a few stupid questions

[anyyan]

Hi all. I'm not sure if this post deserves to be in the technical forums, since the questions in it are pretty basic. I'm a complete idiot when it comes to car, so there. A new co-owner of an automatic transmission 2006 Yaris. I've driven cars before but this is the first time that the car is really owned by me.

* What does the Cool sign in the dashboard mean? Is the normal condition for this sign on or off? When I first start the car from cold, should I wait until the Cool sign is off?

* I'm still not sure what to do should my car suddenly go dead in the middle of the road. Will I be able to push it, with the transmission not in the neutral position?

* I don't use the car everyday, but do I still have to warm it, a la the traditional cars? Or is once a week enough?

Thanks in advance!

[death is my gift]

Originally Posted by anyyan

* What does the Cool sign in the dashboard mean? Is the normal condition for this sign on or off? When I first start the car from cold, should I wait until the Cool sign is off?

I was concerned about this too. I asked the dealer and they said it's sort of an indicator to let you know when your car is ready to drive but he also said that not everyone waits for it to go off before driving and that's fine. I guess it's up to personal preference. Waiting for your car to "warm up".

Originally Posted by anyyan

* I'm still not sure what to do should my car suddenly go dead in the middle of the road. Will I be able to push it, with the transmission not in the neutral position?

Well, if your car goes dead in the middle of the road may I suggest pulling over to the right. I don't think you can push a car if it isn't in neutral. If this were to happen I would think some other dudes would pull over and help you push it........to the right.

[nqd]

the car is lighter then anything you can push it to a safe spot

[kurokoma-kun]

I was a bit worried by the little "cool" light too. Death's exactly right, nothing to worry about.

Why are you concerned about it going dead, did that happened to you before? That's best thing about a new car--no mechanical problems. Even if you stall it, don't panic, it gets going again easily.

[Wine]

for the last questionm, u should warm ur car more than 1 a week

[Astroman]

It is safe to drive the car with the "cool" light on, just don't go racing around. I like the light because when its cold outside, I know when the heater will blow warm air . Also with the automatic it won't shift into 4th gear when the cool light is on. Nothing to worry about, perfectly normal. It takes my car maybe 5 minutes for the light to go off.

If the car dies on the road, just put it in neutral to push it safely to the side of the road.

[JosephDoc]

Cool sign means the car is saying hello to you when you turn on the engine.

Not sure about your engine out while driving problem. It does not sound too good and you should take it for a diagnose. My guess: bad quality fuel.

The cool sigh let you know if your engine is at good temperature to roll. Cool sign on mean the temp is low, and cool sign off mean the temperature is good to go. If you are a busy man and hate to warm up the car, switch oil to 0w20 so the oil won't do as much danage as regular oil when the engine is cold.

It is always good to warm up the engine. Period.

[sherryberry]

I was also confused with the "cool" light at first. Then I did a search somewhere and someone said that it's totally normal and it's just letting you know it's warming up and not to drive like a crazy maniac. It goes away in like 5 minutes or so. It's a problem if it lasts a lot longer.

As for the car dying.. like someone said, it's a light car.. besides... toyota is a damn good brand. unless you got a total lemon, you won't have too many problems if you just do the usual maintenance (oil changes, etc.)

[jenarae]

Yeah, i definitly let it warm up before i take off every morning...when i was younger and didnt know cheese whiz about anything related to basic engine maintenance, my Jetta always said my car was cold! Yeah, i had to get it fixed, it was some electrical issue...$300 later.

[alhope34]

The "cool" light is one thing I wish the Yaris didn't have. I want a real temp gauge =(

When driving over mountains in Nova Scotia it is pretty annoying not to be able to see the exact temperature of the coolant. I remember our Saturn would creep past half on the way up, on the Yaris we never have a clue what it's doing.

[cellardoor]

Yea, I definitely agree with alhope. It would be really nice to actually see where the temp is at.

[johnnypaseo]

yeah i was wonderin about that too

[brickhardmeat]

When you see smoke and steam, pull over.

[sherryberry]

they kinda took a lotta stuff out of the dash for the enormous speedometer heh.

[redyaris]

Originally Posted by jenarae

Yeah, i definitly let it warm up before i take off every morning...when i was younger and didnt know cheese whiz about anything related to basic engine maintenance, my Jetta always said my car was cold! Yeah, i had to get it fixed, it was some electrical issue...$300 later.

im going blind reading your posts

Please choose the 'readers digest' 20 point font for us old guys.

[Masteraal]

as been said. start the car, youll notice the rpm at around 2500 or something and itll slowly drop within like 5 or 6 seconds to around 1000. then u can set off but dont rev the car past say 2500 until the cool light is off.. then drive it like you stole it...or whatever you prefer.

also the car will have another signal if the car is overheating. if u look closely its next to the cool light :)

and yea it does need a normal tempo gauge :(

broken down. chuck it in neutral and roll ;)

i thought u only need to start the car for the battery. if you dont drive it as often please make sure you still do the servicing! even if you dont make the required Miles for the service youre still due every 6 months!

[jenarae]

Quote:
Originally Posted by jenarae
Yeah, i definitly let it warm up before i take off every morning...when i was younger and didnt know cheese whiz about anything related to basic engine maintenance, my Jetta always said my car was cold! Yeah, i had to get it fixed, it was some electrical issue...$300 later.


im going blind reading your posts

Please choose the 'readers digest' 20 point font for us old guys.


Originally Posted by jenarae
Yeah, i definitly let it warm up before i take off every morning...when i was younger and didnt know cheese whiz about anything related to basic engine maintenance, my Jetta always said my car was cold! Yeah, i had to get it fixed, it was some electrical issue...$300 later.


lol...jk jk

[redyaris]

thanks Jenarae!