ok, yeah this is very weird, but... well lets see anyway.

anyone get a shock when exiting the car? like when your touch the door to close it, does it shock you? mine does it pretty much every time. its getting kinda wierd.

I have a grounding kit but being how everything is negative, I dont see how that could cause anything.

could it just be the car moving through the air building up a charge on the body? thats just wierd, never seen it happen on any other cars.

 

This has happend to me in multiple cars, and at different times. I don't know why it happens, and i can never do it by trying.

 

I was getting it as well when the weather was better here. Haven't had it happens since the rain began. Anyway, I imagine it's static buildup from the floor mats.

 

POWDER

 

OMG, i was just thinking about this. It has happened a couple times to me lately

 

It is because of static electricity and the ammount of humidity in the air. It is worse in the winter because of the dry air. I shocked the **** out of myself on Christmas.

Just watch out when fueling. Make sure you have discharged your static electricity before you fuel up.

 

Its static electricity. Be careful when you are at the gas station! There is a new warning out that says NOT to get in and out of your car while you are pumping gas because of this static. Just a few weeks ago there was a man severely burned in San Antonio Texas because of a gas pump fire caused by static electricity. Get out, pump gas, and get back in.

 

Damn Static! It is really bad if you have ever been up north in the winter where the humidity is around 0 and get out of a car after traveling on the Interstate for about 2 hours. The car has accumulated so much static the discharge can almost bring you to your knees.

*TIP* - if you don't want to feel the shock use a conductor to discharge yourself. Hold a key or coin on the tip of your fingers and use the metal to take the shock. (Of course don't do this near the exterior finish.) I use the locker key at the gym since I wear synthetics when I workout. I build up A LOT of static when running on the treadmill and use the key to discharge it. Poor treadmills, the displays freak out each time I zap them. There is so much buildup sometimes I can see the blue arc reach a quarter of an inch.

drake.

 

Yeah I get that in my civic SI all the time!!!! It sucks!

 

EVERY time I get out of my car and close the door I get shocked. No exceptions.

 

it used to happen to me, somebody told me how to avoid it though.

step with 1 foot outside the car and touch metal, this will ground yourself and you should be ok after that.

 

Actually, for me, it depends on which shoes I'm wearing. In the winter, if I wear my Docs, it's not a problem. However, when I go back to LA, or in the summer here, I wear sandals a lot (Teva's). Then, it's like sitting in a mini electric chair. I walk the Green Mile every day.

 

I hate that shock! It's not unique to 350Zs, my Chevy Astro Van is a killer. So, I have gotten into the habit of tapping the door (Esp. on Cold Dry Days) with my knuckle to discharge the static build up before pushing the door shut. Crazy little habit, but the tap of the knuckle masks the shock. It is just a little shock but I HATE getting shocked.

I have seen a new warning at a local gas station saying not to put gas into a metal container that is in your vehicle (trunk or truck bed). Instead set the container on the ground before pumping gas. The warning was on a sticker on the gas pump.

 

This has happend to me too. I just wrapped a thin pice of wire around a bare spot on the chassis and let the wire drag the ground. car is grounded and I dont get zapped. May sound stupid but my hands and fingers dont hurt any more.

 

I used to get shocked all the time too, but now I hold the metal edge of the door as I slide out of the seats which grounds me and prevents the shock.

I think it's from sliding on the cloth seats. Has anyone with leather had this problem?

-D'oh!

 

yup I got leather.

 

You could be onto something with the Docs Ive worn the same pair of Docs for 3 years now and never had a shock once!... However I used to get zapped all the damn time in Nikes...hmmmm Probably just coincedence..funny none the less.

 

sounds crazy, but if you "lift" yourself out of your seat instead of "sliding" out of the car, the static will be reduced quite a bit. I've been hit so hard a couple of times at night that I actually saw a spark. Good luck and happy zapping!

 

I think we may have solved the mystery of how to stop getting shocked - buy a pair of Docs. I was getting shocked all the time too and it stopped recently and I wasn't sure why, but from reading these posts I realized it was about the same time I bought a pair of Docs. Maybe the material they use for the soles doesn't make as much static on the carpet as other shoes do??

 

well actually no carpet could crate static if your rubbing against it with a rubber sole shoe, regaurdless of what rubber, they are all insulaters. and it happens with leather seats.

but the air moving past the car can build up a charge; much the same reason why blimps must drag a wire to the ground(much as someone above suggested) before landing.

then the static electricity is discharging to you, not the ground... so again, shoes shouldnt matter, no way is this discharge getting through any shoes, nor could it jump from above the shoe(Ive seen it happen, using special equipment. it lit the guys shoe on fire(fun day in physics).

this does nothing to help explain why doc martins would make things different.