good motoring
Loose wires in your car
H.Kishie Singh

Prince Phillip must have travelled extensively and incognito in India because he has a keen knowledge of the shoddy habits of our mechanics, especially electricians. Some years ago, on a visit to a factory, he saw an electric junction box with wires hanging loose. "Your electrician must have been an Indian,’’ said His Royal Highness. A keen observation.

One has to just look around the city. Loose electric wires can be seen hanging around. No junction box has the door closed. The condition of the wires in your car would be the same, especially if you take the services of a roadside mechanic to fit a music system, horn, lights, central locking equipment and other electric/electronic gadgets. Be sure he will do a shoddy job.

Some time ago I was in Sector 28, and the car parked next to mine was having a set of new Bosch horns fitted to his car. As the electrician unwrapped the horns and unscrewed the terminals, he took the washers and simply dropped them on the ground. I could not contain myself. "Mistry ji", I said, "what about these washers?" "Inka koi faida nahi" (These are of no use), he replied.

He simply wound the wires around the horn terminals and tightened the nuts. Amazing. This electrician knew more about Bosch horns than the German engineers who had designed them. The result would be a loose connection, which would lead to sparking and in turn a fire. There have been a number of cases of cars catching fire. This could be one reason.

There is another reason for short-circuiting of the electrical system. It is common to see expensive cars being driven around the city with the lights lens broken. The owner has taped them up with brown tape. The tape is not waterproof, and with the intense rain some water will surely seep into the light fixtures. A sure recipe for a short circuit.

A light cluster on a Honda, Toyota or Mitsubishi car costs anywhere from Rs 5,000 to Rs 20,000. On a Merc or BMW the cost is astronomical. It is cheaper to use tape and risk a fire.

While on the subject of heavy rain, Chandigarh has had some really heavy downpours. Visibility was reduced to 40-50 metres, and adding to that was the fact that there was almost knee-deep water at some roundabouts. Not one driver had the good sense of putting on the headlights. Headlights have a two-fold purpose. To see, of course, and equally important, to be seen. During heavy rain, duststorm or fog, it is advisable to put on the headlights—on low beam. On high beam the light will reflect off the water droplets of the rain, condensation of the fog or dust particles. It will blind the driver.

Another really abominable habit. SUVs with diesel engines don’t mind knee-deep water. They drive at full speed, honk incessantly, flash lights. They want to over take in these extreme driving conditions. They splash pedestrians, scooterists, bikers and force them off the road. It is simply bad manners and poor road etiquette. But who is there to tell them this? Manners and etiquette are learnt at home and shown on the road.

Happy motoring.