9. October 2009 by admin.

How Do You Stop A Runaway Vehicle?

In the aftermath of last month’s news event involving deaths of a California Highway Patrol Officer and three members of his family, and the subsequent advisories by Toyota and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to recall more than 3.8 million vehicles to check their floor mats, one other issue comes to mind: “How DO you stop a runaway vehicle when the brakes don’t seem to work?”

We’ve all heard stories about “Unintended Acceleration” in which vehicles are reported to suddenly accelerate on their own, and do not respond to braking by the driver. In most circumstances, cases of unintended or sudden acceleration can rarely be duplicated in vehicle testing. Often, such cases are caused when the driver accidentally steps on the gas rather than the brake.

I was recently advised by Mac DeMere  a colleague and expert driver with years of experience in the automotive industry: “If you’re pushing the brake pedal and the car continues to accelerate, release that brake pedal and push the one to its left.” He says pedal misapplication is a very common problem. The fact is, he says your vehicle’s brakes are more powerful than the engine in every unmodified, well-maintained modern car.

So what should you do if your vehicle experiences unintended acceleration?

In its recent safety advisory, Toyota offers the following suggestions:

“Should the vehicle continue to accelerate rapidly after releasing the accelerator pedal, this could be an indication of floor mat interference.  If this occurs, Toyota recommends the driver take the following actions:

First, if it is possible and safe to do so, pull back the floor mat and dislodge it from the accelerator pedal; then pull over and stop the vehicle.

If the floor mat cannot be dislodged, then firmly and steadily step on the brake pedal with both feet. Do NOT pump the brake pedal repeatedly as this will increase the effort required to slow the vehicle.

Shift the transmission gear selector to the Neutral (N) position and use the brakes to make a controlled stop at the side of the road and turn off the engine.
 
If unable to put the vehicle in Neutral, turn the engine OFF, or to ACC. This will not cause loss of steering or braking control, but the power assist to these systems will be lost.

-If the vehicle is equipped with an Engine Start/Stop button, firmly and steadily push the button for at least three seconds to turn off the engine. Do NOT tap the Engine Start/Stop button.

-If the vehicle is equipped with a conventional key-ignition, turn the ignition key to the ACC position to turn off the engine. Do NOT remove the key from the ignition as this will lock the steering wheel.”

This is a lot of stuff to remember if you’re in a panic situation, so — regardless of what kind of car you are driving — if you can only remember one thing it’s this: you can downshift the transmission gear selector into lower gears to slow the vehicle or go into neutral (N) position and then use the brakes to make a controlled stop.

If for some reason the brake pedal doesn’t seem to work (see Mac’s note above), once the car is in neutral, you can ease on the emergency brake  to slow the vehicle. (Don’t jerk the e-brake with full force: that can cause fishtailing, or snap the cable which operates the mechanism.)  This is better than turning the engine off, which could shut down power to the steering and make it very difficult to steer the vehicle.

Even if the engine is revving, as long as the car is in neutral, it can’t apply that force to the wheels, and you will still retain control of the steering system to assist you in coasting the vehicle to a safer stop.

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4. October 2009 by admin.

Penske Backs Out; General Motors to Stop Saturn’s Orbit

In a shocking last-minute decision made just a day before contracts were to be finalized, the Penske Automotive Group has announced that it has ended its discussions with General Motors to acquire the Saturn automobile brand. This very disappointing news comes after months of efforts by hundreds of dedicated employees and Saturn retailers who tried to make a new Penske-run Saturn a reality.

Sadly, as a result of Penske’s decision, General Motors will be winding down the Saturn brand and dealership network, in accordance with the wind-down agreements that Saturn dealers recently signed with GM.

Penske’s announcement explained that their decision was not based on interactions with General Motors or Saturn retailers; rather it was because of the inability to source new products beyond what it had asked GM to build on contract.

According to Penske, “Since announcing its discussions with GM on June 5, 2009, the company has been in the due diligence process to determine the feasibility of developing an independent distribution model for Saturn-branded products and service parts in the United States, including the sourcing of vehicles from GM and other potential suppliers. The company had negotiated a definitive agreement with GM to source vehicles on a contract-manufactured basis for a period of time. After this period, the company would have been required to source vehicles from another third party under a similar contract-manufacturing agreement.”

That manufacturer was Renault-Nissan, the Detroit Free Press reported, quoting a statement from a Renault spokeswoman who said  “Renault has been in contact with Penske to supply cars, parts, and technology to Saturn through an OEM agreement. The conditions for an agreement have not been found.”

The announcement is a tragic blow to the industry. According to a report at autoMedia.com, “Penske the man and organization is held in high regard, and this deal was considered the best chance for the future of the brand. The plan had been for General Motors to continue to supply vehicles through 2011, after which time Penske would source products from another automaker. This arrangement promised to shake up the century-old business model and provide unique opportunities. For instance, a Penske-run Saturn could have potentially drawn vehicles from multiple automakers, thereby giving Saturn great market flexibility, while limiting the potential liabilities associated with manufacturing that nearly toppled GM and Chrysler.”

In a press release issued by General Motors yesterday, company President & CEO Fritz Henderson said this “disappointing news comes at a time when we’d hoped for a successful launch of the Saturn brand into a new chapter. We will be working closely with our dealers to ensure Saturn customers are cared for as we transition them to other GM dealers in the months ahead. I’d also like to thank every GM employee and Saturn retailer who worked so hard to try to make this new beginning happen for Saturn.”

Terms of the wind-down process will be determined and communicated shortly. Saturn customers and owners will continue to be able to purchase and have their vehicles serviced at Saturn retailers during this process, and once the wind-down is complete, Saturn owners will still be able to have their vehicles serviced at other General Motors dealerships. According to the Detroit Free Press, the end of the Saturn brand could cost as many as 13,000 jobs at dealerships nationwide and General Motors.
Saturn was founded nearly 30 years ago by General Motors, and was promoted as a “different kind of car company,” known at first for its bouncy dentless plastic door panels and then better appreciated for its hassle-free ‘no haggle’ pricing. Owners of the vehicles have proven to be quite loyal to their brand, as evidenced by their vocal community at IMSaturn.com

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4. October 2009 by admin.

Tips on Recycling Your Used Motor Oil

Do you change your car’s motor oil? If so, you’re considered a do-it-yourself (DIY) oil changer! According to the American Petroleum Institute, more than 50 percent of all motorists fall into this category. DIY oil changers generate approximately a quarter of all used motor oil that has the potential to be reused or recycled: that’s about 150 million gallons of used motor oil each year!When you change your own oil, you take responsibility for properly disposing of your used oil, too. Mobil Oil wants to help you with that: Just enter your postal zip code in their locator  to find the location of the oil recycling or disposal facility nearest you.

With business activities in some 200 countries and territories across six continents, ExxonMobil realizes the potential environmental impact of its operations and desires to maintain the highest standards for environmental stewardship. Because Exxon/Mobil believes protecting the environment is everyone’s responsibility, the company has joined with Earth 911,  a nonprofit network that provides access to local environmental programs in the United States and parts of Canada, to make it easier for consumers to properly dispose of their used motor oil.Oil is a valuable resource!
According to Earth911.com oil originates from fossil fuels and is valuable in both its original form and as a recyclable substance. Many consumers don’t realize that oil can be reused and recycled through reconditioning, reprocessing, and re-refining. These recycling efforts help to:

    * Conserve natural resources
    * Protect the environment
    * Reuse an existing resource
    * Save energy
    * Save money

You might not know it, but used motor oil is already valuable energy resource! A large portion of the used motor oil collected is reprocessed into fuel that is burned in furnaces, turbines, power plants, and manufacturing facilities to provide heat and electricity. This can support the conservation of natural resources and help protect our environment. To put this into perspective, two gallons of used motor oil can generate enough electricity to:

    * Power the average home for one day
    * Cook 48 meals in a microwave oven
    * Blow-dry a person’s hair at least 216 times
    * Vacuum a house for 15 months
    * Watch television for 7 1/2 days straight! (180 hours)

But even more important than that, it is extremely important to keep oil out of our waterways and drinking water supplies! Each year in the United States alone, millions of gallons of used motor oil are improperly discarded, which can result in the contamination of lakes, rivers, streams and groundwater supplies. In addition, used oil is insoluble, slow to degrade, and very sticky which poses a health threat to humans, plants, animals, and the environment.Should oil get into the environment, it can quickly pollute large amounts of water. For instance, one gallon of motor oil can:

    * Create an oil slick on surface water up to eight acres in size
    * Contaminate one million gallons of freshwater. That is a year’s supply of water for 50 people!
    * Render a four-acre area of soil unusable for planting for decades.
Recycling the motor oil from just one oil change can help protect one million gallons of drinking water!

For more information about Earth 911, go to www.earth911.org or call 1-800 CLEANUP for quick access to information about recycling used motor oil and other environmental programs in your local area. Click here to locate the nearest oil recycling or disposal facility.

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