Now, a hot day creates overheating casualties.
Many new engines, especially under 2.0 litres (commonly found in small hatchbacks), are very highly stressed - they're built that way because we demand high levels of performance and minimal emissions - so everything must be in peak condition to perform well. Running temperatures are very high, so the radiator needs the right coolant, all the time. Many drivers don't bother to check it.
Brakes, tyres and camshaft drive belts are also expected to last forever. They don't.
Before electronic ignitions and computerised engine management systems, an NRMA patrolman carried all the knowledge he needed in his head, and fencing wire, cigarette papers, chewing gum and nail polish (for cracked distributors) in his toolkit.
Today, the multimeter (used to trace electricity's tortured path around the car) and Automotive Hints and Tips, a how-to-fix-anything manual compiled by the patrolmen themselves, are the main tools of trade.
When an electronic ignition dies, your car's going nowhere, so patrolmen carry the Bosch ignition module, used in many current models, and replace it on the spot. Sophisticated electronics make today's automobile a precision instrument, but traps for the un- wary abound.
Even some patrolmen have locked drivers out of late model Falcons and Commodores - hooking up jumper leads on a flat battery activates the central locking. Usually the keys are still in the ignition. Now they make sure a window is open beforehand.
DUMB THINGS DRIVERS DO
1. Neglect oil changes, tyre pressures, brakes and radiator coolant.
2. "It won't start." "Sir, you've left the transmission in Drive."
3. Filling up with diesel.
4. Putting the shopping, and the keys, in the boot before unlocking the car, then closing
the boot.
5. Filling the engine, as in to the top,
with oil.
© 1996 Sydney Morning Herald
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