In what may just be a modern- day miracle, Indiana has switched to Daylight Saving Time. But have you? In your car, too?
Don’t feel too bad if you haven’t.
You are not alone. The dashboard clocks of some motorists will stay on standard time until even Indiana switches back.
When we were very young, we recall hearing an occasional zzzzip sound from behind the dashboard of our father’s car. It wasn’t until years later that we learned that the analog clock was rewinding itself. Ticking and zipping are gone, replaced by the silence of the microchip.
Would that adjusting all of them were that easy.
In a poll conducted by Harris Interactive for Lincoln, 62 percent of luxury-vehicle owners in the U.S. say they used the owner’s manual to figure out how to reset the clock when it is part of their vehicle’s audio system. When the clock stands alone, only 48 percent reach for the manual.
Complicating matters is that setting the clock is different in nearly every car.
But we’re ready to lend a hand with a look at some of the ways it’s done:
On Chryslers and Jeeps with digital timepieces, you simply push the hour and minute buttons on the radio’s face using a ballpoint pen. If the car has an analog clock, you need only press and hold the button on the face to spin the hands–simple when you spring forward, but tedious to fall back.
If the car has satellite radio, you press the time button, you turn the radio station knob to set the hours and minutes. But if it has the navigation system, it pings the satellite and synchronizes with Greenwich Mean Time to make the switch after you set it to the correct time zone.
You might think that a highly engineered car such as the Corvette might be difficult, but you need only turn the ignition on, the radio off and press the H and M buttons.
Slightly more complex is the Impala clock. You press the buttons for HR, MIN, MM, DD, YYYY (hour, minute, month, day, year)–unless it has the six-CD player. Then you start with the MENU button. The 2007 Tahoe gives you options: Press the HR, MIN, etc. buttons or use the SEEK or REV button on the radio.
On the Excursion, typical of most Fords, press the MENU button until SELECT HOUR or SELECT MINS is displayed. Then use the up or down arrows to change the time.
Asian imports generally seem to be designed with the technophobe in mind as most simply have hour and minute buttons. Toyota and Scion vehicles generally have tiny raised buttons that are easily pushed with your pinky. On Subarus, the buttons are a bit larger than Toyota’s. Kia vehicles generally have somewhat larger + and – buttons to adjust the clock. Would that they were all that easy.
In a poll conducted by Harris Interactive for Lincoln, 62 percent of luxury-vehicle owners in the U.S. say they used the owner’s manual to figure out how to reset the clock when it is part of their vehicle’s audio system. When the clock stands alone, only 48 percent reach for the manual.
Complicating matters is that setting the clock is different in nearly every car.
But we’re ready to lend a hand with a look at some of the ways it’s done:
On Chryslers and Jeeps with digital timepieces, you simply push the hour and minute buttons on the radio’s face using a ballpoint pen. If the car has an analog clock, you need only press and hold the button on the face to spin the hands–simple when you spring forward, but tedious to fall back.
If the car has satellite radio, you press the time button, you turn the radio station knob to set the hours and minutes. But if it has the navigation system, it pings the satellite and synchronizes with Greenwich Mean Time to make the switch after you set it to the correct time zone.
You might think that a highly engineered car such as the Corvette might be difficult, but you need only turn the ignition on, the radio off and press the H and M buttons.
Slightly more complex is the Impala clock. You press the buttons for HR, MIN, MM, DD, YYYY (hour, minute, month, day, year)–unless it has the six-CD player. Then you start with the MENU button.
The 2007 Tahoe gives you options: Press the HR, MIN, etc. buttons or use the SEEK or REV button on the radio.
On the Excursion, typical of most Fords, press the MENU button until SELECT HOUR or SELECT MINS is displayed. Then use the up or down arrows to change the time.
Asian imports generally seem to be designed with the technophobe in mind as most simply have hour and minute buttons.
Toyota and Scion vehicles generally have tiny raised buttons that are easily pushed with your pinky. On Subarus, the buttons are a bit larger than Toyota’s. Kia vehicles generally have somewhat larger + and – buttons to adjust the clock.
On most new Hondas, you press the CLOCK (which doubles as the AM/FM) button until the time blinks. Then use the first radio station preset button to change hours and the second for minutes. But if the car has a navigation system, you leave the time change to it.
You can always get the correct local time (no matter where you are) by looking at your cell phone.
But if you are a stickler for accuracy and have a computer, ping the atomic clock at www.time.gov. You can even download a free, small program that will automatically query the servers for correct time.
This public service is provided by the two time agencies of the United States: the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Naval Observatory.
Clock readings from these agencies contribute to world time, called Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
The time maintained by both agencies should never differ by more than 0.000 0001 seconds (one nanosecond) from UTC.
By the way, the new Lincoln Zephyr’s analog clock is reset by simply using the plus and minus keys just under the clock.
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Clock wise
A recent survey of luxury-vehicle owners in the U.S. conducted by Harris Interactive for Lincoln, found that:
– Most said they’re the ones in the household to change the alarm clocks (93 percent), wall clocks (92 percent) and clocks on home appliances (94 percent).
– Males (93 percent) are more likely than females (79 percent) to change the clock on home electronics themselves.
– Those who are 50 or older are more likely to change their home clocks before going to bed.
– 55 percent reset their alarm clocks or clock radios the night before Daylight Saving Time; 43 percent said they do it the day of the time change.
– 2 percent or fewer said they don’t bother changing the time on their wall clocks, alarm clocks and home appliances; 3 percent don’t change the time on home electronics.
– More than half–54 percent of males and 61 percent of females–said they reach for the owner’s manual to figure out how to change the clocks in their vehicles.
— Bob Weber
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Bob Weber is an ASE-certified Master Automobile Technician, having recertified every five years since 1978. Contact him at motormouth(underscore)trib@verizon.net.
