DENNIS O’SULLIVAN

Q&A

Dennis writes that he is doubtful of reader’s claim that his wipers cut out when his vehicle travels uphill. Also Dennis weighs in on whether there is a right way a woman should dress when test driving a car.

QUESTION

I am having a problem with my truck’s wipers that I have not experienced since the cars of the forties that had vacuum wipers. Every time it is raining out and the truck is going uphill, the wipers slow down and almost stop. They sometimes stop and go on their own. I have been to my mechanic and he has never seen or heard of such a thing. Do you have any idea what the problem could be? Mat from Paris

ANSWER

I had to phone your number to see what kind of vehicle that you were talking about and ended up speaking to your wife. She told me that the vehicle was around a 2002 to 2005 GMC half ton truck. That vehicle does have an electric wiper motor and part of that motor has a pulse board. Your wife also told me that you had put in a used wiper motor and it is doing the same thing.

Since the pulse board is going to cost you as much as another used motor, I would take the wiper motor back to the place where you purchased it and ask for another one. I cannot answer as to why the wipers slow down when going uphill but that actually shouldn’t have any bearing on the wiper motor’s ability to move the wipers.

QUESTION

Since when is it okay for someone, as uninformed as a car salesman, to make a comment on what a woman should wear? I was in looking at new cars since I was in the position to buy new and was put off by the snide remarks of the salesman and the uneasiness of him always looking at my legs while we were testing the car.

Needless to say, I never did buy from him and would not ever go back to that dealership. A car dealership should not be the fashion police on what a women should or should not wear. Do you agree? Woman from Burlington

ANSWER

I certainly do not want to get dragged into any controversy about women’s attire but I did speak to the salesman in question and he told me that he did not say anything to you about the way you were dressed. It was the saleslady that suggested to you, in front of him, that your dress was not suitable for getting in and out of cars and all that he said was that it made him feel a little uncomfortable.

I agree that dealerships or dealership personnel should not be fashion police but, again, I do think that appropriate clothing and good judgment should be the norm in any situation. I also think that your disparaging comment about salespeople was unwarranted because I have personally known one person who went into sales just after he retired from his job as a nuclear scientist.

QUESTION

My wife was driving my truck the other day and on the way home she phoned and told me that the truck was slowing down and eventually stopped.

When I went to see what the problem was, I found out that she was driving with the parking brake on and the brake drums were red hot even after the ten minutes that it took me to reach her. She had driven about one kilometer before the truck stopped. I released the parking brake and everything seemed to be okay other than I sometimes now get a squeal from the rear brakes on occasion. I spoke to one brake outlet and they told me that I would need to replace everything including the brake shoes and all its hardware. Would you recommend that I get the rear brakes replaced or do you think that driving less than one kilometer will do any lasting damage to the brakes? Bob from Grimsby

ANSWER

Sometimes in situations where the parking brake has been applied and not released, it was deemed necessary to change the brake shoes and its hardware. I have actually seen some cases where the brake drum and or brake disc actually was warped as a result of the parking brake not being released.

Without inspecting your vehicle’s rear brakes, I am not in any position to determine what has or has not been damaged. I would recommend however that you do have the brakes looked at immediately because extreme heat will sometimes cause the material on the brake shoes to separate and this could cause loss of brakes.

I strongly suggest that you do not drive the truck until you have the brakes checked properly.