Why I Hate Car Computers

[mmd]

If you ever come across an extra digital speedo, grab it, they're known to fail. 

Mine already has, at the odometer and trip meter section.  The speed numbers still work.

The failure is ghosted digits, or it just saying "Error" sometimes..

[Dan/Panther]

mmd;
Good fix, you should change the heading of the topic to "Why I Hate Computer Programs". The computer works fine.
D/P

[Phonesrfun]

I just don't have the patience any more to deal with a car with a computer, nor do I have the desire to get into it.  For me, I can wrap my brain around impedance and why a phone clicks and building a step-by-step switch, but although I have even done some assembly language programming in the past, I just plain hate computers I guess.


Cheers,

[AET]

I want to learn how to work with computers with cars, just for the fact that it's the wave of the future.  I hate the fact that if my sweet woman Vicky (My Crown Victoria) were to break, I'd have to take her to a shop, granted I have a scan tool to check what's wrong, but not the knowhow to do anything with computers, fuel injection, or any of the other evils of new cars.

[mmd]

I want to learn how to work with computers with cars, just for the fact that it's the wave of the future.  I hate the fact that if my sweet woman Vicky (My Crown Victoria) were to break, I'd have to take her to a shop, granted I have a scan tool to check what's wrong, but not the knowhow to do anything with computers, fuel injection, or any of the other evils of new cars.

Oh, what year Crown Vic?  My Dad used to have a 95 Police Interceptor model, used to be a Sheriffs car.  I learned to drive on that car.  (Might explain why I like big cars so much.)

[benhutcherson]

I want to learn how to work with computers with cars, just for the fact that it's the wave of the future.  I hate the fact that if my sweet woman Vicky (My Crown Victoria) were to break, I'd have to take her to a shop, granted I have a scan tool to check what's wrong, but not the knowhow to do anything with computers, fuel injection, or any of the other evils of new cars.

Here's a recent story along those lines.

My mom has a '99 Towncar, similar in more ways than one to the Crown Vic.

A few weeks ago, it started running very rough. It's done the same before, and in the past it's been one of the 8 COP(coil-on-plug) units.

So, I took it down to Autozone, and had them hook it up and read the codes. It came back with "Cylinder 1 misfire". While I was there, I went ahead and bought a new coil($47.99) and went on home.

Once home, I pulled off the cylinder 1 coil(less than 5 minutes), and check it with my multimeter. It read open on the secondary side, so I knew I'd found the problem. I dropped the new one in(5 minutes), took it for a test drive, and it was good as new.

In my case, the tool saved a LOT of work by telling me just where the problem was. Experience with the car told me what the problem probably was.

I agree in general that they can be a pain, but when they work right, they're great.

[mmd]

I have better than those tools, I have dataloggers, where I can actually view what the sensors are reading, raw, among other things..  Like this, I found a bad O2 sensor when the computer didn't even report it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rvq8lUHm_8

[Dan/Panther]

mmd;
You really know that stuff, make a future of it.
FYI, it's pronounced Del-fye. Like the oracle of Delphi.
Just a personal thing, I worked for them, a division of General Motors, AC/Delco, until about '95 when they spun it off and changed the name from Delco to Delphi.
D/P

[AET]

She's a 2000 Interceptor, left, next to my Buick.

[mmd]

What kinda Buick?  It looks like a B-Body..  And Caprices are all B-Bodies to 96..

[AET]

It's a 1979 Buick Electra Limited.  90,000 original miles and pretty clean.  Cost me a mean $500.

What kinda Buick?  It looks like a B-Body..  And Caprices are all B-Bodies to 96..