Newer Complications In Cars

Discussion in 'Automotive' started by Frank Sanoica, Aug 26, 2020.

  1. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    The cars we drive have slowly become untenably complex, IMO.

    Our latest experience points this up. Monday, after dropping me off at the Dialysis Center, my wife left as usual to wait at home. I was still in their waiting room when she came hurrying back: she could not shift the car out of "Park". I dwelled a moment on it, then told her to call AAA.

    By the time she called back, my blood was being pumped out of and back into my body.....the tow truck driver had agreed to drive us back home while towing the disabled Explorer. I got disentangled from the hoses, and we rode home in the huge tow truck.

    I had predicted the problem years ago. A tiny solenoid is used to unlock the shift lever when the brake pedal is depressed, allowing shifting out of "Park". I expected the solenoid had burned out; not so, it had simply jammed, and was now working normally. Determined to prevent a recurrence, which would impose mental strain on a wife already saddled with too much, I set to work accessing the damned little part, buried in the steering column, beneath fancy shrouds preventing access. I used special trim cement to glop up the tiny plunger, locking it in released position. This means the shift lever may be brought out of "Park" at any time.

    All cars today use this, AFAIK. One glaring problem is that in the event of a dead battery, the shifter may not be shifted out of "Park". This means even towing the vehicle (as ours was) on it's front wheels imposes serious strain on the steering mechanism as the front wheels want to steer from side to side, going around corners; they cannot because the wizards in Design have LOCKED the steering wheel in place in Park! So there are two reasons for over riding the safety, anti-theft aspects of this scheme.

    The engine still cannot be started with the shift lever in other than Park or Neutral position, just as before. One other feature of the original design LOCKS the key in the column in ALL positions except Park; it may not be removed otherwise.

    A little added aggravation appeared while doing the work: the battery went "round the bend", as I expected soon, it was 8 years old.
    \
    Frank
     
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  2. Peter Renfro

    Peter Renfro Veteran Member
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    Good on you, to have the confidence to dig into the steering column.
    Everything is idiotically complex, probably with the knowledge that most will toss and buy new rather than repair. Why on earth do washing machines,dishwashers need to have circuit boards? Clock mechanism worked just fine for 50/60 years.
    Have you seen the commercial for sleep number "smart" beds? You look at your phone in the morning to find out whether you slept well or not! Number of bathroom trips and soreness of my back tells me that, without letting Jeff Bezos, google, facebook and microsoft..in on my night!
     
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  3. Dwight Ward

    Dwight Ward Veteran Member
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    At one time I was a good mechanic. I could tune any vehicle and fix most anything, given time to learn about how things worked. With my Chevy Belair with a straight 6 there was room to stand inside under the hood and work on the engine.I rebuilt the engine in an old pickup truck, replacing all rings and bearings.
    Now I open the hood on any vehicle and see the confused mass of hoses, wires and units whose purpose I can't guess filling up almost all the available space.You can't get to one thing without removing six other things first.

    I then pull out my crucifix and hold it in front of me with one hand while I close the hood with the other.

    The ruling class and the corporate overlords don't care for the idea of people doing things for themselves. They want us dependent in all ways.
     
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    Last edited: Aug 28, 2020
  4. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @Dwight Ward

    I shared similar thoughts early on......pre- and early teens, I tried to master understanding of the commonest trouble spots of the old man's car: 1955 Mercury, purchased new, first he ever fell for with an automatic transmission. A Tool and Die Maker, quite astute at building things following blueprints, he had no clue what lurked in his new transmission. I quickly adopted philosophy that other humans designed and built it, others fixed it, so why couldn't I? I studied the shop manuals voraciously. The car also had tubeless tires, yet another mystery. Those, too were fathomable.

    One Friday evening, I removed the transmission's oil pan, and preceded to remove and disassemble the control valve body, on the dining room table (for cleanliness!). The roar was expected: "Jesus Christ", what have you done? I Assured him it would get him to work Monday morning (it did!). That was the start of it all.

    I mastered carburetors, ignition systems, starting systems, and axle gearing over the following years. Hearing of the increasing complexity, in the early 1980s I vowed to NEVER own a car having a computer. One Sunday afternoon, my wife and I passing a used GM car lot, spotted a gleaming maroon Mustang, just asking to be test driven. I did, found it amazingly responsive and powerful (run by a computer, of course!). We bought it! Mustang 5.O Liter High Output, 5-speed transmission.

    Stuck with this incomprehensible new marvel, I ordered a copy of "Ford Electronic Fuel Injection" by SAE Engineer Probst. @Dwight Ward, you feel overwhelmed by today's complexity; so was I, until I learned that much of my daytime job effort, designing and building automated plant production machinery, paralleled in concept that Mustang's computer: it did nothing more than collect data regarding the engine's operation, crankshaft speed, temperature of air and fuel, "quality" of exhaust gases, crankshaft position while running, and demand for power asked by the driver's foot, viewed all that gobbledy-gook thousands of times per second, then allowed electronic fuel injectors (nothing more than solenoids!) to open and close for the necessary time, and that is all that there is to it! Complicated? Not really.

    Today, of course, it's more involved. We want NO GASOLINE VAPOR to escape into the atmosphere, so strict control is placed over the fuel tank and supply lines, Anti-Lock Braking has become mandatory, Air Bags (bless them) required by law, roll-over control, stability control, and on and on. None of them directly related to running the engine. Oh, yeah, automatic transmissions are now shifted by the COMPUTER!

    Frank

    EDIT: Here's the Valve Body:
    upload_2020-8-28_10-9-20.jpeg

    And what's in it:
    [​IMG]
     
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