Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Varche]

I had the pleasure of having part of the exhaust "fixed" at an old fashioned motor engineers today here in Spain.  Rather than make me wait a day for a new O ring gasket for the cat to manifold he went to the local factors and got a gasket with the same internal diameter and cut the outside to shape. He then filed/ground the spigot so that it was a good fit (it was a mm too long before).

They are the sort of place that fixes anything mechanical. Vehicles they were working on were: 2 caterpillar tractors, Nissan 4x4 transmission into new casing, head gaskets on an immaculate willys jeep and a land rover, and 4 tractors.

Round the corner is a similar place that installs and mends absloutely anything electrical.

[jereboam]

Got a bloke like that in the next village - he's been looking after my cars for years.

[Debs.]

Sadly, they`re few and far between here: a loss to the U.K that we will never replace.....so few young-people seem to want to do "dirty" stuff these days.

[Mr Skrunts]

Sounds like Jock from the English Garage on TV.   

[STMO999]

These people are very, very good at the engineering/mechanical side of things, but seem at a loss with the electronics. Horses for courses I suppose.

[Entwood]

I always remember a farmer I worked for (as a kid 3d a bale at baling time ) describing his land rover ( a VERY ancient one even in those days) and why he would not buy a new car ....

"If I can't take it to the blacksmith and get it fixed I don't want it"

and he was very serious ... the blacksmith mended everything ..

[STMO999]

I always remember a farmer I worked for (as a kid 3d a bale at baling time ) describing his land rover ( a VERY ancient one even in those days) and why he would not buy a new car ....

"If I can't take it to the blacksmith and get it fixed I don't want it"

and he was very serious ... the blacksmith mended everything ..

Correct. If called upon, he'd even bend your missus over his anvil

[KillerWatt]

Remember the old fashioned motor engineer!

Yep, we have one just up the road from us.....alas a MIG auto gearbox (or rather, the electronics) f**ked him completely.

[Vamps]

Remember the old fashioned motor engineer!

Yep, we have one just up the road from us.....alas a MIG auto gearbox (or rather, the electronics) f**ked him completely.

That seems to be the problem with modern cars, it is the electrics that cause the problems and these need more specialised fixing.....

[Mr Skrunts]

Once dropped a Toyota Camry off at the Toyota centre in Rotherham, had some kind of miss at low speed, car was 32 years old with 8K on the clock.  Put it aon a 30K diagnostic system, it went throught all the circuits on the car (Apparently) it found nothing wrong with the car appart from the fact it diagnosed it need a pair of wiper blades.  :-/

[jereboam]

I always remember a farmer I worked for (as a kid 3d a bale at baling time ) describing his land rover ( a VERY ancient one even in those days) and why he would not buy a new car ....

"If I can't take it to the blacksmith and get it fixed I don't want it"

and he was very serious ... the blacksmith mended everything ..

Here's a coincidence - the mechanic of whom I spoke earlier runs a garage.  Opposite the garage is a restored and gentrified rural dwelling.  It's called "The Smithy Cottage".  And the aforementioned artisan does specialise in hitting things with a big hammer.

But he can't really be a blacksmith, because he's a wizard with the electrics and has got £40k worth of diagnostic kit scattered around the place.  If that doesn't solve the problem, he hits it with a hammer

[Vamps]

I always remember a farmer I worked for (as a kid 3d a bale at baling time ) describing his land rover ( a VERY ancient one even in those days) and why he would not buy a new car ....

"If I can't take it to the blacksmith and get it fixed I don't want it"
and he was very serious ... the blacksmith mended everything ..

It is my understanding that this was part of the 'criteria' of the LR and why it is easy to repair in the 'field' bit like a big Meccano.....

[Bionic]

So the lessons go on - why did they 'fix something that was not broken' by putting so many so called 'utterly dependable' electronics into cars that ran perfectly well without them and were a hell of a lot easier and cheaper to repair?
Was it some seat polisher who had to relieve his/her boredom or some other silly pillock who did not like getting his/her little pinkies dirty? Could it have ben someone who just wanted to annoy the f**k out of us by the sheer frustration of the 'mechine being in control'?
Bugger knows, but it will always be the same you can count on that!
That is truly SODS LAW!

[Marks DTM Calib]

So the lessons go on - why did they 'fix something that was not broken' by putting so many so called 'utterly dependable' electronics into cars that ran perfectly well without them and were a hell of a lot easier and cheaper to repair?
Was it some seat polisher who had to relieve his/her boredom or some other silly pillock who did not like getting his/her little pinkies dirty? Could it have ben someone who just wanted to annoy the f**k out of us by the sheer frustration of the 'mechine being in control'?
Bugger knows, but it will always be the same you can count on that!
That is truly SODS LAW!

Its simple.

Cars now do intergalactic milegae without so much as a de-carb.

Spark plugs last over 40K miles, no points, and carbs dont need adjusting at every service.

Fuel is burned much more efficently with full variable timing and mixture control and the system adapts to the engine and its environment.

Plus, the cars have to meet the required emissions targets.

Taking a V6 Omega as an example, the only electrical thing that causes any trouble is the crank sensor and that lasts for 6-8 years and 100k miles on average.

Give me a modern engine with an electonic management setup anywday.

[Varche]

So the lessons go on - why did they 'fix something that was not broken' by putting so many so called 'utterly dependable' electronics into cars that ran perfectly well without them and were a hell of a lot easier and cheaper to repair?
Was it some seat polisher who had to relieve his/her boredom or some other silly pillock who did not like getting his/her little pinkies dirty? Could it have ben someone who just wanted to annoy the f**k out of us by the sheer frustration of the 'mechine being in control'?
Bugger knows, but it will always be the same you can count on that!
That is truly SODS LAW!

Its simple.

Cars now do intergalactic milegae without so much as a de-carb.

Spark plugs last over 40K miles, no points, and carbs dont need adjusting at every service.

Fuel is burned much more efficently with full variable timing and mixture control and the system adapts to the engine and its environment.

Plus, the cars have to meet the required emissions targets.

Taking a V6 Omega as an example, the only electrical thing that causes any trouble is the crank sensor and that lasts for 6-8 years and 100k miles on average.

Give me a modern engine with an electonic management setup anywday.

Don't dissagree with you on cars doing galactic milegaes without breakdowns. When I was young a journey from Newark to Scarborough  you expected to break down!

However having had DIS pack, ABS ECU, knock sensors go in 150k miles, I do feel that the electronics aren't that trouble free. Perhaps a bit of design failure is built in to keep the auto industry going!