I just read on the net about a mechanic that put a prius up in the air for an oil change, dropped the oil and the engine started !!!! he had not shut down the computer after stopping on the ramp, he had taken the keyfob thing out, but it was still in range.
Sounds like a good reason for an automatic engine shutdown when low oil pressure is detected! Shouldnt be do difficult with all the electrikkery on modern cars.... I bet it would only be a software thing!
"Kipling" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:
AIUI, they used to do it on military Landies - "Squaddie-proofing".
A few years ago, I was changing the oil on one of mine - and whilst it was in the air, dripping gently, I changed the front exhaust box. Drop the ramp down, start it up and let it idle to cook the exhaust paste on the joints. Hmm. Why's the filler cap still open? OH, BOLLOCKS!
So nearly been there myself!
There was that interesting test for one of the Moly disulphide additives a while back; four similar cars, two with dosed oil, two without. One pair run round Brands Hatch without water, the other pair without oil. From memory, the results without additive were half a lap for no water, several laps for no oil, and each two or three times as good with the additive. Surprising to me just how long they kept going without oil.
*Nothing* is squaddie proof.
Steve
"shazzbat" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:
~ing not ~ed
Big difference...
Anyone else watching the reruns of Mythbusters on Quest? They tried killing a small block V8 by various means, eventually succeeding by pouring bleach in through the oil filler. The engine ran for a while, belching steam and fumes out of the breather and sounding very unhealthy before overheating terminally. The theory that bleach broke down the lubricating qualities of the oil seemed pretty well comfirmed.
(Interestingly, sugar in the fuel had had no effect at all and the engine even restarted fine the following day. I always thought that one was true.)
Must've been after my time then. I can't see why they would - the last thing you want in the middle of an ambush is the engine turning off. They'd rather it was running even though it was rattling itself into a solid block of metal - the 100 yards it would make could be a life saver.
Conor gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:
Before your time, more like. I think it was the 101 forward control (which was petrol v8).
It's a bit more difficult on a mechanical-injection diseasel.
Ah. We still had some Series 3, 2 1/4 petrol jobs but were moving over to Defenders.
it was on the sdi rover in the 70 s, just a pressure switch in the line to the fuel pump.
Surely it was only the old 2 1/4 diesels that had pull-stop wossnames instead of stop solenoids? Did the military ever use any of those engines?
They'd have the 2.5 (or later) with a stop solenoid though wouldn't they? Easy enough to wire that into a cut-out circuit if you wanted to.
Does a Prius with keyless go just start when you get in then?
Not like a normal car where you need to give it input, like press the start button?
Not quite. With the system in normal 'active' mode, and the keyfob in range, the computer will fire up the petrol engine:
- when the HVAC calls for heat or and the thermal store cannot provide enough.
- when the battery pack requires charging.
- acouple of other pre-requistes, but i cant remember them at the moment!
Tim.
the start procedure has to be initiated by pressing the power button, but so does shut down, or it will start the engine up when it knows it ought to. The give away is that the dashboard is alive and the word ready is in the diplay, otherwise the car is silent, quite eerie at first, especially when you first stop at traffic lights !! Well worth a test drive.
Ah right, thanks Tim. More stuff to watch out for. (c:
In message , Tim.. writes
Next question: On an automatic g/box Prius can you remove the key with the selector in "Drive"? And hypothetically lie down in front of the wheels to have a look at the underside?
You can see where this is going... :-)
(I don't know whether the drive-away is on the electric motor or the IC engine).
I tried the local Toyota dealer a few years ago for a test drive, but
"We haven't got one here. If you leave us your name and address and phone number we could make an appointment and get you one from another dealer. They haven't really taken off in this country, ahead of it's time, you know..."
They can recognise time-wasters these days...
Quite so. If the oil lamp comes up, then just link into that circuit.
However, some people would then complain that the engine wont start... Some unscrupulous mechanics might say that something else has failed...
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