New Stuff on Vehicles likes/dislikes

[Jeff J]

The alternator puts out plenty of power to operate the computer but apparently the computer now shuts down the alternator if it doesn’t sense a battery and that in turn shuts off the computer. It makes me wonder if it would run on a dead battery or if it would do like it did today when disconnected from the battery.

I own a 1993 4-wheeler that must have a battery installed to start and run. It can read zero volts but it must be connected.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I drove my stock 1973 Opel GT back in the mid 80s for 3 weeks without a starter until the replacement came in..... Drive around into a parking spot on a hill opened up, push start it down hill

 

[flashback]

I drove my stock 1973 Opel GT back in the mid 80s for 3 weeks without a starter until the replacement came in..... Drive around into a parking spot on a hill opened up, push start it down hill

You'd be hard pressed to find a hill where your living these days.

 

[alldodge]

You'd be hard pressed to find a hill where your living these days.

Good one

 

[Jeff J]

I drove all the way across Tucson, AZ in the early nineties in a 1966 CJ5 without a working clutch. Just killed it at stop signs and stop lights and started when I needed to go. Shifting was kind of a pain but I made it home when the clutch cable end broke. Carried a spare after that. It broke again in downtown Tucson. I found a parking lot and fixed it before heading home.

 

[Jeff J]

The clutch story reminded me of another day in the same jeep where I came down out of Redington Pass and crossed Tucson without brakes. Kind of the same situation. Leave in gear and kill the engine to stop. Just didn’t have to start it lurching forward.

Too many safeties on new vehicles.

 

[FLATHEAD]

I’ve been loving the auto high/ low beam on my truck. Been driving in the dark a lot lately and it is a real nice feature.

 

[airshot]

The clutch story reminded me of another day in the same jeep where I came down out of Redington Pass and crossed Tucson without brakes. Kind of the same situation. Leave in gear and kill the engine to stop. Just didn’t have to start it lurching forward.

Too many safeties on new vehicles.

Safeties ??? Hardly, when your vehicle just stops without warning and you don't have a diagnostic computer in the trunk...not what I call safe ! In the old days, our cars would cough, stutter and run rough before quiting, giving you plenty of time to get over out of the way. Just a few weeks back there was a car sitting in the middle of the local expressway, just before rush hour. Car just quit, no warning, had to be towed which blocked traffic for miles. Very lucky the car did not get run over and the driver injured or killed!

 

[sangerwaker]

I’ve been loving the auto high/ low beam on my truck. Been driving in the dark a lot lately and it is a real nice feature.

Us too. Don't like it for city driving, but out in the country/woods, heck yes! Wife and I have it on both our vehicles now and love it.

 

[Jeff J]

Safeties ??? Hardly, when your vehicle just stops without warning and you don't have a diagnostic computer in the trunk...not what I call safe ! In the old days, our cars would cough, stutter and run rough before quiting, giving you plenty of time to get over out of the way. Just a few weeks back there was a car sitting in the middle of the local expressway, just before rush hour. Car just quit, no warning, had to be towed which blocked traffic for miles. Very lucky the car did not get run over and the driver injured or killed!

Not sure what your complaint is. Are you agreeing with me because a car stalled for unknown reasons (might simply just ran out of gas) or are you disagreeing because you think we need more kill switches to keep us safe. Do new cars automatically apply brakes when the engine dies?

I never had a car just stop in the middle of a road while traveling at highway speeds. I have had a few die and coast to a stop up to a 1/4 mile down the road. I saw 2 in the last week broke down in the median. I am scratching my head as to why they didn’t coast to the right shoulder. They only had to cross one lane and this section of highway isn’t usually so busy a lane change can’t be made while coasting. I have also been party to helping push cars out of intersections that stalled at a stop light.

Old cars quit too. My first car was a 1973 Plymouth Fury III. It coasted to a stop one day. There was a trail of tranny fluid leading up to where it stopped. My 1969 Bronco dropped a rear driveshaft one day. I didn’t let that one coast very far but I did get it off the road. I ran my 1977 T-Bird out of gas once. Point is, all cars breakdown and it is not always engine related. Unless the failure is a locked up wheel they do not just stop in the middle of the road. Even the failed axle bearing I had gave me enough warning to get off the road.

BTW, my 2008 F150 made to the shop running on 4 out of 8 cylinders. 4 coils had failed.

 

[airshot]

You mentioned to many safeties on today's vehicles....I would not consider most of them " safety features", most are expensive features that cause mire trouble than they are worth !

 

[Lou C]

Somehow, we got everywhere we had to go with simple engines with points distributors and carburetors and 3 speed automatics. Those cars, now, can still be restored. Today's cars, forget about it. Same reason why I kept my old boat. Simplicity, low cost of parts, ease of repair....

 

[Scott Danforth]

you can thank the IIHS for adding "safety features" to your car because todays drivers cant drive, cant turn their head to back up, cant check their own air pressure in the tires, cant service a battery, cant stay in their own lane, cant look before they turn, are too distracted to pay attention to traffic in front of them

you can thank IIHS for the death of a small car, and the only offerings in the US is cross-over vehicles and small SUVs because of the plethora of trucks on the market getting bigger and bigger forcing cars to get bigger

then you can thank consumer reports for lack of grease fittings, lack of dipsticks in the engine, etc. because "service points" are bad. you can also thank CR for things like "lifetime" sparkplugs or 10,000 mile oil changes (neither of which are true).

you can thank the car makers and their lease programs for helping socially adjust peoples thinking into getting a new vehicle every 3 years, which has allowed car makers to drop the design life of a vehicle from 300,000 km to 200,000 km to now its on average 130,000km

and lastly, you can thank social engineering for pushing so much tech down everyones throats that we have 2 screens in the car with the larger ones going 8-10" these days.

 

[Lou C]

What were the scariest words you could hear according to Ronald Regan?
“I’m from the government and I’m here to help”
Unelected bureaucrats have run wild and created this outt of control regulation and ever escalating costs. State legislators thinking to adopt California emissions (why is that bad, you’ll find out when you have to replace a cat converter)!

 

[jlh3rd]

and much more I'd like to rant on. Some you can't mention because of the topic.
It has been a slow erosion and elimination of self sufficiency, hands on, personal work ethic, the handyman concept.
Where has the "home" repairman? gone. I just repaired a clothes dryer that was squealing. It was a $10 part. Because most other people don't have somebody like me, they'd have to trash it and go spend $1000 on a new one. Which scenario is better for the environment? And there are very few mechanical controlled ones left. Good luck with that circuit board. ( although I did fix one using a pencil eraser )
Same with cars.

 

[Scott Danforth]

the world went down hill when shop classes quit being mandatory

 

[Lou C]

OK I’ll say it:
Technology is not really your friend
It’s like living with your parents till you’re 40
You never learn!
Drivers are less capable than they were when I started driving in the early 1970s. Both in driving skill and mechanical knowledge. If you can’t check oil, change a tire, or read a map when your nav fails, thank tech for making you less adaptable/capable….

 

[Scott Danforth]

Drivers are less capable than they were when I started driving in the early 1970s.

in the 70's the vehicle manual explained servicing the points, adjusting valves and checking the fluids. todays vehicle manuals tell you not to lick the windows and drink the battery fluid.

yet there is a 45 page section on the infotainment section and how you can sync up your blue tooth phone

 

[jlh3rd]

so much to add, but just can't
When my sons received their drivers licenses, the first thing I did before they made their first drive by themselves was go out to the car and I stood there and said, ok, change the tire....by yourself.

 

[jlh3rd]

The pandora's box is opened, so there's that. No going back.
"stay off my lawn" right?.....no really, stay off.