Useless Information

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PG01

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I went out to look last night. I can't believe I never paid any attention to this button. Now I gotta find a purpose for it because I don't like dead buttons and I don't need heated washer fluid. I had the key on and pressed it but nothing happened. I'm pretty sure the fuse for the system has been removed. Or is it only functional when the ambient temp sensor reports a certain temp? I should've checked the owner's manual, but I can Google it...
Hmm, lazy...
 

HiHoeSilver

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I went out to look last night. I can't believe I never paid any attention to this button. Now I gotta find a purpose for it because I don't like dead buttons and I don't need heated washer fluid. I had the key on and pressed it but nothing happened. I'm pretty sure the fuse for the system has been removed. Or is it only functional when the ambient temp sensor reports a certain temp? I should've checked the owner's manual, but I can Google it...

Oil slicks or ejector seat maybe?
 

iamdub

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Oil slicks or ejector seat maybe?

Well... I have a severe intolerance for tailgaters. In my many, many hours of solo driving, I've conjured up a few ideas for anti-tailgating devices.

One device would need a trigger button. It's basically tightly-coiled barbed wired packed into a cylindrical housing mounted longitudinally under the car, somewhere behind the rear axle or just behind the bumper. An electronic releasing mechanism opens the cylinder lengthwise like a clam shell, allowing the barbed wire to spring out of the housing. The natural spring-effect of the packed barbed wire makes it expand to the width of a traffic lane in milliseconds, almost fully before it hits the road. The offending car runs over the coiled barbed wire and it hopefully gets tangled in the undercarriage. Treble hooks or even caltrops tied to the barbed wire with cable could be added to ensure entanglement and/or tire damage.

Another device is more of a Mad Max/fiction world device that I call the "Stinger". It's a barbed spike mounted to the frame using the hitch or is mounted like a hitch (bolted to the frame). It has a coil spring setup for cushioning and the stinger is tied to the hitch with about 20' to 30' of heavy cable. Basically, you stomp the brake and the tailgater rear-ends you. There's a shield plate to protect the rear of the car with the stinger in the middle. The shield plate and stinger assembly compress and absorb the impact because of the coil springs. The stinger is secured into a tube with a shear pin that breaks during this impact. Immediately after impact, the offending car will slow because the driver has stomped their brake but you floor the throttle. So, you are now accelerating and the offender is sharply decelerating with the barbed stinger stuck through their front end. The cable is quickly extended so you violently rip the stinger back out of the car, causing further severe damage. The cable part can be left out so that the stinger remains and you either make a clean getaway or stop. That's up to you, but you don't wanna be charged with leaving the scene of an accident so think ahead.

Ok, that's enough ****** for now.
 

HiHoeSilver

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Well... I have a severe intolerance for tailgaters. In my many, many hours of solo driving, I've conjured up a few ideas for anti-tailgating devices.

One device would need a trigger button. It's basically tightly-coiled barbed wired packed into a cylindrical housing mounted longitudinally under the car, somewhere behind the rear axle or just behind the bumper. An electronic releasing mechanism opens the cylinder lengthwise like a clam shell, allowing the barbed wire to spring out of the housing. The natural spring-effect of the packed barbed wire makes it expand to the width of a traffic lane in milliseconds, almost fully before it hits the road. The offending car runs over the coiled barbed wire and it hopefully gets tangled in the undercarriage. Treble hooks or even caltrops tied to the barbed wire with cable could be added to ensure entanglement and/or tire damage.

Another device is more of a Mad Max/fiction world device that I call the "Stinger". It's a barbed spike mounted to the frame using the hitch or is mounted like a hitch (bolted to the frame). It has a coil spring setup for cushioning and the stinger is tied to the hitch with about 20' to 30' of heavy cable. Basically, you stomp the brake and the tailgater rear-ends you. There's a shield plate to protect the rear of the car with the stinger in the middle. The shield plate and stinger assembly compress and absorb the impact because of the coil springs. The stinger is secured into a tube with a shear pin that breaks during this impact. Immediately after impact, the offending car will slow because the driver has stomped their brake but you floor the throttle. So, you are now accelerating and the offender is sharply decelerating with the barbed stinger stuck through their front end. The cable is quickly extended so you violently rip the stinger back out of the car, causing further severe damage. The cable part can be left out so that the stinger remains and you either make a clean getaway or stop. That's up to you, but you don't wanna be charged with leaving the scene of an accident so think ahead.

Ok, that's enough ****** for now.

Maybe just some Yosemite Sam "back off" mud flaps then...
 
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swathdiver

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My first car was a hotrod that used to belong to an uncle. It had a hitch on the back and a big white light next to it, the kind of rectangular lights used on the light bar of a 4x4. The light was perfectly angled to take care of tailgaters. I don't know why because at 16 nobody but cops ever got that close to the back of my car but sometimes we thought someone just deserved it and woe to them if they weren't wearing sunglasses at night. You could do that with your button; on second thought you best not! Getting rid of those love bugs that should be here soon would be more profitable.
 

kbuskill

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All of these ideas are great if we only new the factory workings of this switch.

I assume the switched circuit has a timer of some sort built into it to turn off after a given period of time.

What I am not sure of is :

1. How long is that period of time?

2. If you turn it on can you turn it off by pressing the button again or do you have to wait the allotted time?

3. Does this cause your wipers to come on and spray fluid on your windshield automatically?

We need more info from someone with a functional washer fluid heater.
 

HiHoeSilver

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All of these ideas are great if we only new the factory workings of this switch.

I assume the switched circuit has a timer of some sort built into it to turn off after a given period of time.

What I am not sure of is :

1. How long is that period of time?

2. If you turn it on can you turn it off by pressing the button again or do you have to wait the allotted time?

3. Does this cause your wipers to come on and spray fluid on your windshield automatically?

We need more info from someone with a functional washer fluid heater.

In terms of the timer, I would bet they used the same one they did for the rear defrost /heated mirrors...
 
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swathdiver

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