The Ghost in the Machine

The rat has been removed, but its ghost remains.

Not long after the successful rodent extraction, the ABS warning light started to glow intermittently. The car was due for a service, so in it went.

Verdict – faulty ABS sensor. Fair enough – but which sensor? The answer was passenger side front – the same place where the rat was found. 

Eerie.

OK – maybe just a coincidence.

The problem is, the light continues to glow intermittently, despite a new sensor and sender.

Now I’m looking for an exorcist. Anyone out there know one close to Toowoomba?

Smoke - No Mirrors

Forming up - James St Information Centre

The Darling Downs Chapter of the MX5 club disappeared into smoke yesterday.
We were heading off to Queen Mary Falls in one of the most pervasive smoke hazes I've seen since living in Toowoomba.

Hume St Southbound

Heading out, the amount of activity surrounding the Carnival of Flowers was evident, but the spectacle was diminished somewhat by the haze.

Through the smoke darkly

The effect on the New England was ethereal.

Tucker time

We paused for Morning tea at Yangan.

Breeze proof shelter

The shelter shed was obviously a modified off-the-shelf garage, cunningly designed to maximise any heat build-up whilst at the same time screening out any cooling breezes.

Summer has arrived without any reference to Spring, or even a “Gidday” as it whizzed past.

Green grass - brown sky

The scenery became hazily bucolic as we punched South, following the track of the old railway line, the last remnants of which closed in the 1960s.

MX5 road

Once we’d left the New England, the roads became more MX5 friendly, with great sweeping bends.

Upward and into the haze

The mountains loomed ahead through the haze, and soon we were climbing. The country, where you could see it, looked great, but there’s plenty of fuel and fires are obviously going to be an issue.

Mazdas on the edge

Our next stop rejoiced in the name of Dagg’s Falls. Harry knows how it got its name – you’ll have to ask him.

Dagg's Falls

These are the falls.

MX5 drivers

These are some of the people looking at the falls. MX5 drivers smile a lot.

Deep in the forest something stirred

We plunged into the mountain (but stayed on the road whilst doing this plunging).

Lean green hungry country

 After lunch at Queen Mary’s Falls, we went for a stroll, and came across some interesting scrub, with the stream flowing through it, and the falls themselves.

Queen Mary Falls

Despite the summery day, it was spring, and the flowers were out.

Bush blossoms

Further along the track was a day lily.

It waited for us

It had obviously decided to pick that time and place to appear, just for us.

An Explanation

It took a while, but I figured it out in the end.

Last week I was driving a Nissan X-Trail diesel along the Warrego on my way west to work. They’re a neat little machine, and quite enjoyable to drive. The usual fleet equipment for these trips is Hyundai Santa Fe.

This particular vehicle, however was not behaving as per specification. When cruise control was engaged, it would immediately downshift to fifth gear, so the motor would move from 2000rpm to 2300rpm, resulting in more noise, and I assume, higher fuel consumption.

It was easily fixed by moving the auto selector across to manual mode, selecting top (sixth) gear without disengaging the cruise, but it was a nuisance and bothered me, because I don’t like unexplained phenomena when I’m driving.

When I refuelled in Roma, I noticed both front tyres looked a bit underinflated. This step (of looking closely at the vehicle before driving it) was something that was drummed into us at the last driver training session I did. I've been driving since 1964, but still attend these Q-Fleet sessions when they're offered, as they're usually good value.

I should have remembered what I was taught.

Both front tyres were about 10 psi lower than they should have been.

When they were pumped up to the recommended pressures, the cruise control reverted to normal behaviour.

It seems unlikely, but in the absence of any other explanation, I’d have to accept that the slight drag caused by these low pressures were the source of the problem.