Marley says...

TREVOR, DON’T ever be afraid to contribute to this column on the basis that you like to ramble a bit. We’re all guilty of the same thing and, I have to say, your description of the problem and potential fix is anything but a ramble. I’m also going to recommend to the people at the Macquarie Dictionary that `gloop’ gets a guernsey in the next edition.

It ’s interesting that the one question has elicited two very different answers (one electronic, the other gloop related) and I reckon that just reflects how complex and intricate relatively modern cars like a Lexus LS400 really are.

But you could well be on to something, and I’ll tell you why: Years ago, my brother-in-law had a Datsun 200B (yeah, I know, but you haven’t met the bloke). Anyway, every now and then, he’d go to work and come out in the afternoon to a car with a totally flat battery.

At first he noticed that it only happened in the warmer months. Fair enough. Then he also (and don’t ask me what clicked in his head this time) noticed that the problem only occurred when he parked the car facing east. Turns out, the headlight flasher switch was old and worn. It was lubricated in grease that, when the temperature was low enough, stayed viscous enough to hold the switch off its contacts.

But when the temp inside the car rose (such as when the afternoon sun from the west in the warmer months) hit the steering column through the rear window, the grease became fluid enough to let the flasher stalk drop down into the flash position. At which the high-beams came on and flattened the battery, Spooky, huh?

You couldn’t make it up, but it gives your gloop theory some real legs, I reckon.