You know you're getting old when ...

A lot vehilce A/C compressors run all the time now and just use a valve in the compressor to regulate flow rate. Means the seals dont dry out from no gas flow. Off is genreally 2%.
 
hifiandmtb said:
Does the a/c have different levels of working in a car? I know the fan does, but the a/c system?
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No, it doesn't but opening the windows would cool the car down to the outside temperature quicker than not opening them. The A/C itself wouldn't know any difference, or have to "work" any harder, it just works. I modern cars with climate control, temp sensors just tell the A/C system to switch on and off to keep the set temp. If it is hotter than the set temperature it just operates until the temperature is reached.
 
slowmick said:
Is winding down all the windows on a hot day to let the air inside the car get back to ambient temperature before turning on the air conditioning an old person thing? It seems to be very out of fashion but I have an old car and try not to strain it on hot days. People just seems to get in an go.
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ForkinGreat said:
It's a sensible person thing.
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That being said, most of the time I just open the driver and front passenger door to let the worst of the trapped hot air out before shutting everything and cranking the A/C.

There used to be a little gadget that slotted onto a car window, and had a solar panel and a small fan to blow out hot air from a car parked in the sun. no idea whether they still sell it, or if it made the car easier to break into (???)
I usually just hunt for shade or try to park under cover.
 
tubby74 said:
we're all just soft, too used to the luxury of plastic covering the seat belt buckle and saving your thighs from being branded on a hot day. that and EV's letting you turn the aircon on before you head to the car.
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What about vinyl seats? You could get 3rd degree burns from them on a hot sunny day when wearing shorts!
 
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Stredda said:
What about vinyl seats? You could get 3rd degree burns from them on a hot sunny day when wearing shorts!
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you sound totally unprepared. no towel for the seat, or hand towel to grip the steering wheel for the first 5 minutes.
bet you don't even have a sharp edge to scrape ice off the windscreen in winter
 
tubby74 said:
you sound totally unprepared. no towel for the seat, or hand towel to grip the steering wheel for the first 5 minutes.
bet you don't even have a sharp edge to scrape ice off the windscreen in winter
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I remember working my first winter in NY in the MHV (mid Hudson Valley) and I had an ice scraper on my Hertz rental car's window visor - only I did not recognise what it was for and was clearing the ice off my windscreen with my hands, until one of my colleagues told me what it was for.
 
tubby74 said:
we're all just soft, too used to the luxury of plastic covering the seat belt buckle and saving your thighs from being branded on a hot day. that and EV's letting you turn the aircon on before you head to the car.
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The metal Kingswood ignition switch trims were the stuff of nightmares on a hot sunny day too...

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Stredda said:
What about vinyl seats? You could get 3rd degree burns from them on a hot sunny day when wearing shorts!
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You sure could. I remember when I was a kid that Dad would get grumpy if I didn't get in the car quick enough, but if I got in fast enough then a royal vinyl butt toasting was going to happen. No A/C to worry about either :cool:
 
oldcorollas said:
YKYGOW, you remember cars needed keys to start...
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when you had a mate whos ignition could be started with a flat head screwdriver.

getting nostalgic for computer paper today. Was great debugging fortran at unit when you could print out code on one continuous sheet and mark out loops. also miss the time when 10 lines of code could generate hundreds of lines of errors.
 
tubby74 said:
when you had a mate whos ignition could be started with a flat head screwdriver.

getting nostalgic for computer paper today. Was great debugging fortran at unit when you could print out code on one continuous sheet and mark out loops. also miss the time when 10 lines of code could generate hundreds of lines of errors.
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Memory is fuzzy but I want to say the Mazda 323 RWD had keys that worked in other 323s Few kids at school had these cars and could open the door and start each others cars.
 
tubby74 said:
when you had a mate whos ignition could be started with a flat head screwdriver.

getting nostalgic for computer paper today. Was great debugging fortran at unit when you could print out code on one continuous sheet and mark out loops. also miss the time when 10 lines of code could generate hundreds of lines of errors.
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I was never a coder, but I remember back when you could buy a book of computer games, and you had to spend a few hours painstakingly typing out pages of Basic code, to then hit run and spend another hour debugging all the typing mistakes.
Finally, when it was all done you only had a text-based game or at most, a very basic graphic output.

We used to hand draw maps of these adventure worlds so you could navigate where you were. 🤣
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slowmick said:
Kingswoods could be started with a spoon/butter knife/6" rule after the locks wore out. Mate had one that the keys used to fall out of the ignition when driving.
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I've seen this trick too BITD. Also allegedly being able to open the rear door of a 4 door HQ using a paddle pop stick shoved in rear window seal just above where the mechanism lives. :cool:
 
My old HQ didn't need a key. Just turn the barrel to start. Was a prem wagon, so had the electric rear window. I kept a bread tag poked in the back window to operate the key mechanism. Very handy if I ever locked the keys in the car.
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