[SnakemanJohny]

Starting from s4ch's first post -- even in India, old car owners (of Ambassador, Premier etc ) used to take out the wiper arm plus blade during the dry seasons. Even drivers of government jeeps did the same. Different reasons -- 1) to extend life of wiper blades, 2) to prevent theft of same, and 3) to make cleaning the windshield easier for the rest of the year. Some people removed only the blades and stuck a small plastic tube on the arm tip, so that accidentally turning the wipers on did not scratch the glass.

STABIL, the most reputed fuel stabilizer, is available on Amazon. Very expensive, but a large bottle lasts many fills. And it really works. I use it for rarely driven vehicles, like my nearly sixty year-old Nissan Patrol (Jonga), or my 42 year old Yezdi. For preventing tank rust, best use 'tank liners' made in USA and also sold on Amazon.IN. Ethanol-blended petrol started rust in my old 2-stroke Yezdi, which never had the problem earlier as 2T oil was mixed in the tank. But the tank liner solved the problem.
Old vehicles like the Willys, Land Rover, and Jonga had the tanks galvanized, inside out, but modern car makers do not do this.

As far as I know, only forward gears are synchromesh -- you cannot engage reverse while on the move even in modern cars. I regularly start my 1964 Jonga in reverse if it is parked facing inwards, and there is never any problem. Same with Gypsy, which is quite an antique vehicle except for the BS4 engine. I feel this is due to some superstition (going forward first).

Many old school drivers rev the engine for a minute or so before switching off believing this will fully charge the battery after the long use during the just concluded drive. I have investigated this and found the belief dating back to the cars of DC generators, whose charging was less efficient than modern alternators.

The hand brake in most cars, with drums at the back, are mechanical, with springs. If these springs stay stretched for a long time, they may lose some elasticity. So it is better to engage first gear if car is left unused for quite some time, or use wheel chocks.

[Poitive]

Originally Posted by saikarthik

- Old habits die hard, people from old diesel vehicles rev the engine before turning off the ignition even if they are driving NA petrols now.

This practice was very often followed in carbureted petrol engines too. IIRC the idea was for some extra fuel to be available further in the fuel line/carburetor, and also to give a boost to the battery charge. Cars starting at first ignition (especially in winters) wasn't a given in the old days.

PS: It was also the norm to rev the engine a bit on starting them. A change in fuel injection and ECUs coming up in cars changed all that.

[som9729]

Originally Posted by sushanthys

Men park after reversing. Women park directly and reverse for departure. No gender discrimination intended. Merely making an observation.

Men: Reverse & park.
Women & Real-Men: park & reverse!

Cheers!

Disclaimer - No offense meant, no discrimination meant, etc etc.

Originally Posted by Aravind_M92

Few of the things I follow religiously
- Always keep the fuel level above ½ tank level. Not sure of this practice but remember reading somewhere that below that level, the oil pump needs to work more to keep the pressure and prevent any residue being sucked up.
- Clean the wiper rubber with Isopropyl alcohol and apply WD 40 on them and allow to dry completely before using. This has become a routine every time I wash the car. Not sure how, but my wiper blades (3M pro) have served me well and have been working seemlessly over the past 4 years
- Fill up the wiper fluid with distilled water and a packet of plain Shampoo.
- Avoid using nitrogen and keep the air levels topped off every week
- Slot into neutral (mine is a CVT) while waiting rather than keeping in D and keeping the brake engaged

Point 2: Alcohol best avoided. Dries up the rubber. Of course, your-mileage-may-vary.
Better is to clean with WD-40, which itself is an excellent solvent!
Spray with WD-40, then wipe, and again a light spray of WD-40 to soften the rubber. Leave it on for a few hours, and wipe off any excess.

Point 3: Plain shampoo is not meant for such usage. Its surfactant composition is different. Nothing may happen, but better off using specialised products.

Point 4: Nitro is proven best. why choose air?

[Akshay6988]

Originally Posted by saikarthik

- What I have seen on commercial vehicles and taxis is that they use newspapers to clean the glass area. They say, it's the best to get clear glass.

Because it is ! Nothing cleans glass better than newspaper ! I have tried microfiber clothes, glass wipers and everything but nothing cleans the glass as well as the newspaper !

- My dad used to turn things off systematically, like A/C button off then blower controls to off. This habit hasn't changed even when I explained that you turn the blower off, A/C compressor is automatically cut-off. He says, that might not be a good procedure.

Even I turn off everything systematically before shutting off the engine. AC, headlamps, ICE and any cabin lamps. Though my creta has feature which automatically turns off everything after 10 minutes after the car is in ignition mode. These 1-2 minutes let the engine idle and run a bit cooler rather than directly turning off after a long drive.
I also dust off tail lights and headlights in the evenings, I know little dust doesn't make much difference but mine is a black car, so you get my paranoia Also I get to take a quick look at all the tyres.

[Aravind_M92]

Originally Posted by som9729

Point 2: Alcohol best avoided. Dries up the rubber. Of course, your-mileage-may-vary.
Better is to clean with WD-40, which itself is an excellent solvent!
Spray with WD-40, then wipe, and again a light spray of WD-40 to soften the rubber. Leave it on for a few hours, and wipe off any excess.

Point 3: Plain shampoo is not meant for such usage. Its surfactant composition is different. Nothing may happen, but better off using specialised products.

Point 4: Nitro is proven best. why choose air?

I'm not sure on how I started using off alcohol, but results were good! It does help remove the grease and dirt easily. And WD 40 to keep it supple. My wipers are heavily utilised! The stocks went boinkers after 5 months after which I got the 3M ones. I live at a valley near Kerala border. You sure can imagine the rain levels here!

Shampoo was something suggested by a local garage. Have caught onto that

I took a scientific path. Air is 70% nitrogen and no tyre can be kept at 100% nitrogen. I do check the tyre pressure every time I visit the fuel station just to be sure ( max within 15 days). So normal air for me!

[Jaguar]

Every time I get a puncture fixed, I try to do wheel balancing as well. Don't remember from where I heard this, but the idea is that when you fix the puncher, the weight distribution of the rubber changes and impacts the balancing.

Originally Posted by som9729

Point 4: Nitro is proven best. why choose air?

Do you have references to any study which supports this statement?

From what I have read, for normal everyday use, the advantages of nitrogen are negligible. Maintaining proper pressure is far more important than what you use.

[Poitive]

I might be wrong here, but likely not:

Originally Posted by Jaguar

Every time I get a puncher fixed, I try to do wheel balancing as well. Don't remember from where I heard this, but the idea is that when you fix the puncher, the weight distribution of the rubber changes and impacts the balancing.

In tubed tyres, the weight distribution in the tyre-tube would often change after a puncture repair due to the tyre being mounted at a different location with respect the the rim (say, nozzle). Here, balancing would help. It is good practice to mark the nozzle location on the tyre before removing it from the rim to ensure it is mounted at the same location. If done right, one usually doesn't need balancing.

For tubeless repair, the above is usually not an issue anyway.

From what I have read, for normal everyday use, the advantages of nitrogen are negligible. Maintaining proper pressure is far more important than what you use.

The main purpose of using nitrogen is said to be it's properties being more suitable for tyre pressure to be maintained. That is, it will not increase pressure substantially with use, as regular air does. This helps in air pressure reducing more gradually over time. It also helps in relatively more consistency in air pressure while the car is being used. (Eg on a long drive, regular air pressure would increase more, than in the case of niitrogen)

That said, after trying out Nitrogen for a while, I found it simpler to get tyre pressure checked more regularly.

[condor]

Originally Posted by Poitive

It is good practice to mark the nozzle location on the tyre before removing it from the rim to ensure it is mounted at the same location..

Why would the nozzle move when removed and put in again, in a tube-type tyre ? What am I missing ?

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by Poitive

In tubed tyres, the weight distribution in the tyre-tube would often change after a puncture repair due to the tyre being mounted at a different location with respect the the rim (say, nozzle).

For tubeless repair, the above is usually not an issue anyway.

Wouldn't the added weight of the patch/plug change the weight distribution in tubeless tyres?

Originally Posted by condor

Why would the nozzle move when removed and put in again, in a tube-type tyre ? What am I missing ?

I think he meant the tyre position wrt to the tube. So, you mark the nozzle position in the tyre and match it when mounting the tyre back.

[Poitive]

Originally Posted by condor

Why would the nozzle move when removed and put in again, in a tube-type tyre ? What am I missing ?

Not the nozzle, but the tyre.

For tubed tyres, the nozzle and rim remain in the same location relative to each other. For the tyre, one needs to ensure it by marking as earlier described.

Originally Posted by Jaguar

Wouldn't the added weight of the patch/plug change the weight distribution in tubeless tyres?

It can, which is why I said 'usually', and in italics
Just that in my experience for small patches, it was too minor, and very rarely worth the trouble. For large patches, might be worth the effort.

[NitinDev]

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

Peppermint scented spray on the wiring harnesses within the engine bay to prevent rodent attacks.

This is true. Using peppermint spray/drops for more than 3yrs on my Tata Hexa. Few drops inside the engine bay once a month. So far no issues. Keeps rats away.

[condor]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

Wouldn't the added weight of the patch/plug change the weight distribution in tubeless tyres?

Weight of the patch or plug is very small compared to the gross weight of a tyre. More so with larger tyres. Hence, Should not be an issue.

[Andaleeb]

Originally Posted by NitinDev

This is true. Using peppermint spray/drops for more than 3yrs on my Tata Hexa. Few drops inside the engine bay once a month. So far no issues. Keeps rats away.

There was a severe rodent attack on our Swift within 4 months of purchase.
We have been using Autoguard and tobacco pouches in old socks for the last few years in both Ciaz and Swift.
Peppermint spray sounds interesting. Could you recommend the brand or share the link?

[adisan]

Originally Posted by Andaleeb

We have been using Autoguard and tobacco pouches in old socks for the last few years in both Ciaz and Swift.

I had tried placing tobacco but it never deterred the rats for my car, so it probably must be the old socks which is being effective!


On a serious note, what eventually worked was when the ASC wrapped metal mesh around the wires.

[Andaleeb]

Originally Posted by adisan

I had tried placing tobacco but it never deterred the rats for my car, so it probably must be the old socks which is being effective!

Autoguard spray is a really good thing and I am using it on my cars regularly now.
Apart from that, I changed the parking place also.
I am actually scared to park at designated place now also, as there is a sewage system manhole cover near to that parking place, similar as in this picture.


Fortunately, there is another parking of a friend available for me in the apartment for now.

There were rat droppings seen in glovebox also.

Originally Posted by adisan

On a serious note, what eventually worked was when the ASC wrapped metal mesh around the wires.

I took the vehicle to service center and they placed metal meshes on engine area small openings to the cabin but not on wires.
After thorough cleaning, 2-3 bottles of MGA fresheners were used. Here are a few pictures that I captured during the process.




It took a couple of months for the foul smell to go after this whole process.
And yes, driving with that foul smell was so bad that I take all possible precautions, including tobacco pouches in old socks tied in engine area and the pins in strategic places as suggested here (Rat-proof Fencing as a solution for the rodent menace?).