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bad cases of RTFM. Who'll admit to any?

A5DSR

A5DSR

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Ok I'll start. We had a MK2 XR2 for years back in the 80's, the one with the auto choke on the weber carb, it always ran rubbish when cold especially in the winter. Anyway, whilst admitting defeat and resorting to manual for a fuse or bulb change or something, I noticed the page on starting the car, you know, the one we ignore cos we all think we know better, assuming like any other car just turn the key and off you go.
After reading I found you have to depress the acc pedal to the floor before starting to activate the choke. Ran fine from then, even on cold mornings...[:)]

I now check the handbook to see how to start a car. 944...don't touch the pedals before starting[:D]



 
I'll own up to having had trouble with the hood latch on my Boxster a couple of weeks after I got it. Had to ring OPC Silverstone to ask how to get the handle to move so I could shut the roof. "See the big button in the middle with the word Press on it? Press it." Duh!
 
Im certain that the sunroof on 944s has caused many a new owner a problem (if you want to remove it then operate the switch with the ignition on 'ACC'; to tilt it then operate the switch with the ignition switched on)...

Simon
 
A little off the original idea, but it was about RTFM

We bought a V6 Mondeo, one of the first, as a Ford Direct car with the usual guarantee and the 114 POINT INSPECTION!

On the way home, my wife at the time (another story [:eek:]) asked what side of the car the fuel filler was on. I, of course, being a man, didn't try to guess but opened the glove box to look in the manual. The first thing to hand was a printout from an insurance assessor detailing the massive accident the car had been involved in, the repair work done and the engineer's report that the car couldn't be straightened and would leak like a sieve. When not popping the hatch open over bumps. [&:]

We returned to the dealer, who was more than a little surprised. We got to keep the car for several months at no cost whilst they found a replacement of the same spec. Since then, I've always looked in the glove box as the first stage when buying a used car.
 
Just remembered another one.

I broke the indicator stalk on my wife's (my wife at the time, do keep up, [:D]) Fiesta. Only when I had to explain how I'd snapped it off did the garage explain that it clearly states in the manual:

"The windscreen washer is operated by the footswitch to the left of the clutch. " [&o]
 
ORIGINAL: pauljmcnulty

On the way home, my wife at the time (another story [:eek:]) asked what side of the car the fuel filler was on.
Click to expand...

As a little aside, it seems that there is an easy way to tell this. On the fuel gauge of most cars is a little picture of a petrol pump. The petrol pump will have the filler nozzle pictured on one side or the other. Whichever side the filler nozzle is pictured is the side of the car that the fuel filler is on.

The first time that I was told this, i didn't believe a word; but since then have never seen an exception to this rule.
 
ORIGINAL: Ephraim
since then have never seen an exception to this rule.
Click to expand...
Toyota RAV-4 [&:] - I read something similar to this a few months ago, at that time we had 6 cars in the household, and all 6 showed the filler on the RHS, but the actual filler cap was on the opposite side on 2 of them, the RAV-4 and one other, which was either a Peugeot 307 or a VW Golf.
 
ORIGINAL: A5DSR
944...don't touch the pedals before starting[:D]
Click to expand...
Well, that's my bad case of RTFM - I have a habit of slightly depressing the accelerator pedal, and fully depressing the clutch pedal when I start a car. I was told about the 944 and it does seem to run better if I don't touch the accelerator.
 
TVR Cerbera try doing anything without the manual!! Never has an intruction manual come out so many times in the first day of ownership!! I couldnt open the boot to fill up with fuel at a petrol station, work out why after pressing one of the buttons in the car the led stayed on and I seemingly couldn't turn it off no matter what I did (turned out to be the rear window demister on a 5min auto timer) and many more examples I've probably forgotten! 944 manual never came out so far as I can remember except an internet search to find out how to remove the metal pins for the brake pads on a turbo! Seemed impossible when I first tried!

Regards,

Ben
 
ORIGINAL: Ephraim

ORIGINAL: pauljmcnulty

On the way home, my wife at the time (another story [:eek:]) asked what side of the car the fuel filler was on.
Click to expand...

As a little aside, it seems that there is an easy way to tell this. On the fuel gauge of most cars is a little picture of a petrol pump. The petrol pump will have the filler nozzle pictured on one side or the other. Whichever side the filler nozzle is pictured is the side of the car that the fuel filler is on.

The first time that I was told this, i didn't believe a word; but since then have never seen an exception to this rule.
Click to expand...

Its definitely a myth John.. If theres an arrow that will indicate the side on which youll find the filler cap.
 
A friends old Saab 900 you had to put the car into reverse in order to get the key out of the ignition........as I found out after about 20 mins[:mad:]
 
Ha !, read the manual on how to operate the heater controls in my 3.2, still havent got a clue [:D]
 
ORIGINAL: A5DSR
After reading I found you have to depress the acc pedal to the floor before starting to activate the choke.
Click to expand...
Ha!

My first car was a 1300cc Mk1 Golf. (Superb car, but that's another story). That had a similar thing - if you pushed the accelerator to the floor before starting it squirted a bit of extra fuel into the inlet manifold. Made it run much better on a cold morning ...

... and got me into a habit that I am still in to this day! Cold morning, get into the car (any car), and pump the accelerator twice before starting! I'll add (in my defence) that it has never done any harm and I am therefore yet to break the habit ...


Oli.
 
How to open the bonnet on a Ford Focus has caught many a person...! Me included[&:]

You flip up the Ford badge on the grill and put in the key - turn left to release then right to disengage the safety catch...!
 
ORIGINAL: cococola

A friends old Saab 900 you had to put the car into reverse in order to get the key out of the ignition........as I found out after about 20 mins[:mad:]
Click to expand...

[:(] I had that one too in a hire car (Saab). You would have thought they would have pointed this out, it being slightly unusual. Unfortunately my patience is measured in seconds rather than minutes and I lost my temper with it. Seeing the state of the lock barrel when I'd finished I decide to tell them somebody broke into it.
 
ORIGINAL: Ephraim
Click to expand...

As a little aside, it seems that there is an easy way to tell this. On the fuel gauge of most cars is a little picture of a petrol pump. The petrol pump will have the filler nozzle pictured on one side or the other. Whichever side the filler nozzle is pictured is the side of the car that the fuel filler is on.

The first time that I was told this, i didn't believe a word; but since then have never seen an exception to this rule.

[/quote]

the new BMW mini is one such exception[8|]
 
Okay... I admit to it taking me 2 years to find the trip meter reset, and last week was the first time in 5 years I'd been able to change the time on the clock. In neither case had I RTFM.... Doh! :ROFLMAO:
 
ORIGINAL: DivineE

TVR Cerbera try doing anything without the manual!! Never has an intruction manual come out so many times in the first day of ownership!! I couldnt open the boot to fill up with fuel at a petrol station,.................. and many more examples I've probably forgotten!
Ben
Click to expand...

Switch for the dash lights on my Chimaera , totally invisible underneath the dash to the left of the steering wheel .
I had actually given up on them ever working having spent several irate hours checking fuses.
Read about the switch on the TVR forum six months later .[8|]
In my defence , on the same thread there was a guy who actually drove his car 60 miles back to the dealer to remonstrate with them for having returned his car after a service with the dash lights not working . Oops ! ! [:D]
 
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