19-01-2021, 10:35 AM
I did have an issue years ago, driving my boss's Jaguar Automatic, where I switched off the ignition, on the move.
What happened was, and it was after dark, lights of a big vehicle were coming towards me, on a bend, fairly narrow road. I braked slightly. But as I moved my foot from accelerator to brake, my knee caught the huge fob dangling from ignition key (on right-hand side of steering column) and flicked it off.
Immediately, headlights went out - safety feature to stop main lights being left on without engine running, and flattening battery. And the engine of course started to run down.
Steering got heavy, as power assistance was lost. No matter, switch ignition back on. Headlights back on.
But by this time, engine had come to a rest (it was an automatic) so it didn't pick up and without engine running and driving the steering hydraulics,
steering remained heavy. Turn switch to 'start' position. But apart from the lights going off again (again, feature to reduce load on battery while cranking engine), nothing happened - because the gear selector was not in 'Park' or 'Neutral'. Release - lights back on again.
No matter, shift to neutral. Try and start again. But, key won't turn (another safety feature, to prevent turning wrong way and engaging starter motor on an already-running engine).
Switch off ignition. Lights off. Switch on, lights on. Turn to 'Start', this time everything is right, engine starts. Lights back on, and steering suddenly goes light again.
Move transmission lever back to 'Drive', and carry on.
And all this when negotiating a bend, with a big vehicle oncoming, no doubt wondering about the on-off-on-off-on-off-on-off-on of my headlights...
What happened was, and it was after dark, lights of a big vehicle were coming towards me, on a bend, fairly narrow road. I braked slightly. But as I moved my foot from accelerator to brake, my knee caught the huge fob dangling from ignition key (on right-hand side of steering column) and flicked it off.
Immediately, headlights went out - safety feature to stop main lights being left on without engine running, and flattening battery. And the engine of course started to run down.
Steering got heavy, as power assistance was lost. No matter, switch ignition back on. Headlights back on.
But by this time, engine had come to a rest (it was an automatic) so it didn't pick up and without engine running and driving the steering hydraulics,
steering remained heavy. Turn switch to 'start' position. But apart from the lights going off again (again, feature to reduce load on battery while cranking engine), nothing happened - because the gear selector was not in 'Park' or 'Neutral'. Release - lights back on again.
No matter, shift to neutral. Try and start again. But, key won't turn (another safety feature, to prevent turning wrong way and engaging starter motor on an already-running engine).
Switch off ignition. Lights off. Switch on, lights on. Turn to 'Start', this time everything is right, engine starts. Lights back on, and steering suddenly goes light again.
Move transmission lever back to 'Drive', and carry on.
And all this when negotiating a bend, with a big vehicle oncoming, no doubt wondering about the on-off-on-off-on-off-on-off-on of my headlights...
