eyepea

hmmmm, from what I gather from all the posts, as said, it all depends on the odds I guess Good to hear no one has actually got the radio damaged so far thanks all

Thanks for the info.

Is it ok to have the car radio on, during lightning ? Can it damage the radio? Sounds a stupid question. Perhaps it is and some would say use common sense But just want to know the facts... I usually switch off car radio when there is lightning. Some laugh at me and say it is not necessary. Because, normally TVs are switched off during lightning and disconnected as the TV antenna sticks high up in the sky above roof tops and can get a lighting stike. But car radio arial, if not pulled out, is ususally at the same level of car roof (except for cases where it is located center of rare roof or some other place), and car roof is usually flat metal. So in most cases car arial is not sticking out up above other things. Also since tyres are rubber, car arial is not earthed. (well I dunno how true is this in wet weather ) So can car arial get struck by lighning? Anyway, playing CD on car radio player even during lightning should be ok or is it best avoided (as radio player is swithed on even to play CD) ? Thanks.

Thanks for the info. Will check.

thanks very much guys for all the input. Aha yes a jerry can. Would be useful for outstation trips a bit away from sheds too apart from storing. If anyone can suggest some places where Jerry cans are available it would be most helpful. A friend said chk M*t*rCade. Must see when going that way. Any other suggestions please, (if not available at above place) ? Thanks!

someone told me that the law says - at a pedestrian crossing with a trafic light (whether it is only a pedestrian crossing or a junction), even if the light is green for the motorist, a pedestrian has the right to cross and the motorist has to stop for the pedestrian!. Is this true ? All this time I thought the pedestrian should not cross when the light is green for the motorist. This is a crazy law for a country like sri lanka where indicipline is the norm Also it is very dangerous! many a time I have seen situations where the traffic light for the motorists turn green and the vehicles start to accelerate and move away. Then some dumb pedestrian jumps across the road forcing the vehicals to slam on the breaks! Could someone who is familiar with the law, pls clarify this matter. Thanks!

Guys, have you ever thought of storing some petrol at home ? Specially with the recent (and also not so distant past) experience of no petrol and long queues, I wondered whether it is practical to store a little petrol at home. Well not a bowserful but may be a few liters to get on a day or two for urgent matters depending on how much one uses. One can fill up frequently before the tank goes low (say lower than half), but then it is a hassel to be filling up abt 10 L at short intervals. Well as petrol evaporates fast, it is not easy to keep in a plastic can. Also this may not be very safe! Where can one find the type of petrol can that is seen on the back of jeeps suvs etc ? Any idea what the cost is like ? Saw something like a little potty at Arpico sometime back. Cant remember exact price but several thousand - may be 8 or 10. I think this may be quite useful for a lot of people until we upgrade to a solar charged electric cars (can't be just a electric car - then if CEB strikes, you are stuck) A foldable or small bicycle in the dicky is useful, but limited Could you please share your experience and thoughts. What are you guys doing to ease out petrol shortages ? thanks!

In town best abt 8 kmpl - auto - no a/c - careful driving without harsh acceleration (no dash to the toilet ) - avoid peek rush hour crawling traffic. With a/c all the time, abt 7 or a little less. Outstation 11 - 12 with uniform careful driving and within speed limits 60 - 70 - 2 - 3 ppl with no major load. Overtake several container trucks or bowsers that are not keen on letting you pass - figure will be much less This is down south route. On up country route, some have told me petrol guage comes down very fast, but dunno actual figures. Similar figures I have got from different ppl i know who have kr42 too. As I have seen mentioned in this forums by many experienced guys, petrol consumption will depend on the driving conditions to quite an extent i guess.

Thanks for the info guys. It is a cr42 van and the tyre make is Bridgestone.

The door pillar says 3.00 kg per cm^2 tyre pressure for 165R13-6PLRT tyres (which I have). This converts to about 42 psi ! I seached the forums and came across very informative threads like: http://forum.autolanka.com/index.php?s...851&hl=tire tyre pressure&st=0 http://forum.autolanka.com/index.php?s...e+tyre+pressure from which I gathered that the reccomended pressure in the door pillar or slightly less (about 10% less even) is what is good. Of course assume the information was mainly for tyre pressures 28 - 30 psi (and I assume 4 ply tyres). I didn't try 42 psi. I tried about 36 psi for a short time and in most SL roads (except a smooth high way) it is like going on rocks !! What most garages suggest is 30 psi. They say a higher pressure will damage the suspension parts when going in typical SL roads !. Well I tried 30 psi and the ride is smoother. But after some time the tyre sides on some wheels showed more ware. So tyre shop says increase pressure to about 34 psi. But still the garage says 34 too high and will damage suspension. Anyway 34 is too bumpy too. So what should I do. Use 32 psi and follow the middle path ? note: loading 2 - 3 people most of the time and some times loads of may be 200 - 400kg. But still 32 psi and 42 psi seems to have quite a big difference. What would you advice please ? for normal loads and for higher loads ? what are your comments on suspension damage due to high pressure on typical SL roads ? Thanks.

ah ok thanks.

Recently I used an Injector Cleaner (S*P brand) for the first time. While running on that tank full, I got a whiff of petrol one in a while. After re-filling the tank the second time after adding the injector cleaner, and there after, there was no whiff of petrol noticed. Is this normal for that particular brand of injector cleaner ? (earlier I used a different brand, and did not notice a petrol smell). I pump petrol every 3 or 4 days. I have noticed that one can get the smell of petrol when passing some petrol sheds, some other vehicles etc etc. Also sometimes the pertol sold is a bit more smelly at times. But what I noticed lasted for the few days while I was using the tank full of petrol with the injector cleaner. I do not notice it now or before adding the injector cleaner. Nor do I notice it in another vehicle filled up during the same period (but no injector cleaner added). I cannot specify a particular situation for getting the smell. It happened occasionally and randomly, and not particularly when idleing, accellarating or doing a particular speed, at the start or after some time, or while in heavey traffic or very light traffic or a particular time of day. So while it "can" be some other coincidance, I was wondering whether the petrol smell was due to the injector cleaner and normal and whether anyone else had a similar experience or some other problem (which I don't notice now). Thanks.

Is it reccomended to shift an automatic gear from D to N when stopping for traffic lights (or any other short stop) ? Could anyone please advice me what is the general guideline when - to shift from D to N or - to keep holding on the break during a short stop depending on the duration of the stop? Of course when going on crawling traffic and stopping frequently I guess it is not necessary to shift from D to N. Also one will not always know for how long a red traffic light is going to be on But say you are stopping for 30 seconds, or 1 minute or 5 minutes, what would you advice as a general guideline ? What are the effects on the engine, auto gearbox ware, breaks, petrol consumption etc on the above two options? Thanks!.

Hee hee, yes Of course leaving a laptop or gps, visible in the car is definitely not a good idea. saw http://gpsmagazine.com/2007/09/gps_thefts_rise.php Using a mob phone with GPS or a GPS rcvr does have the advantage that u can pocket it when u leave the car. Saw that some Laptops have a max storage temp of abt 55 deg C Any ideas what kind of high temperatures would be in a closed car (with/without special tinting, sun shade etc) parked in the hot sun here ? mmmm must check it out. If anyone has done any experiments already with a thermometer or cabin temp gauge or have any info on this, pls let me know. I guess all electronic stuff that is designed to be installed in a car should be able to withstand high temperatures. But stuff that is not expected to be left in a car... Once I forgot and left my mobile phone in the gearbox tray while car was parked in the sun, and that was the end of the mobile phone. Dont want to go the same way with a laptop.

In addition to the available solutions: - Sat Nav, (Are there any other solutions available in SL?) - In build car navigations systems that you may have got working in SL (saw an interesting thread on that sometime back). - GPS receiver that is capable of storing all the map data (Low end cheap ones won't have enough mem), - A smart phone or phone with GPS which may be able to store a lot of map data too (May be a bit expensive. close to or more than a cheap laptop ) Has anyone of you tried driving around with a laptop (perhaps a cheap one) loaded with GPS software, connected to a GPS receiver (a low end cheap one may be sufficient since all one needs is the GPS location info to be fed into the computer)? (of course if you can have all the required map data pre downloaded in the HD, then no need to have an internet connection). If you have, my interest is: Did you use the laptop with a normal HD or SSD (Solid state hard disk) on typical pot holed SL roads ? How would a normal HD fair in our roads? Did you leave your laptop in the car when parked. (Concerned about the heat if car is parked in the sun with shutters up)? Did you mount the laptop such that you can see the screen safely while driving or have you tried using an s-vedio out of the laptop (if available) connected to a mounted or built in display in the dash that would take a video in line? tnx

Could anyone share experience on 'O'nion Assu place compared to slic please ? Renewal on slic coming up soon and evaluating to be or not to be

Totally agree Tough time persuading some passengers though . Btw, does anyone know, if a passenger is caught not wearing the seat belt, is the passenger, the driver or both fined Guess I might have to get the seat belt mount point on the door piller modified so that it is either lowered or made height adjustible. (Alternatively get passenger to wear a collar like that worn by people with sprained necks ) If anyone of you having a van with a folding bench seat in the rear, and is planning to install seat belts to it (lap belts?), would like to hear your ideas please.

Is it safe to ware a seat belt if you are rather short and the shoulder strap is touching your neck? Just wareing the seat belt is rather uncomfortable. Tried using a seat belt padding. But still it is uncomfortable and the padding is on the neck. The seat belt mount point in the door piller cannot be lowered. If there is even a slight jerk, am worrried that serious neck injurey may result Thought of putting something like a thick rubber band near the mount point on the door piller to hold the belt closer to the door piller and away from neck. But then I feel it would be defeating the purpose of the belt. This is for passenger side of a townace van. Any suggestions other than sitting on a pillow ? Btw, wonder if it is compulsary for little children to be put in car seats and not be taken on the lap ? (ofcourse it is safer to use a car seat). Thanks

Thanks very much for the info. Am relieved

I checked with the garage and the ATF used for topping up is 'Mobil Dexron III' Wonder how compatibal it is with Toyota DII Thanks.

Hi Had Toyota DII ATF. Recently after a repair, ATF oil was topped up (less than 1 litre). Forgot it had Toyota DII and used Mobil (Can't remember the exact type) Would this cause any problems? Or Is it not a big issue and I can continue to run until next ATF change? Thanks.

Hi What type of lubricant can be used for the inside of a car door lock that has plastic parts too? Normally if it had all metal parts, I guess something like grease, oil or WD-40 would be used. But someone mentioned that things like oil and grease might not be good for plastic! Would oil or grease damage the plastic parts (am told those would damage rubber parts) or is it ok to use? How about WD-40 ? Would I need to use something like silicon grease instead of the above? What would you advice please? Thanks.