They Have Got To Be Kidding!

[Giggitoni]

My Ford F-250 diesel required the body to be lifted off the chassis to replace a bad oil pump. The “re-install body kit” is about $1,200 USD.

 

[RonR]

When I was 15 my Dad gave me one of his old work trucks for my birthday. It had 300k on the clock and needed a new engine. He bought me a used I-6 300ci and helped me swap it out. One of the best father son times I had. This kick started my passion with anything with an engine. Now I have had a few cars I have restored/raced/crashed/and restored again.
So when it came time for my kid to start driving I did the same thing. I bought him an old dodge with a 360 that was toast for his 15th B day. And a junk yard 5.9 to replace it with. We swapped out the cam/lifters, added some new bearings, swapped it out from fuel injection to carb. Added a set of heads/headers. He learned a fair bit, and it was so cool to see him pull it out of the garage and drive it down the road. He had a few hickups, that inch ponds vs foot pounds got him a few times, snapped off a few bolts!
He has sold that truck and now is onto car number 5 at 17 years old. Rebuilding a vw gti engine in one, and now onto BMW's. I believe his mechanical ability's has surpassed mine at this point. I stick to stuff 1980 and older, he is strictly 2000 and newer. I refused to work on the BMW's as they need so many special tools that I just don't have. So its all him now days. I still help him out when I can, we just installed a header in his 330ci. It should have been a bolt in deal. 2 days later and about 10 hours of cutting/welding it fit like a glove, happy I can still teach a few things to him.

Young mechanics are harder to find now days, but they are still around and upcoming.

 

[Hippocampus]

Just got this in the mail
“The magnetic material on the tone wheel in your vehicle provides a signal to the crankshaft position sensor.” They then go on to say it might fall off and result in the vehicle’s engine to stall suddenly and without warning. Finally that this could result in a lethal accident. Finally they say “the remedy for this condition is not currently available.” Great so now I have a very expensive lump of tech in my garage I can’t use without risk of loss of life.

Now this is after they gave me $3k back for lying to me about mpg. And 4 recalls with loss of use of the vehicle for a day each time.

Talking about MGs and Lucas prince of darkness. Trained in Boston. Lived in Woburn. Commutes with a Morris Garage orange beauty. All winter long walked to the car with a can of ether and a few wrenches. Always took 10-15 m to get her going.but I could get that simple in line N/A four going every time. Hardest part of that vehicle was some things were British fine thread and figuring out color coding of the wiring.

 

[Toki]

So it's not a recall, just a notice from the manufacturer that your car could kill you? Sounds a bit like a pre-recall to me. They're trying to limit their liability while they develop the most cost effective repair.

"Your honor, the plaintiff knew about the risk, yet chose to drive the vehicle anyway during the 2 years it took us to come up with the fix".

 

[wkearney99]

Oh please, spare us the exaggerations. The crankshaft sensor and risk means the engine will stop and that will potentially reduce braking/steering due to loss of power assist. Yes, unexpectedly in certain circumstances that's a bad thing. But it's hardly an outright "loss of life" scenario.

 

[menzies]

Oh please, spare us the exaggerations. The crankshaft sensor and risk means the engine will stop and that will potentially reduce braking/steering due to loss of power assist. Yes, unexpectedly in certain circumstances that's a bad thing. But it's hardly an outright "loss of life" scenario.

So if you are going down the interstate at 80 that will work out OK?

 

[wkearney99]

So if you are going down the interstate at 80 that will work out OK?

Like anything else that could fail when you're exceeding the speed limit.

I've had engines stall at speed. Sure, steering and braking gets heavy but it's not uncontrollable.

So is it ideal? Of course not. But hey, don't let that get in the way of making stupid jokes.

 

[BruceK]

Just got this in the mail
“The magnetic material on the tone wheel in your vehicle provides a signal to the crankshaft position sensor.” They then go on to say it might fall off and result in the vehicle’s engine to stall suddenly and without warning. Finally that this could result in a lethal accident. Finally they say “the remedy for this condition is not currently available.” Great so now I have a very expensive lump of tech in my garage I can’t use without risk of loss of life.

Now this is after they gave me $3k back for lying to me about mpg. And 4 recalls with loss of use of the vehicle for a day each time. ....

Didn`t see an earlier post to identify the brand. From the VW stable? What`s a "tone wheel"?
With some Takata airbags here the mfrs of some older cars have been buying them back as apparently there is no fix, at least in a reasonable time.

 

[CharlieO.]

makes me recall my VW bug with the lead acid battery under the back seat. How come we never blew up with the hydrogen gas and the marlboros?

....and the seat was filled with some kind of straw also. I put in an oversized battery in my old bug once, as we are driving down the road my friend starts hollerin 'my ass is on fire' as he is trying to climb into the front seat. turns out the metal springs in the seat were contacting the positive post as we went over bumps, causing sparks to ignite the cushion and that seat to combust under his ass.

 

[Hippocampus]

Jeep Grand Cherokee ecodiesel Summit .

BTW it’s bloody dangerous to go the speed limit around here. Most slabs posted at 65mph but traffic is moving at 75-80 mph. Go speed limit even in travel lanes get high beams and everyone going around you.

What is a tone wheel? Everything in this ride is fly by wire. Is there still a mechanical linkage for steering and brakes?

 

[BruceK]

Jeep Grand Cherokee Ecodiesel Summit ......
What is a tone wheel? Everything in this ride is fly by wire. Is there still a mechanical linkage for steering and brakes?

Here`s what I found, but it doesn`t relate to an internal engine crankshaft. Presumably you`d have to dismantle the engine to get at that. But it seems you might get a warning if it happens....if that`s any comfort....
https://www.jeepkj.com/threads/what-is-a-tone-wheel.38819/

 

[Northern Spy]

Tone wheels or reluctor rings are used for both abs sensors and crankshaft position.

Use more or less the same technology. Some use Hall Effect sensors. Some use magnetic reluctance.

There is a gap tooth on the crankshaft ring to mark position.

Like bicycle speedometers or retrofit electronic ignition systems.

They just don't want to fix it because it internal to the engine and behind the main seals. Too expensive.

 

[yarradeen]

When I was 15 my Dad gave me one of his old work trucks for my birthday. It had 300k on the clock and needed a new engine. He bought me a used I-6 300ci and helped me swap it out. One of the best father son times I had. This kick started my passion with anything with an engine. Now I have had a few cars I have restored/raced/crashed/and restored again.
So when it came time for my kid to start driving I did the same thing. I bought him an old dodge with a 360 that was toast for his 15th B day. And a junk yard 5.9 to replace it with. We swapped out the cam/lifters, added some new bearings, swapped it out from fuel injection to carb. Added a set of heads/headers. He learned a fair bit, and it was so cool to see him pull it out of the garage and drive it down the road. He had a few hickups, that inch ponds vs foot pounds got him a few times, snapped off a few bolts!
He has sold that truck and now is onto car number 5 at 17 years old. Rebuilding a vw gti engine in one, and now onto BMW's. I believe his mechanical ability's has surpassed mine at this point. I stick to stuff 1980 and older, he is strictly 2000 and newer. I refused to work on the BMW's as they need so many special tools that I just don't have. So its all him now days. I still help him out when I can, we just installed a header in his 330ci. It should have been a bolt in deal. 2 days later and about 10 hours of cutting/welding it fit like a glove, happy I can still teach a few things to him.

Young mechanics are harder to find now days, but they are still around and upcoming.

Similar situation but had to wait for my daughters to find boys, working on a conversion now with one, conversely I feel comfortable with computer controlled engines.

 

[Peter B]

.... Got refused by Autozone on Hyundai products because they couldn't keep the electronics connected and couldn't reset if they lost them.

This bit really puzzles me. I'm a medic, yet even I know all you have to do is use the facility most even modestly priced battery chargers have of a 12v 'supply' setting.

So, all you have to do is clamp the correct polarity charger outlets onto the main battery connections, have the charger connected and on, and not dislodge them, when you remove and then replace the car's clamps onto the new battery, and the 12v supply is maintained throughout, so computer settings are not lost.

 

[BruceK]

This bit really puzzles me. I'm a medic, yet even I know all you have to do is use the facility most even modestly priced battery chargers have of a 12v 'supply' setting.

So, all you have to do is clamp the correct polarity charger outlets onto the main battery connections, have the charger connected and on, and not dislodge them, when you remove and then replace the car's clamps onto the new battery, and the 12v supply is maintained throughout, so computer settings are not lost.

Peter, sounds simple, but our usual "road service' organization, NRMA, was clearly nervous connecting power to sustain my Peugeot during battery replacement and ready to attempt reprogramming if they had to. Two guys attending,one an " expert", the other a normal road service guy, in training for battery swaps.

 

[IH82BL8]

Think of it this way: If it was the other way around, you'd have to remove the battery to replace the air filter.