Boneheaded move...

J

johnaec

Registered
My Mark VIII has been sitting for almost a week since the suspension compressor went out. The replacement has arrived, but I can't put it on until this weekend, (Eddie - I found one new in the box for $200 that I couldn't pass up, but I'll be sending you my core for free).

Anyway, last night I decided to fire the car up for a few minutes to get rid of any moisture in the engine, ('lot of rain lately), and keep the fluids moving. I've been driving the T-Bird to work in the meantime.

So I get up this morning to go for work, and can't find my keys anywhere. You guessed it! I left the Mark running in the driveway all night!! Bonehead!!

Anyway, it was still idling happily away. I wonder what my MPG display will now be showing? Long term average over the last ~4,500 miles was 20.2 mpg...

John
[link:mark8.org/lodnca|NorCal Chapter Website]
http://mark8.org/users/johnaec/Mark_VIII_s.jpg
'97 Mark VIII LSC
'96 T-Bird 4.6L
 
RE: Boneheaded move...

That is some funny stuff John.......LMAO!!!

Reminds me of the time I went from a stick to automatic transmission I kept wanting to shift the automatic by using the brake..... but the best part was when I forgot to put it in gear so in the mornining when I woke up the car was in the middle of the street!
 
RE: Boneheaded move...

Me too!

I was sitting with my daughter watching a Musical and realized I had lost my keys. I searched all around my seat in the dark and looked all over the area - and in a panic - ran all the way out of the theater during intermission - all the way to the parking lot across the street to see if the attendant had found any keys - only to find my car sitting there locked and running.

Luckily the door code worked (I don't think it's suppossed to when the car is running) and snap - opened the door - shut off the car - grabbed the keys and ran back to the theater.

Did I feel stupid!
 
RE: Boneheaded move...

I had a friend do that once on a cold morning. She went out to start her car and let it warm up (it was very very cold that day) and while it was warming she got a call that her meetings for that day had been cancelled. SO, she went about her normal routine n her home office, car running all day.
 
RE: Boneheaded move...

The worst thing I've ever done when I was about 15 my father gave me the keys to the car to warm it up. I didn't know that the car automatically locked the doors when it was started up (I think it was a Taurus). Because I didn't get into the car and use the handle to get out the doors were all locked. Came out about 10 minutes later and got my ass chewed out! We couldn't get the door open so we had to call the police (we were at work and didn't have an extra set). Now I always make sure that the doors are unlocked when I get out.

David O'Donnell
'97 Mark VIII LSC "Maxine II" (RIP Maxine I, 5-16-03)
'91 Mark VII BB "Monica"
'67 Thunderbird "Molly"
 
RE: Boneheaded move...

John, dont feel too bad. At least it happened in the driveway. if that happened 2 months from now, you wouldnt be able to even breathe in your new garage. Some of our driver's have done something similar in the towncars(parked at the airport to go in and meet customers, only to return to a running car). The good news is, extended idling obviously isnt too bad for the motor, and you have no problems with your cooling system.

You must also live in a decent neighborhood. otherwise, someone with a center-punch would be selling some Cobra R's pretty cheap, and be parting out a LSC.

[a BlackIceLSC-VP LODNCA
http://mark8.org/lodnca
94 Black/Black M8
95 Champagne/Saddle M8
http://www.markviii.org/~blackicelsc/lodcard2.JPG
see profile for mods[/a]​
 
RE: Boneheaded move...

A salesman at Maplecrest Lincoln Mercury started up a Town Car to warm it up for a customer who called to say he was coming down to see the car. Of course the customer never showed, nor bothered to call back. Salesman got busy with other stuff and forgot all about it. this around 12 noon on a Saturday. He never remembered! Monday morning he walked past the car and saw it running & wondered why. Then he recalled. She ran from 12 Noon Saturday, until 9:10AM Monday, and never overheated! Mileage read zero MPG. However he also put on the heater!! The temp read 119 degrees in the car ! Nobody got angry, it was a mistake anyone coulda made. The fact that he was very busy on Saturday & sold 4 cars helped to sooth mgmnt. I was there THAT Monday AM, so I heared the story. We wondered aloud what if it had been Summer, and he had put on the A/C ??
So, John ~ you're forgiven. I guess it's a mistake that many have made!
 
RE: Boneheaded move...

My second car was a '76 Ford Elite (anyone remember those?). It had supposedly been reposessed at some point, and the ignition switch had been drilled out, so it required no key to start it. Just turn the switch and go. I got into the habit of putting the keys in my pocket after unlocking the door, and would start it without the keys. When I got out, there was no need to take the keys out of the ignition; I just got out, locked the door, and went about my business. I had that car for almost six years, so it become ingrained in me.

My next car was an '88 T-bird, and needless to say, it needed keys to start it. Putting the key in the ignition wasn't a problem. REMEMBERING TO REMOVE IT BEFORE I GOT OUT OF THE CAR was. I have no idea how many times I locked myself out of that car. I eventually had an extra set made to keep at work just in case.
 
RE: Boneheaded move...

The door mounted keyless entry will in fact work while the car is running. or it always has on my 1993.
 
RE: Boneheaded move...

Yeah, the few times I warmed my car up this winter, I locked the car and then used the keyless entry to gain access once the inside was nice and toasty.
 
RE: Boneheaded move...

I've never even looked for my keyless code. Maybe I should do that huh?

Ha. That reminded me: Last year, I stopped off for some smokes at the gas station down the street. I left the engine running, but didn't lock it. When I got back, it was locked. Turns out, when I got out of the car, my coat got stuck on something. I didn't pay it any mind, but it turned out to be the lock plunger. Lucky for me, I was only four blocks from home, and had an extra set of keys there.

Yeah, I really should try that code some day...
 
RE: Boneheaded move...

I once lost my keys and searched my house up and down for about 1/2 a day. Finally I found them, under a piece of paper exactly where I always keep them. We must all be mildly retarded.
 
RE: Boneheaded move...

I always warm i tup using my remote starter, becasue it tursn itself off after 12 minutes. Which ahs prevetned me form doing this same thing on more than one occaison. it also can be set to run for 12 minutes every 3 hours, when it will be -10F or worse I set it to do that.

Nearly every day I leave it running and locked while I go into a store or fast food joint. It would be dangerous for me to own a car without keyless entry now.


94 Mark VIII, Black / Black
dynoed at 247.5hp / 259.7ft-lb!
 
RE: Boneheaded move...

this around 12 noon on a Saturday. He never remembered! Monday morning he walked past the car and saw it running & wondered why. Then he recalled. She ran from 12 Noon Saturday, until 9:10AM Monday, and never overheated! Mileage read zero MPG.
Click to expand...


Sandy,

I find it hard to imagine that a car on a dealer's lot would have that much gas in the tank. I've taken test drives in some cars that I was afraid of running out of gas before I left the lot.

Dave.
 
RE: Boneheaded move...

We have a company at the lot where I work called smokebusters that comes in and gets the stink out of used cars. I noticed a Hyundai Sonata with a bunch of water behind it coming out of the tailpipe. The car had been sitting there running for at least three days with the heat on high and the windows cracked. Nothing apparently wrong with it. I figured it out when I went to see who the keys were checked out to in the keytrack. It was Monday morning and they hadn't been there since Friday evening.
 
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