Ups & Downs of Old Technology

[squonk 41,465]

9 hours ago, Horse Newbie said:

I run a 1998 Chevy K1500 Z71 Silverado.

280,000 on the clock.

 

Had a sun gear or something like that replaced in the transmission somewhere around the 100,000 mile mark… not sure.

 

Transmission guy said a common problem with that year as the gear was made out of cheap metal or plastic ( not sure which)

 

He replaced with an aftermarket gear made with a higher quality metal and assured me that I would have no more problems with that.

 

Just made a trip from Monroe NC to Cowen WV and avg 16.9 mpg at mostly 80 mph.

 

Libby keeps saying I need a newer truck… no thank you.

 

And besides now that people have bought up most of the square bodies, they are now going nuts over the era of Chevys and GMC that my ‘98 is in.

 

I have heard that the 5.7 liter Vortecs in it are real reliable, although plagued by  pesty rear main seal oil leaks.

 

For now I can live with that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had the same thing with my 94 Silver a Doo. The sun gear breaks out of the reaction shell. Replacement is a HD version.

 

[elcamino/wheelhorse 9,357]

@squonk Why did you chose the rice burner ? How comfortable are the seats ?

[Horse Newbie 7,136]

3 hours ago, squonk said:

Replacement is a HD version.

So that’s why no more problems with the “sun gear”…

The heavy duty replacement part is made by Harley Davidson !

[squonk 41,465]

37 minutes ago, elcamino/wheelhorse said:

@squonk Why did you chose the rice burner ? How comfortable are the seats ?

Honda's don't break. Seats aren't as comfortable as the GMC but have enough adjustments on the DS to make it dooable. Do wish it had about 4" more legroom and a foot more bed. But these Ridgelines will go 3-400 thousand easy if you change the timing belt every hundred and keep the rust at bay. I got this with 133.000 on it and the belt and water pump were changed. GMC had the same mileage 2 years newer and the frame rotted. Ridgelines  have quite the following. Plus I have an independent shop close by that specialize in Toyota's and Honda's and his customers love these.

 

[ebinmaine 68,523]

7 minutes ago, squonk said:

Honda's don't break

Trina's had 3 in a row. 

2006 Civic. 

2018 Fit that her mom now uses. 

2012 Pilot. 

 

If I personally was going to go find another vehicle this afternoon it would probably be a good used Fit or to go a little older, a very nice Element.

 

The only real complaint I have about the Kia Soul at this point is the comfort of the driver's seat sorely lacks.

I don't trade it in for something a little more comfortable because I really like the 35 to 40 MPG when I'm driving nearly 70 miles daily to get to work and back.

[squonk 41,465]

Perfect example of what we are talking about! "The Back Up Camera That Stole Christmas! " 

 

Edited Thursday at 05:38 PM by squonk

[Achto 27,828]

6 hours ago, squonk said:

Perfect example of what we are talking about

 

I gotta admit that I like the back up camera on my RAM, for the last 5ft when I'm hooking up to a trailer. Other than that, I rarely look at it. It sucks to think that a d@*n camera can shut the whole rig down.

 

Then again, even with old tech. A $.25 part can essentially bring your car to a halt. If you doubt that statement? Let me pull the core out of your valve stem or cut a wire that could easily be fixed with a butt connector. Both easy fixes, if you happen to have the correct part in your pocket. NOT that I'm a huge fan of electronics, just saying that a simple part can screw up your day as well.

 

Electronics are a wonderful thing!! WHEN they work. 

[adsm08 2,199]

8 minutes ago, Achto said:

 

I gotta admit that I like the back up camera on my RAM, for the last 5ft when I'm hooking up to a trailer. Other than that, I rarely look at it. It sucks to think that a d@*n camera can shut the whole rig down.

 

Then again, even with old tech. A $.25 part can essentially bring your car to a halt. If you doubt that statement? Let me pull the core out of your valve stem or cut a wire that could easily be fixed with a butt connector. Both easy fixes, if you happen to have the correct part in your pocket. NOT that I'm a huge fan of electronics, just saying that a simple part can screw up your day as well.

 

Electronics are a wonderful thing!! WHEN they work. 

 

Last week one of our techs put a horn in an F-150. When he was done a ton of warning lights were on in the dash, all for stuff he didn't go anywhere near. Oil pressure warnings, engine over-temp warnings, the blind-spot monitoring system had all the warning messages up, etc. He was getting worked up, so I stepped in to take a look and calm him down and it was clear to me it was a network problem. I ended up looking at it because I'm the only one that does network things. An hour later I determined the problem was the radio.

[Beap52 888]

22 hours ago, Horse Newbie said:

I run a 1998 Chevy K1500 Z71 Silverado.

280,000 on the clock.

 

 

 

Libby keeps saying I need a newer truck… no thank you.

 

And besides now that people have bought up most of the square bodies, they are now going nuts over the era of Chevys and GMC that my ‘98 is in.

 

I have heard that the 5.7 liter Vortecs in it are real reliable, although plagued by  pesty rear main seal oil leaks.

 

For now I can live with that.
 

That's a beautiful truck. 

 

I've heard the same suggestion "When you going to get something newer?"  Gave the same reply, "No, thank you."

 

Not only that, my 1992's interior has less creaks and squeaks than my son-in-laws newer GMC.  (But, it does mark it's territory where ever it's parked.)

 

Yep, I can live with that!

[Bar Nuthin 614]

8 hours ago, squonk said:

Honda's don't break

My Brother always buys Hondas, but last month his wife's Honda Hybrid randomly accelerated while she was in the bank drive-thru, smashed into a wall and was totaled. No injuries, just sore from the air-bag.

Upon investigation, this seems to be a frequent occurrence, despite Honda claims to not be aware of any problem. She's pissed because it went against her driving record and an insurance claim. 

 

Google - Honda randomly accelerates

[adsm08 2,199]

21 minutes ago, Beap52 said:

 (But, it does mark it's territory where ever it's parked.)

 

 

 

So what? Ever hear "If there ain't no oil under it then there ain't no oil in it"?

 

I own 5 vehicles. The wife's car, which is one of the two newest, and by far the lowest miles (2010 with ~100K) is the only one without bad oil leaks.

 

My DD (2010 with ~200K) and the family car (04 ~245K) will be getting resealed in the spring. I've given up getting my truck to stop leaking. I've done no less than 3 total engine re-seals on it since rebuilding the engine, I can't get the oil pan to not leak to save my life.

Edited Friday at 01:50 AM by adsm08

[squonk 41,465]

10 hours ago, Bar Nuthin said:

My Brother always buys Hondas, but last month his wife's Honda Hybrid randomly accelerated while she was in the bank drive-thru, smashed into a wall and was totaled. No injuries, just sore from the air-bag.

Upon investigation, this seems to be a frequent occurrence, despite Honda claims to not be aware of any problem. She's pissed because it went against her driving record and an insurance claim. 

 

Google - Honda randomly accelerates

All the new ones are junk. Honda, Toyota doesn't matter. I should have specified "older Honda's" 

[953 nut 55,930]

11 hours ago, Achto said:

even with old tech. A $.25 part can essentially bring your car to a halt.

Junk parts are not an entirely new deal. My parents bought a new 1965 Dodge and as the upstate New York late autumn morning temperatures started going below freezing the car exhibited a rather strange little quirk. None of the accessories would work until the engine had warmed up for several minutes. No heater motor, no windshield wipers, no radio, then suddenly they all worked. Dad took it to the dealership where he bought it and they said they had no idea why this could have been happening.

I was in the Navy at the time and went to our on-base auto shop to look at the wiring diagram. Sure enough all of these parts were protected by a circuit breaker. It was obvious to me that the bimetallic strip of the breaker was inserted backward and would open when cold. God forbid that a short should occur because excess current flow would cause it to hold closed rather than open.

Armed with this information Dad went back to the dealership and the were totally clueless about what I had told him. A few weeks later I was home for Thanksgiving and took the car in and gave the service manager a bit of electrical education. They were still clueless and there were probably thousands of garage kept or southern cars with faulty circuit breakers out there, but they replaced the part and at least my parent's car wasn't one of them any more.

[rmaynard 15,633]

Funny how we went from dirty points on a K-321...

 

So I may as well chime in. The wife just got a 2024 Subaru Outback with so much electronic/computer stuff that we are beginning to think that we may have made a mistake. They talk about being distracted with cell phones while driving, but you cannot operate anything on this car without going to the big touch screen in the middle of the dash. Each touch sensitive icon drills down to another whole screen, and on and on. I tried to change the temperature on the heat and while trying to touch the correct icon, my finger is bouncing all over the screen. The driver attention warning system starts screaming at me to keep my eyes on the road and my hands on the wheel. Augh! 

 

Thank goodness there are no such distractions on my little 857.

[pfrederi 17,911]

 

2020 Honda CRV you have to use the screen for many functions...PA is not know for smooth roads how many times I have reached for the screen to do something hit a bump and did something entirely different.  Then try to get back to what you wanted...talk about distracted driving....

[8ntruck 7,114]

Yup.  Touch screens are not that helpful when driving.  I kind of miss the old Boden cable controlled automotive HVAC systems.  You could use those while driving by feel.

 

We picked up a '22 Pacifica mini van this year.  Nice vehicle, highly optioned.  I like the back up camera, blind spot monitors, and cross traffic sensor.  Not sure about the rest of the gizmos.  I haven't had the guts to try the automatic parking system.

 

I do get a chuckle at the parking assist proximity sensors when using the drive through at the bank - flashing lights, bells and buzzers all screaming "WE ARE GOING TO DIE!"

[squonk 41,465]

My 2011 ridgeline has auto temp controls with dual zones. You turn a rotating knob to adjust the temps. We went to my sister's house for Christmas. My son is bigger than me is in the passenger seat. My wife who is as tall as me is in the back so he adjusts the seat so she has room. I'm driving along and thinking it's getting HOT IN HERE! 

 

I look at the temperature readout and his side is set to  90° ! 

 

Turns out his knee was bumping the dial and turning it up! 

[kpinnc 12,620]

20 hours ago, adsm08 said:

So what? Ever hear "If there ain't no oil under it then there ain't no oil in it"?

 

My version:

 

 

[953 nut 55,930]

6 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

Not sure about the rest of the gizmos. 

My wife's SUV has two driver seat presets, one for her and one for me. it also has a "valet" setting feature on the driver's seat. When the key is turned off the seat will automatically go all the way back fore easy exit/entry. My wife is five feet zero and a couple years ago the wonderful "valet" system actuated while she was driving, 

  the seat went all the way back, she couldn't reach the brake pedal and the seat belt tensioner actuated making it nearly imposable for her to reach the steering wheel or turn off the ignition. Fortunately she was on a road with a wide shoulder and was able to coast to a stop safely.

After checking her shorts she called me, I drove to where she was and she drove my truck home and I drove the SUV. A quick check on the internet gave me instructions on disabling the valet system and a bunch of horror stories. Obviously this was not an isolated incident but not enough people had been killed by it to justify a recall.    

[adsm08 2,199]

21 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

  I kind of miss the old Boden cable controlled automotive HVAC systems.  You could use those while driving by feel.

 

 

My truck has those. I love it, except when I need defrost. The mode door cam sticks at that end.

 

21 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

I do get a chuckle at the parking assist proximity sensors when using the drive through at the bank - flashing lights, bells and buzzers all screaming "WE ARE GOING TO DIE!"

 

 

I worked on an Escape a few years back with those that was getting a false activation intermittently. After goofing around with it for a while I figured out it only did it with the lights on. From there I found the customer had replaced the halogen fog light bulbs with LEDs that had a heat sycn and fan. The one fan was noisy and was triggering the sensor, because they are sonar, not radar.

[Wayne0 526]

On 12/27/2024 at 9:25 AM, rmaynard said:

Funny how we went from dirty points on a K-321...

 

So I may as well chime in. The wife just got a 2024 Subaru Outback with so much electronic/computer stuff that we are beginning to think that we may have made a mistake. They talk about being distracted with cell phones while driving, but you cannot operate anything on this car without going to the big touch screen in the middle of the dash. Each touch sensitive icon drills down to another whole screen, and on and on. I tried to change the temperature on the heat and while trying to touch the correct icon, my finger is bouncing all over the screen. The driver attention warning system starts screaming at me to keep my eyes on the road and my hands on the wheel. Augh! 

 

Thank goodness there are no such distractions on my little 857.

The problem is if that screen goes out you're SOL until it's replaced. I had a Dodge Dart with that issue. No heat or ANYTHING! (it was winter too)

[rmaynard 15,633]

51 minutes ago, Wayne0 said:

The problem is if that screen goes out you're SOL until it's replaced. I had a Dodge Dart with that issue. No heat or ANYTHING! (it was winter too)

That's why we bought the 100,000 mile, bumper to bumper extended warranty. It was an additional $2500, but I can't image how much something like that would cost if not covered. 

[squonk 41,465]

It's not only the cost of repairing these electronics it's the availability of parts. Some of these "entertainment /  convenience modules aren't supported after they get a few years on them. One of the only choices you have is to find a used one and send it to a shop who can flash it to your VIN # 

Edited 23 hours ago by squonk

[D_Mac 8,813]

Last Honda I owned. I just kept up with changing fluids and putting gas in it. Never left me stranded or never not started on me. Cant say the same for my HD riding buddies at the time. I also have nothing really bad to say about a few Honda mowers I have owned. Not the easiest things to work on but they never needed much work. At least they were red.

[EB-80/8inPA 1,675]

On 12/26/2024 at 1:24 AM, tunahead72 said:

 

I just learned a new term, thank you Eric and thank you RedSquare, this place is always a great classroom!

 

I have this friend who doses the house anytime a streak of bad luck comes along.  But that person is part indigenous, so there’s no cultural appropriation involved. I don’t do it - I wouldn’t want to be.a cultural appropriator.  Well, that and the fact most people would think you’re bonkers waving around a clump of burning sage to drive away evil spirits.  But who knows?  Maybe it works.  I’ll give it a try and send an update sometime after April 15th!

Edited 19 hours ago by EB-80/8inPA