Jim,
Thanks for telling about the incident with your car. I'll pass it on to
the driver of whom I wrote earlier today.
Here in New England, I suppose in other cold regions too, people park
in gear because the rear brakes all too often get wet in the winter
splashing of slush. Then the brake shoes freeze to the drums when the car
is parked. That's a maddening experience, and there isn't a think the
driver can do to resolve the problem except to drag the car into a heated
garage and fret for a while until the "pop" of returning springs signals
that the shoes have retracted.
An annoyance that I attributed to different climactic conditions was an
almost daily hassle with a SAAB (of all things) 96. The push-in door
knobs were set at an angle to the door, so that the opening around the
push-knob faced up. Living on the coast, rain and sleet would get into
the space. Scraping off the visible ice was the right thing to do, but
often the knob would go in and release the door, but not return to its
proper position. A piece of rope to tie the two doors closed was
standard winter equipment. I assume that dry powder snow was the norm in
Sweden, not the wet freezing stuff we got in CT and Maine. That car
ALWAYS froze its rear brakes. Come to think of it, it also consumed an
exhaust system about every 12 months. A great car to drive in the snow,
but a pain when it was parked!
Bob
On Sun, 06 Feb 2000 10:13:57 -0500 "James H. Nazarian, Ph.D."
<microdoc@APK.NET> writes:
> Bob,
>
> If the starter relay spontaneously fails (corrosion or moisture
> caused), the
> starter will engage. I wouldn't believe it if it hadn't happened to
> me. There
> I was, alone in the warehouse with my car collection, happy as a
> lark.
> Suddenly, an MGB 35 feet away decided to start itself. It scared the
> bejeezis
> out of me. I calmly put my tools away and ran like hell out of
> there. Went
> home early that night.
>
> Good reason to stop this dangerous practice of parking in gear. Use
> the
> parking brake to hold the car. if it doesn't work.... fix it.
>
> Jim
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