On Sat, 02 May 2009 11:57:02 -0500, Richard Casady
wrote:

On Sat, 02 May 2009 08:26:20 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

Next day I heard the car stops halfway to Champagne, and the tow truck
driver pulls the dipstick and finds it's out of oil. Engine shot.
Son watches tow truck driver do this and realizes he's been pulling
the trans dipstick to check the oil.
My son, the Engineer.

Trans fluid is red and engine oil is black, and I thought that was
universal knowledge. Evidently not. If I designed it, the molded
plastic handles for the sticks would have a couple of meshed gears on
one and a piston and rod on the other. Not a new concept. I always got
by on obviousness.

I think every car I've seen has the oil stick forward and the trans
stick aft. Even the FWD's. I don't recall ever being confused about
it. Might have let my eyes follow a tube to the crankcase once or
twice.
But there's lots of people who wouldn't even know how to open their
hood.
You just can't take anything for granted (-:

--Vic