I now have this theory that the relationship I
have with Redcar is so highly evolved that we can
diagnose problems while commuting. We don't have to
stop and get out tools no siree, we just take a little
drive and figure it out.
Well, this morning wasn't actually a problem
solving (ad)venture as much as the others have been
lately, but still if I had not driven her to work this
morning I would not have known of this.
A few weeks back while departing a SCARE gathering
our own Dick N. bellowed from his TR4 that I had no
taillights in the Sprite. Looking at it later on I
realized that the person I'd just had do some bodywork
had disconnected the rear harness and reconnected it
incorrectly. Once I had it all sorted out everything
worked fine. The problem here though, as I realized
this morning, was my method of determining that the
brake lights worked. Rather than stepping on the pedal I
simply bridged the contacts on the switch and Voila !,
brake lights.
Well, this morning, I realized that this was not a
sure check when a grizzled old man in a beat up Bug
pulled alongside, honked his horn, and then held up a
very nice sign that read "YOU HAVE NO BRAKE LIGHTS". I
had to laugh at this, not because I had no brake
lights, but because this person had rooted around in
his car to find a nice piece of white cardboard and a
big black magic marker and then drew up this sign, all
while at 60 mph on the 101. In a bug. Either that, or
he just carries a collection of nicely-made signs
indicating various automotive maladies.
So immediately remembering how I determined that
the lights had worked, I surmised that the switch is
not closing when the brake pressure is applied.
Oddly enough, tonight is the SCARE night again .....
Troubleshootin' & Commutin' -
dstone@sc9.intel.com
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