Engine suddenly wouldn't start, and then will

[7milesout]

I have to believe, that there's a chance, or an outside possibility, that it was flooded. His wife might have flooded it herself. Or, it could have been him too, that flooded it ... I agree with that. I wonder if anyone else either worked on it or tried to start it? But if he didn't flood it, and if it were indeed flooded, and he's sure it wasn't him that flooded it, it could have been her ... that flooded it. One thing's for sure though, I didn't flood it.

[Mark]

Mark - On some cars, like my Dodge Ram, the parking brake takes a rather stout push to get to actually work. It's one of those left foot against the left kick panel deals. I'm guess in another 20 years, I would have some trouble pushing it down. And there are a lot of codgers that are much weaker than I hope to be when I'm full codgerized. An electric pooooosh-button parking brake makes it easy for old codgers. I plan on driving until I'm 125 years old.

I get what you are saying, but I teach how to properly use a parking/emergency brake several times a week. I honestly believe these new electric parking brakes are a safety risk, but maybe all the other sensors will save one long before anyone is killed?

Many older vehicles that never offered a manual transmission option have a foot operated parking brake like your Dodge Ram. My 2015 Impala that I will be using for instruction later today is also set up that way. Why? An Impala has never offered an manual transmission option. At least not in my memory, and the earliest one I remember was my dad's 1966 Impala, and I took my driving test with my dad's 1977 Impala.

Most vehicles that offer a manual transmission option will have a hand parking brake, and there is a very specific reason for that, too. Our Ford Focus driving car is set up that way even though it's an dual-clutch automatic (piece of crap). My manual Forester & Mirage are set up that way along with all CVT Mirages I would guess. The reason for a hand parking brake in these vehicles is because they offered a manual option at one time or somewhere in the world market.

So my first big concern is this - If one's main brakes should actually fail in a real life situation & I have seen it happen, do I want an emergency brake that is a button & instantly locks up your brakes/wheels or do want a pedal or lever that allows you to bring the car to slow, steady, controlled stop? With an electric parking brake that option is lost. With a manual emergency brake, I can still slam it hard if I really need to, but I can also take control of the situation. We have to much junk on new cars, and this is a big one in my opinion. It's a step backwards.

The main reason for a hand parking brake for manual vehicles (before Hill Start Assist existed - another maybe worthless feature) is the control it gives you when parking on a steep hill. I only have two feet, but I could use three feet in this situation. That's where your right hand comes in. I can left out my clutch with left foot, move my right foot from the brake to the gas pedal, while holding the vehicle in place with the parking brake in right hand. As I feel the clutch engage with my left foot & give the car a little gas with my right foot, I can slowly time my release of the parking brake. It takes practice and coordination of course.

Now, someone who's been driving a manual for years can probably pull all this off without using the hand brake at all, but it is a valuable option just the same. Most of us that are use to driving a manual are going to engage the clutch slightly while moving our right foot the gas pedal. Some struggle with that. Rolling back into someone/something is never good!

An automatic vehicle is not going to have that concern. My students are taught when they release the parking brake on the Impala with their left foot, their right foot is planted firmly on the main brake pedal. Once the parking brake is released, their left foot will now join their right foot (reason for wider brake pedal on automatic vehicles maybe?). it's the only time I allow them to use their left on the brake pedal. Now their right foot is free to move the gas pedal with no fear of rolling back, because they are holding the car in place with their left on the brake. I can't do that when my left foot is releasing the clutch pedal on a manual.

I will teaching this to students tonight, and I will have a new driving instructor in training observing all this with me. We have very steep hills in our area (even in town). RC doesn't have a water tower like most towns. Our water tank is on the steepest hill on the edge of town. You live below that tank, you have water pressure in town. My drivers will be parking on the hill road below the city water tank tonight, and it's steep!

So a kids that drives today's vehicle with "hill start assist" & an "electric parking brake" may not know as much as someone who learned how to drive a 1972 manual Chevy pickup truck as a kid. Are new drivers who rely on all these safety features in newer vehicles better drivers?

I am not a fan of new vehicle features doing things operators should or could be doing better themselves. Then again, I would make screens on dashes illegal, too. I am a dinosaur, & I know it!

I want to be pushing in a clutch & pulling parking brake handles at age 125. It's good exercise!

[AtomicPunk]

I have to believe, that there's a chance, or an outside possibility, that it was flooded. His wife might have flooded it herself. Or, it could have been him too, that flooded it ... I agree with that. I wonder if anyone else either worked on it or tried to start it? But if he didn't flood it, and if it were indeed flooded, and he's sure it wasn't him that flooded it, it could have been her ... that flooded it. One thing's for sure though, I didn't flood it.

So you're saying it's flooded?

[7milesout]

I'd have to get a consensus from the group. I don't know, maybe not.

[7milesout]

Mark - From an automotive standpoint, I'd hazard a guess that the centered handbrake exists there for reasons OTHER than, because of the control it gives a driver. My guess is that it is there because the space was made available from removing a manual gear shifters (from decades ago) and it was less expensive to put it there and route the cables to the rear, than it was in other places. It just so happens to be easier to control there and hence made it a great place to put it. Much of the way cars are built today is based on cost and ease of manufacturing (which is cost based as well, the easier / quicker it goes together, the less is paid to have them built).

I drove my 7,140 lb (empty) 3/4 ton Dodge about 20 miles across the southern edge of Montgomery, AL when its brakes went out, to get it to a shop for repair. I hit 70 mph at one point on that trip on a 4 lane with noone around. With zero service brakes and only parking brakes (hydraulic line busted, zero hydraulic pressure). Not the smartest thing, but there was NOONE around. I barely even used the parking brakes with the 6 speed manual.

[Fummins]

I get what you are saying, but I teach how to properly use a parking/emergency brake several times a week. I honestly believe these new electric parking brakes are a safety risk, but maybe all the other sensors will save one long before anyone is killed?

Many older vehicles that never offered a manual transmission option have a foot operated parking brake like your Dodge Ram. My 2015 Impala that I will be using for instruction later today is also set up that way. Why? An Impala has never offered an manual transmission option. At least not in my memory, and the earliest one I remember was my dad's 1966 Impala, and I took my driving test with my dad's 1977 Impala.

Most vehicles that offer a manual transmission option will have a hand parking brake, and there is a very specific reason for that, too. Our Ford Focus driving car is set up that way even though it's an dual-clutch automatic (piece of crap). My manual Forester & Mirage are set up that way along with all CVT Mirages I would guess. The reason for a hand parking brake in these vehicles is because they offered a manual option at one time or somewhere in the world market.

So my first big concern is this - If one's main brakes should actually fail in a real life situation & I have seen it happen, do I want an emergency brake that is a button & instantly locks up your brakes/wheels or do want a pedal or lever that allows you to bring the car to slow, steady, controlled stop? With an electric parking brake that option is lost. With a manual emergency brake, I can still slam it hard if I really need to, but I can also take control of the situation. We have to much junk on new cars, and this is a big one in my opinion. It's a step backwards.

The main reason for a hand parking brake for manual vehicles (before Hill Start Assist existed - another maybe worthless feature) is the control it gives you when parking on a steep hill. I only have two feet, but I could use three feet in this situation. That's where your right hand comes in. I can left out my clutch with left foot, move my right foot from the brake to the gas pedal, while holding the vehicle in place with the parking brake in right hand. As I feel the clutch engage with my left foot & give the car a little gas with my right foot, I can slowly time my release of the parking brake. It takes practice and coordination of course.

Now, someone who's been driving a manual for years can probably pull all this off without using the hand brake at all, but it is a valuable option just the same. Most of us that are use to driving a manual are going to engage the clutch slightly while moving our right foot the gas pedal. Some struggle with that. Rolling back into someone/something is never good!

An automatic vehicle is not going to have that concern. My students are taught when they release the parking brake on the Impala with their left foot, their right foot is planted firmly on the main brake pedal. Once the parking brake is released, their left foot will now join their right foot (reason for wider brake pedal on automatic vehicles maybe?). it's the only time I allow them to use their left on the brake pedal. Now their right foot is free to move the gas pedal with no fear of rolling back, because they are holding the car in place with their left on the brake. I can't do that when my left foot is releasing the clutch pedal on a manual.

I will teaching this to students tonight, and I will have a new driving instructor in training observing all this with me. We have very steep hills in our area (even in town). RC doesn't have a water tower like most towns. Our water tank is on the steepest hill on the edge of town. You live below that tank, you have water pressure in town. My drivers will be parking on the hill road below the city water tank tonight, and it's steep!

So a kids that drives today's vehicle with "hill start assist" & an "electric parking brake" may not know as much as someone who learned how to drive a 1972 manual Chevy pickup truck as a kid. Are new drivers who rely on all these safety features in newer vehicles better drivers?

I am not a fan of new vehicle features doing things operators should or could be doing better themselves. Then again, I would make screens on dashes illegal, too. I am a dinosaur, & I know it!

I want to be pushing in a clutch & pulling parking brake handles at age 125. It's good exercise!

My friend/old boss has a factory 4 speed 68' Impala. I'll try to remember to get some pics next time I'm over there.

The e-brake in my stinky manual transmission Dodge truck has never worked since I owned it. It makes it a total pita when trying to hitch up to a trailer, especially on a slight hill. I never think about fixing it until I need it. Thanks for the reminders, I ordered all the parts to get it working a few hours ago. I saw geese fly over today so maybe it'll be nice this weekend and I can fix that turdmobile finally.

[Mark]

I'd have to get a consensus from the group. I don't know, maybe not.

There are some exceptions for sure. 2nd generation Honda CR-V had one the pulled out from the dash to the right of the steering wheel. Some older pickup trucks may have a foot operated parking brake, too.

I honestly don't remember the parking brake location on my Dad's 1972 Chevy pickup truck. I was only 10+ years old when I was driving that around the farm. I would guess it was foot operated.

How many of us remember foot operated dimmer switches for the headlights?

You tapped a button with your left to dim your headlights.

[7milesout]

How many of us remember foot operated dimmer switches for the headlights?

You tapped a button with your left to dim your headlights.

One of my cars still has that.

Do you know how that originated? My guess is, that used to be the switch for the starter. You'll notice on old Andy Griffith shows an instance or two when they would stomp their foot down to start the car. You couldn't see their foot, but you could tell by their body language what they were doing.

Back yonder years, they didn't use a relay to be the switch to close the circuit for the starter motor. It was just a heavy duty switch that ran all that amp load through. You don't want to be touching that switch with your hand, the bottom of a shoe was much safer. When they started using a relay, and a key and hand operation to operate the starter, high beam headlights were coming on the scene. And hey, now they have a switch with no use, lets use that for the headlight high beams.

[Mark]

One of my cars still has that.

Do you know how that originated? My guess is, that used to be the switch for the starter. You'll notice on old Andy Griffith shows an instance or two when they would stomp their foot down to start the car. You couldn't see their foot, but you could tell by their body language what they were doing.

Back yonder years, they didn't use a relay to be the switch to close the circuit for the starter motor. It was just a heavy duty switch that ran all that amp load through. You don't want to be touching that switch with your hand, the bottom of a shoe was much safer. When they started using a relay, and a key and hand operation to operate the starter, high beam headlights were coming on the scene. And hey, now they have a switch with no use, lets use that for the headlight high beams.

Can't find any reference related to a starter button on the floor being the reason. History seems to dictate steering column switch (1925-26), then it went to the floor for about 50 years, & then back to steering column.

"In 1925 the depressible headlight became obsolete when the Guide Lamp Co. introduced the 2-filament headlight bulb. Switching between low and high beam was accomplished through a switch on the steering column. In 1927 the dimmer switch was moved to the floor, where it stayed for about 50 years until it was moved again -- to the steering column!

Apparently the early auto designers realized that drivers could safely multi-task and operate a foot dimmer switch, thus giving drivers one less reason for taking their hands off the steering wheel.

The floorboard area was wide open and these floor-mounted dimmer switches could be made larger and more durable.

The first US-designed autos started following the trend away from the foot-operated dimmer switch in the 1970s, as they decided to emulate the luxury European imports who were starting to put the dimmer switch on the stalk. However, the transition from the the cheap floor switch to the more expensive multi-function stalk switch usually had to wait until a major re-design of that vehicle so that a coordinated change could be made. Ultimately, the dimmer switch function would go to the stalk when a model went from rear wheel drive to front wheel drive (which happened a lot in the late 1970s and early 1980s) because the foot-well area became smaller and more cramped."

https://cnynews.com/baby-boomer-aler...h-in-our-cars/

[Basic]

I love driving my old vehicles with the dimmer switch in the floor. Such a better method than the turn signal stalk. Safer too.