Rich Creations, love your ideas and work, don't give up on your dreams, go an do it, but be aware.
BCOWANWHEELS":2ca99sc2 said:
when it breaks down on side of the road you,ll throw that lap top at it. if you keep it simple if you do have a problem you can find it quickly, get parts at local auto parts and be back on your way. only other alternative is if complicated call a rollback.......................
Amen Bob. My WC34 Nissan Stagea 4WD is stuck at the resthome, my wife is uber hacked off with me, and its happened to me in both the two 1996 RAV4's I've owned, the 83 CFI Toyota Corona, the 82 Corona, but not my Falcon 4.1 or 3.3 Mustang or 4.0 Explorer. Selah. Think on that, everyone.
My testimony as a busy engineering technician
viewtopic.php?f=34&t=74445&p=572342#p572342
I prayed and used invocations to the God of Abraham, Issac and Jakob, and to the person who claimed to be the Messiah in anno mundi 3760, but guess what, my car is still
dead...
Nobody has the skills to fix solid state parts and components when they go wrong in the field. No one. You'll be road kill if you think you can. You can't self crank an EFI from the engine bay, and check the EFI pump, so there is no way you can self diagnose unless you use Tuner Shop to hook up to MeqaSquirt to then go through the processes.
I know Ford tests its cars for Death Valley heat and Rocky Mountain altidue and Alaska cold, but its still no guarentee that a modern electronic car won't leave you stranded. Its more likely to hanppen with a homebuilt EFI system too. Not that you shouldn't try, just be aware that when the key parts fail, you have to put on your big boy technolgost pants and come on here or the Megasquirt forum, and get some help!
Thats why NASSA had a ground support crew of rocket scientists to help out. Anyone who goes the road of EFI, ahs to embrace the on call people to help them out when, and not if, you get stranded.
You can't have a helicopter air lift an EDIS module or a MAP sensor or fix the prox sensor for the crank...been there, done that. Anyone who thinks they can fix it on the side of the road is in la la land. No disrepspct, just the truth. Your parts inventory for fixing it spans 25 sensors...
I'm not totally anti OBDI or OBDII, but although the EFI and Durapsark III/TFI/EDIS engines run sweet and clean and have a nice torque and power curve, they are the spawn of S@+@n when they go wrong. You'll then need WIFI, and a good cell phone to ring for a tilt truck.
Electronics
don't improve the overall reliabity, they just create another labyrinth of On Board Diagnostic tests to perform. And when it breaks down, and it will, it WILL leave you stranded. Happened to me many times. But if its an old carburated Duraspark electronic ignition Ford, it'll be dead reliable if you use Ford replacment parts and follow the wiring rules.
Everyone should be aware, running full electronics will not make your car more reliable. My 81 Mustang was totally turn key and reliable. And emissions era car with 85 emissions devices, but it would always run becasue Ford engineers are the greatest in the world.
Anything after 1986 will be a potential candiate for FORD sydrome.
Found
Off
Road
Dead
I've had 28 cars, and anything modern will trip out an Air Fuel Meter, MAF/MAP, TPS, Crank Sensor, Electric Fuel pump.
Toyotas, Nissans are the worst. My 98 Explorer was totally reliable, but that's
not typical.
Everything has earths which require continuty, and relays and fuses, and then there is the normal Duraspark/TFI/EDIS diagonstics. Add another electronic system, and it will improve day to day running, but add a potentail vector for being stranded. Get a problem, and you have to check all those sub systems out in the field. At night. In a dodgey neighbourhood. Hope you now friendly people....