Computers in cars - UGH!

20 responses total.

This is not to say anything bad about computers, but when things in a car go
bad, (and they do) and that annoying 'CHECK ENGINE' light goes on, and your
car runs like crap, what do you do? Fix it yourself? Or do you stick some
electrical tape on that light?

Disconnect the battery for 60 seconds.

Car computers haven't got enough interfacing yet.  What I'd like is for the
"check engine" light to go on, and then the car uses IR to beam a note to my
Newton explaining exactly what is wrong, how soon I have to get it fixed, how
to fix it, and where to buy the parts.

The only computer engine control I've ever had in a car is the one in our
10 year old Nova.  It has yet (knock, knock) to have any sort of a problem.
The computer in our Subaru has certinly simplified things under the hood!

   someone once told me a method for using a paper clip to get a car's
computer to reveal the code for what's wrong. thing is, you need a code book
for your make and model of car to decipher the code.

I'm sure that works with some cars out there but certainly not with all!
I've seen devices sold in J.C.Whitney used to decode computers.  I too
would prefer RS-232 ASCII though.

I remember having to get tune-ups for the Impala (straight 250 6, with
all the emissions logic of the 70's, all open loop, of course, which
meant that it rarely, if ever, ran right until it warmed up...)

I now drive a Volvo 240 (1988).  It's got EFI & a computer that runs it
all.  No more tune-up's (in the traditional sense) because it's all
closed-loop; the computer figures out what to do and just does it.  The
only things that go wrong with it are wires - there was one connection
that went loose, & of course the ignition wires need replacing every so
often.  The computer seems to do an amazing job of coping even there.

For some reason, auto makers don't believe in "standard" serial
interfaces.  Probably it's so they can save a few bucks on extra
electronics logic.  It results in weird things like 200 baud interfaces
and such.

My 1975 VW van has  a fuel injection system.  Strange for such an old car,
in my experience, but it actually seems to work fairly well.  I'm curious
about the computer technology used, though -- would this be an analog
system, or some sort of digital logic?  Maybe hybred?  The main control box
supposedly contains something like 80 components.  It's not a throttle-body
system, but not exactly multi-port, either -- there's one injector at each
cylinder, behind the intake valve, and *all four* squirt every time the points
open.  Seems pretty Rube Goldberg, but it works pretty good (as long as you
can keep all the wires connected).

Interesting.  Our '95 Subaru uses a very similar system, thoug I doubt they
set off all four injectors at the same time.  (BTW, Subaru licensed their
engine from VW.)  Our Subaru doesn't have a distributor either, just two
coils.
 
4 bit CPUs were around in '75, as were TTL logic gates, etc.  It would
not be difficult to build a simple injector firing controller using only
logic gates.  Breakerless ignition system were around than too.  Most of
the complexity of todays engine control systems are due to more stringent
emission requirements, not that making an engine run is difficult.
 .

I'm not sure if this is controlled by a computer or something else, but the
Saturn I just got has these annoying lights that come on telling me when to
shift.  I'll probably end up finding some black tape to cover them up.

Probably controlled by manifold vacuum.

My mom has the same concern with her Saturn.  It seemed RPM dependent
to me.  I told her to ignore it.   IMO if you need a light to tell you
when to shift, you should be driving an automatic.  (Or you are in an
Indy car and you have to hit the shift points to maximize your fuel /
winning situation.)

It's not quite RPM dependant.  It seems to let the RPM go much higher when
accellerating, which makes sense.  It's still annoying, but I'm learning to
ignore it pretty quickly.

Hello there is an new standard in BUS interface on a car called  CAN
(Computer/car automation network?) The PCB is round.
Best regards (AW)

Cup holders placed over car radios and other button / knobby devices.
Did the designers ever consider what happens when soda, etc. drips
into the car radio  buttons?!

Even stranger:

My Saturn has cup holders for the back seats, but not for the front seats.

Too many liability suits from drivers getting into accidents  as a result
of fooling with cup holders and / or spilling hot java on themselves?

"Warning:  McDonald's coffee is very hot.  Let cool before applying to groin."

Cup holders that do not hold decent sized cups or even bicycle water bottles.

 Cup holders will continue to be impractical until the roads get better.

I've only had a problem with teh cup holders in my parsnts' van once, and that
was when I took a corner way too fast and the cup went flying.  It was mostly
full before I started going around the corner, and then it landed upside down
on the floor of the van.  I had quite a cleanup job to do before my parents
got home.

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