Speaking of emissions controls, one of the unexpected adventures upon my
return was to find that the older car left sitting in the driveway felt
so neglected that it shorted its battery internally during my absence.
I was only mildly surprised as I didn't think it advisable to trust the
old one through the winter and had planned on changing it this month
anyhow. After jumping it and taking it to the shop for a replacement
battery I requested that they also do a safety and emissions check which
is due before the end of the month. Much to my surprise they said they
would be unable to do the test because the dead battery had dropped
power to and lost the computer's emissions system memory. It seems that
it takes about 3 days of driving to return things to a state where the
system will pass the emissions test. The memory loss seemed strange for
even a 9 year old car so I asked if more modern vehicles used some form
of flash or other non-volatile memory. The answer was: "Nope, they all
do it." I was advised that it frequently catches even their experienced
mechanics who forget that a vehicle in for an emissions inspection and
some other type of work that requires disconnecting the battery needs to
have the emissions check performed first.
Chuck Norcutt
Sue Pearce wrote:
> Your fuel consumption was not very impressive, but I expect that that
>> is standard for the USA.
> Perhaps a bit above average, especially the high figure.
>
>> I manage to brim my tank by continuing to pump until I can see the
>> fuel in the neck of the filler. That way I can check my fuel
>> consumption with at least some degree of consistency.
>>
>> I am sure that you managed to get yourself some lovely photos as well
>> as lifetime experiences.
> Don't know about you Brits, but that practice is both impossible and
> ill-advised here. It's all but impossible to see into the filler neck on US
> cars, as there is a very small hole due to the reducer required that is a
> piece of regulation that dates from when leaded fuel was still available.
> Complete with a little spring loaded flap, the filler is smaller than usual
> for no-lead. Likewise, it is said that "overfilling" and 'topping off" will
> damage parts of the emission controls.
>
> And, I'll bet he got some ggreat ones!
>
> Bill Pearce
>
>
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