FWIW my wife's 2000 S80T Volvo shut it's self down once because of a
sensor problem. The REAL problem was the dealer said it needed (2) new
O2's, Gas pedal position sensor, and a TB sensor to fix the problem.
$2000 later it was running again. Two months later when a third O2 went
out she got a new Volvo.


Bobby
-----Original Message-----
From: Rotary motors in aircraft [mailto:flyrotary@lancaironline.net] On
Behalf Of Ernest Christley
Sent: Tuesday, June 07, 2005 2:56 PM
To: Rotary motors in aircraft
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: rotary risks. MTBE and the gospel

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.

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