|
|
Ian Dewhirst wrote:
On the other hand I have
never had an engine management system fail in one of my cars even though I
must have driven a million miles in cars that used them. I work in an
office these days, I asked my co-workers if their cars had ever stopped
while driving for a reason other then running out of gas, or a dead
battery, none had.
I have, Ian. I drive a Dodge Dakota QuadCab. GM used the engine management for the Jeep Grande Cherokee in the Dakota, because it had proven itself to be reliable over several years of service. In the Cherokee, I'm told, the computer was mounted low on the firewall. In the Dakota, it is high on the right hand wheel well.
Hot day. My plan is a 4 hour drive to the beach. Stopped at a fast food drive-thru to get a bite for the ride. I get my food and start to pull out. The engine dies completely. Battery still strong. All the accessories run. Starter cranks the engine. I would have assumed I was out of gas if I hadn't just filled up earlier that day. Luckily, the restaurant was only 1/2 block behind my house, so I just walked home. Later that evening, I decided to give it another try. Walked back and she cranked right up the first try. The problem was that the computer got heat soaked in the drive-thru and went bonkers. Turns out that GM was having a hard time of it, having to replace a large number of computers with a beefed up resistor in there somewhere. Had to drive it like that for a few days, with it periodically giving out if it got to hot (like at a stoplight. Arrgh!!). Got it running several times with a bag of dry ice. Resorted to carrying a 2-liter bottle of water, until the dealer could schedule to fix it. (Bastards kept my truck for 3-days for what shouldn't have taken more than 10min. to fix).
Moral of the story: Stuff happens. So carry a bottle of water or some dry ice when you fly. You don't know when you'll need it, and it'll keep the backup CAS company.
--
,|"|"|, |
----===<{{(oQo)}}>===---- Dyke Delta |
o| d |o www.ernest.isa-geek.org |
|
|