Team-BHP - Dont switch on ICE as soon as you get in the car

Hello All,

I would advice you all on not to switch on ICE as soon as you get into the car.

Try travelling for around 05-10 mins without ICE being switched on, as generally when something mechanically ( moving parts in car ) is about to go kaput it will first makes little noise.

The noise is much low in initially stages, but it increases as the part starts to wear out further.

Its always better to investigate and get the repairs done, rather then getting the whole thing replaced or to get stuck with that particular problem in the middle of the road.

For eg :::

Brakes making noise becuse of dust in the shoes or disc, in such a case you just get the brakes clean, or else if you are never able to hear it you will end up replacing the kit, or some day the brake may malfunction.
When you are steering a car, at times the axle make some noise at the very begining of its wearing stage, but if its not looked into at initial stage you will have to replace the whole thing.
Same goes with all kind of Fans and Belts inside the engine bay.
The movement of car in itself, all tyres are rotating freely and are not making any noises and all tyres are bolted properly and not loose.

These are just a few that I have mentioned, there are many others as well.

Hope this helps all fellow T-BHPians.

Cheers.

I just realized that I have been following this rule instinctively for years. It does seem to be the right thing to do.
My friend once saved a (feline) life because he too does not immediately switch on his ICE. The funny noise he heard turned out to be a kitten clinging to the underside of his zen somewhere near the rear shocks. He got to work late but managed to get the kitten out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roy.S (Post 1319855)

.....The funny noise he heard turned out to be a kitten clinging to the underside of his zen somewhere near the rear shocks. He got to work late but managed to get the kitten out.

Similar story here...though i did drive a good kilometer before i finally convinced myself that there was a very soft meowing noise coming from the engine.

Opened the hood and saw that the engine had a SOHC (Single Over-Head Cat). Well, actually it was a tiny kitten just chilling on top of my engine!! Took the thing back home.

Now whenever i get in my car i make as much noise as possible, and revv loudly a few times before leaving.

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Another good habit is to turn your ICE off when parking or reversing.

cya
R

What do you do if a small sound/noise as you call it develops after the (so called) stipulated 10 minutes are over and you have switched on ICE in you car? I fail to see the logic in this piece of advice.

A mechanical part can go kaput or can be about to go kaput anytime and not necessarily when you get into the car.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vikram_d (Post 1320742)

i agree , but this seems to be a good habit anyway , what i do every once in a while is that, turn of the music and coast the car in neutral for abt 100 - 200 mts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vikram_d (Post 1320742)

vikram,
you had taken words from my mouth.

@cat, dog resting in/under car bay, just honk before starting to move the car.

@ diff noise coming from engine, belt, brakes etc, you can hear it at time gap between two songs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by siddartha (Post 1320752)

i agree , but this seems to be a good habit anyway , what i do every once in a while is that, turn of the music and coast the car in neutral for abt 100 - 200 mts.

You can be excused for doing this. You drive a Skoda after all. lol:

On a serious note any mechanical sound will be accompanied by some sort of vibrations. If you are really attuned to your car then you should be able to tell that there is something wrong with it just by feeling those vibrations.

well,i drive a swift and if i switch off the ice i hear noises all around because of swift's tin can nature and my s drives..
so its better i switch on the ice and enjoy!!
anyways nice piece of advice bubby.although 5-10 mins maybe a little long,i have noticed that if some mechanical part is going kaput then it shows at the start itself as the vibations are most present when engine is cold.

R, you should have taken a pic of the SOHCat and posted it here
Lolcats ‘n’ Funny Pictures of Cats – I Can Has Cheezburger? - would have been hilarious

I drive a tata car - the engine and the tyres and probably the entire car makes its presence audibly felt, well over any sane ICE levels :p There hasnt been any noise I've missed out so far because of my ICE

Quote:

Originally Posted by greenhorn (Post 1321375)

R, you should have taken a pic of the SOHCat and posted it here - Lolcats

Hahaha - yeah, except you should have seen the look on our faces when we popped the hood and saw a kitten standing on top of the engine!

Luckily i had been driving very slow - as i was going to the petrol pump to fill some air in the tires and didn't want them to get heated up.

We spent the next 15 minutes chasing the kitten from sub-frame to wheel-arch etc - until we finally got our hands on it!!

LOLcatz!
R

PS - here is another incident i saw as a kid when looking out of the window that could add some more value to what Bubby is suggesting. (10mins might be a long time to wait, but atleast 30secs sounds reasonable)

There was a maruti 800 parked with its back facing the wall in the compound across the street. It had those black grills over the rear tail-lights, to protect them from shattering on a small impact.

A woman got into the car, and started to drive down the street -- but behind the car was a very young kid who had been playing around, but got his finger stuck between the tail-light and the grill. He was screaming and trying his best to keep up behind the car as it pulled him along. The person in the car was oblivious to what was going on (i dont know if this was due to the ICE, but i'm sure it could be a reason).

Luckily the car stopped about 30mts ahead at the signal, and some passersby helped the kid out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rehaan (Post 1320715)

and revv loudly a few times before leaving.

:Shockked::Shockked: Big No no for a cold engine! Best to maintain minimum rpms until warmed up. Honk?

Quote:

Another good habit is to turn your ICE off when parking or reversing.

And give the car surroundings a quick look. Never know if a dog / cat is sleeping just behind the tyre.