This is nothing, in just a few years all the big non-commercial grade
trucks (SUVs especially) will be hybrid gas/electric. The military
already has a hybrid Hummer in the works.
Like the early days of automobiles, everybody has a different way of
going about it. And as we all know, electrics go long before
mechanicals. It will take years to shake the bugs out of the new
technologies.
I wouldn't want to be a mechanic a decade from now -
PS - the hybrid Hummer can switch to all-electric and run at 10 mph
silently for 20 miles. And no IR signature! Who ever expected a
stealth truck?
On Sat, 25 Aug 2001 13:12:28 -0700 (PDT), you wrote:
>The subject of this long rant falls under the
>heading of: MORE REASONS TO BUY AND
>DRIVE OLDER (MV) VEHICLES!
> I work on cars and trucks every day. Can I
>forsee the future? Well,...
> Starting with 1994 or '95 year vehicles sold
>in the USA, the United States Government MANDATED that these new
>vehicles and from
>then on would have to have "OBD-II" powertrain
>management system. OBD stands for On-Board-Diagnostics.
> A VERY short description of OBD-II is to call it
>a 24/7 rolling emission test.
> I could take that personally, I'm a smog technician! Who needs a smog
>tech when the
>cars are constantly testing themselves?
> Have I given YOU the ability to see the future?
> One component of this new OBD-II stuff (the
>fuel evap system is a good example) has more sensors, switches, wires,
>hoses, crap than
>the entire fuel injection management system did
>in '93!
> Will all this plastic. insanely complicated and ludicrously expensve
>crap stand the test of time? No f***ing way!
> Call me crazy until you find that your $1500.00
>honeyboat needs a $800.00 "module".
> I'm currently working on a '99 Ford Windstar
>minivan. I printed out the part of the wiring
>diagram the software programmers thought I would need to diagnose
>electrical problems.
> A complete wiring diagram would look like
>a street map of the poor section of a third-world
>city. Lots of "no-name" roads...
> Anyway, do you realize that there isn't a single
>"manually" operated electric circuit in a '99 Windstar? You press "the
>button" and one of
>a dozen or so "multiplexed" computers DECIDES whether or not to energize
>the headlights, turn signals, door locks, WHATEVER!
> Try restoring that one in forty years!
>I'm not picking on Ford, they're all that way!
>Imagine a Lexus, Cadillac or Lincoln!
> California is currently testing and talking about "OBD-III". One
>version has an on-board transmitter that will send a "computer needs
>help" message to the Bureau Of Automobile
>Repair (BAR) who will automatically send you a
>letter to get your car fixed or you can't re-register it. Oh boy.
> They will also know WHERE you were when
>the Check Engine light came on, right?
> Buy old stuff (MVs)! Drive old stuff (MVs)!
>and CHEAPLY fix old stuff (MVs)!
> Don Kenyon
> ASE Certified Master Techncian, L-1, CA
>Enhanced Smog License with flame retardant
>
>
>
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Sep 02 2001 - 11:15:40 PDT