Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Separate Fluids

Have a separate clean compartment for all fluids
 
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No, this is not Jack D. Ripper speaking...

The dipstick idea reminded me...

Cars should have a separate compartment from the main engine bay where all the fluids - brake, clutch (if any), oil, water and washers can be replenished without having to lean into a hot, dirty, oily engine bay. It might also be a good idea for the battery and fuses to be there too.

I know Bristol have had a separate wing compartment for battery and fuses for decades, but not sure about other, precious...fluids.

The washer fluid reservoir should top up the more localised washer reservoirs as these tend to empty at different speeds...(I have been stuck with no screen but plenty of rear window fluid...!)

This area could be under the hood, but it might be a good idea to have the engine covered with a clear, separately openng lid, leaving only these 'user-servicable' aspects accessible under another cover (the hood would still be allowing dirt in, most likely.

I always wonder why engine bays are open to the floor - my old Saab used to have an almost enclosed engine bay (96 V4) and it kept the engine area reasonably clean considering.

timbeau, Feb 14 2004

Baked in the Audi A2 http://www.audi.co....?section=/models/a2
Click on "Module" to see it. [JKew, Oct 05 2004]

Baking in new Volvo concept car http://news.bbc.co....usiness/3528757.stm
Mar 04 2004: Scroll down to the section titled "Trust". This car doesn't let you open the engine hood at all! [krelnik, Oct 05 2004]

[link]






       Baked? Dang - well glad someone has this.   

       [humanbean] the Saab does have drain holes...and volatilies tend not to be liquid for long cos they are...volatile.
timbeau, Feb 15 2004
  

       // I always wondered why engine compartments were always open to the floor. //   

       Most car questions starting with 'I always wondered why' can be answered by 'money.' But I agree, it would be a nice feature to have, although the thermodynamics of closing it off would start to worry me.   

       Engine bays are designed from the most positionally-sensitive and biggest components, and from then on, everyone else who has lesser spacial priority gets to work around stuff. Hundreds of suppliers at separate CAD stations start clammering to take the same space, and usually the guy who has the shorter tooling ramp up time and lower component costs loses and has to move. The parts with the lowest spacial priority, like wires, hoses, the horn, and such, all get treated like the business end of a whip, changing design direction every time someone twitches. Makes for a fast burnout for the people in that line of work.
RayfordSteele, Feb 15 2004
  

       from what i remember of the arodynamics course at uni the engine bay design is to do with cooling air flows
engineer1, Feb 16 2004
  
      
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