Electronics in cars..............what a nightmare

[DIYedboy]

Gone are the wonderful days of no electronics, just a lovely old carburettor!! So now it's all about computers that run everything. We have the engine computer (ECU) and we have the everything else computer (BSI). If any of these go wrong, the whole set must be replaced (ECU and BSI and the locks), if you dare to jump start a car it will 'corrupt' your BSI which will need reprogramming.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if they made a car that still had a carb and you put your key in the lock to get in..............yes you would lose 10mpg but you wouldn't be paying thousands for new electronics over the years!!

 

[Iamchamps]

I bet you hate smart meters

 

[DIYedboy]

And tell me.............do you have one?

 

[pete50]

Smart meters and catalytic converters. Two of the biggest cons ever perpertrated on the public. They will fit smart meters, water or electric, in my house over my dead body. Unfortunately I cannot do much about catalytic converters. But I agree with the OP, the vast majority of the eletronics in cars these days are a damn nuisance and only there to con the emission laws. My car has an auto stop start system fitted. It is downright dangerous, by the time it has started the car the boy racer behind me has impaled himself on my tow hitch. There is a switch to turn it off but it comes back on after the ignition is turned off. I asked the dealership to turn it off permanently but they said they cannot as it has to be on to get round the emission laws.

 

[EddieM]

Smart meters and catalytic converters. Two of the biggest cons ever perpertrated on the public. They will fit smart meters, water or electric, in my house over my dead body. Unfortunately I cannot do much about catalytic converters. But I agree with the OP, the vast majority of the eletronics in cars these days are a damn nuisance and only there to con the emission laws. My car has an auto stop start system fitted. It is downright dangerous, by the time it has started the car the boy racer behind me has impaled himself on my tow hitch. There is a switch to turn it off but it comes back on after the ignition is turned off. I asked the dealership to turn it off permanently but they said they cannot as it has to be on to get round the emission laws.

so, you don't want your ABS,ESC, central locking, improved fuel consumption, adaptive cruise control, park assist, collision avoidance, sat nav, or any of the other hundreds of modules installed in a modern car?

 

[DIYedboy]

If you can drive a car sensibly.................you don't need any of those things, let's face it, the speed limit is either 30 or 40 in most places, people commute...........we ain't driving on the Nurbergring!

 

[Iamchamps]

If you can drive a car sensibly.................you don't need any of those things, let's face it, the speed limit is either 30 or 40 in most places, people commute...........we ain't driving on the Nurbergring!

When you get old you can’t drive a car sensibly.

Modern cars save lives. Simple as that there is no arguement for it. Maybe you can say there is more to go wrong and costs can be more fair enough but a modern car is safer and more economical.

 

[Burnerman]

Consider the iffy starting courtesy of the carburettor and automatic choke and we realise how good modern fuel injection is, never mind the reduction in pollution and amazing MPG.
I agree, we don't need dashboards that change colour but we do like central locking and electric windows, not to mention the security.
John

 

[flameport]

so, you don't want your ABS

May have some value in some situations.

ESC, adaptive cruise control, park assist, collision avoidance,

Never owned or driven any vehicle which had those.
Cruise control - would never be used, as roads in Britain are traffic jams most of the time.
Parking assist - ideal for people who never learned how to drive.

sat nav

In the smartphone, which is updated constantly for nothing. No value or point to it being part of the car, unless you like using grossly out of date information and paying for expensive updates.

central locking,

May be convenient but not exactly essential to using the car. Certainly makes it very convenient to thieves who can steal some vehicles by amplifying the signal from the remote in your house, open and start the car and drive away in a few seconds.

improved fuel consumption,

Given the scams and scandals over such things, very doubtful if there is any meaningful improvement to that.

 

[DIYedboy]

A car with a carb will start perfectly if it is in tune, if it ain't it is down to lack of maintenance n not down to MAFF sensor/ crank sensor/ cam sensor/ lamda sensor/ fuel rail sensor/ engine temp sensor/ clutch position sensor..........

electric windows...........great but don't need a computer to run them, central locking again don't need a computer.

My neighbour has a new X5, one night he didn't have a steering wheel n half his dashboard............bet he wished he locked his car by putting his key in a lock n turning it.............can't clone a metal key!!

 

[Burnerman]

I agree, a carburated engine will start perfectly well.....if the driver knows what to do and when to release the choke and use the 6th sense when starting up - i.e full throttle if there's flooding.
Contact breaker points, like the magneto, belong in the Ark.
As for pollution, there's no comparison.....drive behind a classic and taste the smell!
I do remember the automatic choke attempts made by manufacturers.....the Cavalier electric choke (dreadful) and other water temperature operated devices (equally dreadful).
The electronic ignition key transponder was universal in reducing car theft - epidemic in the late 80's.
I don't like the keyless entry system, and the manufacturers need to get on top of that one.
ABS and airbags have to be the great life savers that they are......there are many gimmicks though that help to sell cars - apparently.
Only my opinion!
John

 

[bernardgreen]

A car fitted with a prototype electronic engine control unit was being test driven. As it came out of a tunnel it suddenly accelerated at full throttle and went of the road before the driver could stop the engine. Car was a write off and the driver suffered minor injuries

The reason was found to be transmissions from a TV transmitter aerial above the tunnel portal had corrupted the operation of the electronics.

The immediate result was put the ECU into a screened box and perform lab testing to prove it was immune to high levels of radio frequency energy before any more test driving.

One comment in ""defence"" of the original ( unscreened ) unit was that cars would not normally be that close to a TV transmitting aerial.

 

[Peter.N.]

I feel the same from a maintenance point of view, when the cars were not only simpler but the engine was the right way round it was much easier to fit a clutch and most other things.

The upside is that we now have diesels that are quiet, do 60 mpg and are reliable if you run the right ones, my Peugeot 406's very rarely give any trouble and the engines will last 300,000 miles or more.

Peter

 

[alan333]

Things really have came a long way in a relatively short time. About 40 years ago didn't cars fall to pieces with rust by about 10 years old?
And what about the buying criteria? Even as recent as the 80's power steering wasn't really in 'run of the mill' cars like Fiestas and Cavaliers (or even vans and trucks for that matter). And who remembers forgetting to put the aerial up before you set off? Oh the sheer luxury of the electric aerial (when it wasn't sticky with road salt and only went half way back down). Or leaning over to unlock all the doors individually after getting in?
Nowadays one expects remote locking in even a basic car, along with power steering, power brakes and electric windows. Never mind bluetooth and ipod connectivity, keyless start, air con... the list goes on.

 

[bernardgreen]

Thumping the door pillar to get the reluctant semaphore direction indicators to pop out.

Foot operated dip switch,

and changing a head gasket in the lunch break and still have time for a bite and a cuppa.

That was motoring.

Big mistake was letting the girl-friend discover there was a spare fan belt in the boot.