Is it just me or do some of you other “Top 250” feel a little disappointed that the original posters so rarely answer questions and tell us whether our brilliant ideas did any good?
What are they thinking?
That’s the way it’s always been. I’ve been on this board since 1994. It’s just one of those things where you’re not in a face-to-face communication with the person. So all you can do is try to interpit what the poster is asking, and try to answer the direct question without going off on a tangent. If they don’t answer back, that’s fine. Let’s face it, unless the vehicle is in front of you, all you can do is offer suggestions.
Tester
Happens all the time. Once in a while an OP will respond to questions or suggestions, and on rare occasions will actually come back and tell us what happened. But mostly they vanish. We never know whether they read our answers or not.
Maybe all we can do is to offer suggestions, but what the OP is commenting on is what they should be doing–completing the thread by letting everyone know how the issue turned out. To get the full value of forums like this, other readers who may have similar car problems should be helped by knowing how the issue was eventually resolved. That’s lost if posters don’t come back to report on the outcome.
It’s not just you, and, yes, there’s a feeling of disappointment from non-responses, particularly if one really desires feedback on an untried method, or way, of doing something.
Sometimes, you will see the results of some of your ideas in the way an original poster posts, or the manner in which some usual poster writes.
And, you learn stuff from your research for answers. That’s yours to keep.
I call them “drive by postings”…
And many of those posts were probably done by people whose vehicle maintenance also fits the “drive-by” definition.
That’s just the way it is.
Remember that we are not perfect either. Unfortunately we sometimes spend more time debating one another than focusing on the original problem. Personally, I tend to over-explain. When my kids were young they used to stop me and say “dad, just answer the question”. I tend to like to try to explain things in too much detail.
I like that term.
Doesn’t bother me at all. Nothing you can do about it…so why let it bother you.
If I do my best and give my best answer I am not bothered if the OP doesn’t get back with me. Several times I said I would have to search for or contact someone for better info and I just never found any better info,I did not post why I didn’t get back with the OP,so I do the fade away thing also but not to a extreme.
We do tend to debate eachother a lot.
I do tend to harp on no make ,model year type stuff and I don’t like being drawn into a war against a shop or mechanic and many people come looking for a army to jump on someone. People do leave out details so you will come to the conclusion they want you to.
It is a bit frustrating when you’re genuinely trying to help and don’t know if any advice that has been offered helped or not.
Possibly blame some of this on the fact many people have little or no patience.
They expect a definitive answer within 2 minutes, won’t take the time to add information that is often left out such as make of car/miles, etc. Many likely do not have the patience to come back a hours or even days later and spend even a few minutes searching for their original post.
That’s an area the site really needs to work on.
Some also present a skewed side of a story and omit info on purpose. Guys who are in the repair business know exactly how often this happens; very, very frequently.
At least these tidbits of wisdom are available to people who are willing to use the “search” feature.
Remember the old tale about the man who stated, “I wrote you a long letter, because I didn’t have enough time to write a short one”?
Personally, I find that it can take a lot of editing to make an explanation very brief, and in the process, it is possible that some details might be left out. I think it is better to give more detail than it is to leave out details of which someone might not be aware.
I’ll pass this on to my kids…
What the heck, I like to read it all.I’m not the gearhead I once was-I’ve realized that not everyone shares my enthusiasm for mechanical excellence,just enjoy the forum,these are some of the nicest people I have found. Kevin
I think that most people at least respond once. There are those who never respond, and I think that’s rude. They don’t have to thank anyone, but interaction is appreciated. Maybe that’s why we interact with each other in someone else post. Another way to look at it is how good it feels when an OP continues the conversation. It’s almost always a pleasure. 
I know I kept a few conversations going when I start my own threads, but I’ve been coming here for awhile now too.
And since I’m looking at the Rav4, the only bike I’ll be getting will probably be a BMX or Schwinn. 
I think that some people get confused about where they have posted and never manage to make their way back. I sometimes write a minimal answer and ask if more information is needed before I go in to a lot of detail. If anyone wants to hear more of my strategy, let me know.
Well now, thanks for your replies. I can see that most of us seem to enjoy cracking the little puzzles the posters leave us, and reading each other’s solutions, so I guess the process is worthwhile. Since this was my first post in Repair and Maintenance I now know that the board sends an email when an answer is posted, along with a link to the board and the question, so getting back here later is very easy.
I do enjoy reading your ideas, and I will continue to chip in my 2 cents. Thanks for everything.