Wednesday, February 7, 2018
The right to repair your own equipment. Amazing.
I ran into a similar issue with the Mighty Dodge. A year ago at about 220k miles, the control module for the tranny went bad, and at a reasonable cost I got it repaired at the dealer. However, the dealer told me that had my truck been a couple of years older ( it's an 09), the company didn't "support" the older electronics and the truck would be basically unrepairable, absent pure luck finding a used module, which would need to be specific to the year and the characteristics of my particular tranny.
I guess that means there will never be a market for modern vehicles after a certain time, as you'll be unable to easily or cheaply repair any electronics that go wrong with it.
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My recollection is that domestic manufacturers (and maybe foreigns that sell their product here) must produce repair parts for 10 years after the date of manufacture, or some such. Given how much longer vehicles last these days with proper care, how else are they going to get some people to buy a new(er) model? Planned obsolescence. Maybe some enterprising entrepreneurs can reverse-engineer the electronic stuff and manufacture or repair it.
ReplyDeleteBesides EMP's, That's ANOTHER good reason to buy pre-electronic rolling stock.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be more correct to say that, "after a certain point, you won't be able to service with original parts". People will retrofit and make do. Youngest son had a GM product that couldn't get another EFI module. Retrofitted with a 4 barrel Holley and it's rolling into it's second life.
ReplyDeleteGood kid!
DeleteSee, this is why I have day dreams about finding a Chevy C-10 in a barn somewhere.
ReplyDeleteIn the far way-back times when I started working in auto repair, GM was the only major domestic auto maker that used alternators with internal voltage regulators. Ford and Dodge/Chrysler did not. Theirs were external, and usually some sort of small metal box mounted some where on a fender or the firewall.
Somewhere in the mid-90's, Dodge got the bright idea to build the regulator into the CPU. We had a pickup come in that had lost it's regulator function. $1200 for a new CPU. It was a simple matter to wire in the old style regulator, but then the idiot light would stay on, and the state (California) computer wouldn't let is pass the emissions test. With that light on, the pickup could not be registered or sold. It was a sign of things to come.
When I wrote my above comment, I was thinking of the god-awful contraptions I've seen farmers come up with to get them by just a little further. I've never seen anything on a working farm that was original equipment. But, when you bring the state (and the power of the state) into the mix that changes the problem entirely.
DeleteIt's the power of the state angle that sets me off. Like many of us, I've been a victim of the CA emissions control scam.
DeleteWhen my mother died, she had a 4yo Mercury that had about 4K on the clock. It had to be smogged before title could be transferred; so I took it to a shop & it didn't pass. They had a "deal" where you paid so much (I forget now, but it was around $50 or so) and they'd fix it with a guaranteed pass.
I watched the "repair." A guy took a screwdriver and tapped it on the air cleaner, then ran the test again. It passed.
Went through the farce again when I transferred the same car, which still ran perfectly and had maybe 200 more miles on it, to my sister. Went to another "smog station," as I wasn't about to give more money to the first ripoff artists. Waste of time, the 2nd place did exactly the same thing only didn't bother to tap the magic screwdriver on the air cleaner, and it cost the same. It's a pure scam, and a total ripoff.
It's the damn goobermint that I blame!
i have a twenty year old ford product that uses SCP programing. programing that is no longer used by the manufacturer. think i could get the software for fixing my grossly obsolete car? Geeeee.
ReplyDelete