Stuck in snow with scary MFD warnings

[Welly]

I had to drop something off on my way home last night which takes me down a minor B road through open countryside. On turning into his road it was covered in snow "that's pretty" I thought as my tyre noise vanished and my ABS jumped in each time I feathered the brakes

I soon realised I was on very compacted and very shiney hard/iced snow I decided to turn back when I saw two cars up ahead playing sideways on a slight hill unfortunately this meant a 3-point turn via a field entrance gate but it had to be done. I even swung the car round a bit (J-Turn style ) to help with the exit procedure.

Even easing the clutch up on tickover span the front wheel(s) in first or second so I had to throw away the text book and go for it the only way out was to spin the hell out of the front wheels which wasn't nice as I could smell burning rubber from my new tyres each time they cut into the tarmac

Anyway this mad wheel spinning brought up two faults...ABS FAULT and BRAKING FAULT accompanied by the Orange skidding car and the red ! symbol on the dash with no ABS now I decided to stop and do a re-start and to my joy the system reset after a few yards again

[mjb]

Snow's fun in a car! ;)

ABS fault warning came from snow getting round the abs ring on one or more wheel hubs?

[steve_earwig]

I got the abs warning light up on my D8 when I was flushing the gearbox. The abs just gets confused because one wheel's constantly turning faster than the other so it thinks there's a fault. Mine cleared when I started driving normally.

I have my snow chains in the back for that sort of thing, I also have snow tyres on the car (legal requirement). Can you get snow chains in the UK? I never thought to look while I was there. I remember we once had those (next to useless) orange mat things because we used to live down a half-mile unmade road. Oh yes, that reminds me - wheel spinning on the snow, check your tyres for slots cut round them by stones.

[Welly]

mjb -Yep snow is fun but not when you're just about to go down a hill like that and with someone else behind you wondering what you're playing at

Me and my mate used to go looking for snowy roads/car parks for some sideways action but that was when there wasn't so many cars about to hit

Snow chains can be bought but you'd be forever stopping and putting them on/taking them off as our main roads very rarely get affected.

Daren't look for cuts in the tyres, it'd just make me feel sad

[Doggy]

Noticed another minor MFD anomaly this morning, temperature got down to -8 in sunny east northants.
The temperature doesn't flash when it gets below about -3 or -4.
What d'ya reckon, french logic dictates that below this level we all know it's cold therefore no need to flash?

[Welly]

Oh yeah - mine did that too!

-7deg

[SimonTNUK]

If it still spins in 2nd, try 3rd. If it still spins in 3rd, try 4th.
Just feather the clutch a bit more and keep the revs as low as possible without stalling it.
Diesels are better than petrol for this.

Spinning wheels = no control and knackered tyres, possibly car in ditch cos the tyres gripped then lost it and fired you that way.
Feathering the clutch = clutch worn out quicker, but still got a car to complain about

Another tip, if you can't drive up a hill, try reversing up.
This works because even more of the weight of your car is on the front axle.
Be very careful not to let your wheels spin though.
Another advantage is, you can see where your going, when you give up and go back down again.

[steve_earwig]

What d'ya reckon, french logic dictates that below this level we all know it's cold therefore no need to flash?

I think most cars do that, you might not notice it's dropping towards zero but below that the flock of penguins should be a dead give away

[mjb]

Another tip, if you can't drive up a hill, try reversing up.

Ooh good idea!

Another snow tip is to remove your ABS fuse. You'll lose the ability to steer under braking, but at least braking will actually stop you as you'll plough yourself a nice big mound of snow instead of just skating over the top of it. If you don't want to stop just release the brakes once every couple of seconds or so, correct the steering then re-apply.

[steve_earwig]

Providing you replace the fuse the moment you get off of soft snow... Did you know that, in certain circumstance, wearing a seat belt can kill you? Then 99.9% of the time they'll save your life.

I just went arse-over-tit in a car park, you know the deal - foot starts slipping so you stick the other one to stop you, that slips too... Hey presto, one sprained ankle Me: "do you have a pain killer dear?" Her: "do you have a headache?" Fortunatly my ankle doesn't hurt when I laugh.

[teamster1975]

Oh gawd Steve! I toyed with the idea of taking the bike out yesterday but put that idea to bed very quickly (Luckily my wife doesn't really need the car this week!

[puggy]

Oh gawd Steve! I toyed with the idea of taking the bike out yesterday

Death wish

[teamster1975]

Oh gawd Steve! I toyed with the idea of taking the bike out yesterday

Death wish

I've been caught out in the snow once on the bike, never ever again. With your legs splayed out like outriggers with the back end slipping all over the place it was the scariest ride of my life. And you can't clear snow off the visor no matter how hard you try!

[puggy]

Been there done thet teamy ,a long long time ago

[steve_earwig]

And all the time you're thinking about how the impatient idiot in the nice warm car following you won't be able to stop if anything happens...