A Mechanic's Life - Tales From Under the Hood

Mr_Shiftright

Nah, I could make an old car drive pretty much like a new car. I'm talking about a SERIOUS old car, not some old clapped out pile of junk.

I suspect Uber would get expensive for people who live in rural areas. It adds up unless you're a real homebody.

If I lived somewhere wherein a car wouldn't be very feasible (e.g. Manhattan), I'd certainly give mine up and pursue all the alternatives. But I need a car to make my living still, so that's not going to happen. It would be nice to be able to tack Uber fares onto my clients but the numbers don't add up.

roadburner

Mr_Shiftright said:

yeah, right. Perfect solution for Las Cruces----NOT!

I am seriously....SERIOUSLY...considering building an older simpler car, like a Volvo 122S, and putting in vintage AC. I can fix anything on that car. I am a 100% fully qualified Volvo technician circa 1966! I will be the CarDoc of SU carburettors, pushrod engines, and ignition points.

Free at last! No more a hostage to computers and nanny gadgetry. My only homage to modern cars would be the basic safety features of seat belts and radials and better lighting.

That's why I loved my '02; I could fix anything- in my sleep.
As for the Mini, I know more than a few BMW mechanics who maintain that Mini engineering and replacement parts are substandard. One mechanic I know told me he had to order three transaxles(from Mini) before he received one that worked. In his words: "Third one worked long enough for the customer to wake up to the fact that these cars are junkers from new, and she dumped it."

thecardoc3

And the beat goes on.....http://www.autonews.com/article/20160215/RETAIL05/302159940/dealership-policies-worsen-and-can-relieve-a-shortage-of-mechanics

stever

A couple of editors here weren't too happy with their recent experience with service writers.

This quote in your link was good:

"There's got to be some sort of roundtable discussion with dealer principals [and] fixed ops and manufacturers' representatives," says Davis. "You can't keep with the same model you've had for 30 years when everything around you is changing."

Yep, the quicker we get away from maintenance intensive ICE cars, the better.

thecardoc3

stever said:

A couple of editors here weren't too happy with their recent experience with service writers.

I can see a lot of different reasons that it took so long to get the car serviced. Its one thing to grab an appointment for the basic maintenance, but the other issues may easily demand the attention of the one tech in the shop that can handle them and who knows just how full his/her plate already was. Then when a problem is random or intermittent, such as the shifting hard when first started cold it takes a number of hours to recreate the conditions to get each event to occur just to get a few seconds worth of the condition. Thar's the only time one can make any progress towards analyzing it, in this case cold while its happening.

The best part about that story are some of the comments. The calling several times a day and all of the other ones that are about pressuring them to be faster takes away the last reason to even bother pushing yourself to be able to handle the really tough work. Satisfaction, that little moment where you get to have a little pride in your craft. As the tech you might be dealing with fifteen or more cars each day that don't pay you enough to make a days wages (This Jeep would be one of the losers) when it comes to the warranty side, so you have to get some easy work to personally subsidize your own paycheck.

I doubt most can really understand what this is like. As a tech, you are running from the moment you walk in the door until you leave at the end of the day. Its common to be attending to three or more vehicles simultaneously at various stages of a repair process. That's hard enough to do mentally all by itself and then on top of that each interruption costs you time. Time that in order to make a better living you strive to carve seconds out of a repair so that those seconds can add up to minutes, and those minutes to hours that get you a few more dollars in your paycheck.

stever said:

This quote in your link was good:

"There's got to be some sort of roundtable discussion with dealer principals [and] fixed ops and manufacturers' representatives," says Davis. "You can't keep with the same model you've had for 30 years when everything around you is changing."

Yep, the quicker we get away from maintenance intensive ICE cars, the better.

Referencing that Jeep story goes along with this nicely. It would be appropriate if in fact it came down to them having just one tech that could handle it's problems and he/she reads that story and decides enough is enough, hangs up the wrenches and gives the dealers yet an other reason why they need to sit down and change the whole picture.

stever

I thought you'd enjoy that one.

I kind of feel sorry for the service writers here - they may not have enough techs on hand to do the work but they are the ones that have to deal with the owners cooling their heels without their rides. And they gotta eat too and some of them must know that some of the upsell stuff they are pushing is junk.

You can insert Yakov Smirnoff's tag line here.

roadburner

stever said:

A couple of editors here weren't too happy with their recent experience with service writers.

I read that as well. I don't mind waiting three days if that is what it takes to do the job right. What I wouldn't tolerate is the lack of communication. When I bring a car to my BMW dealership for service I always get a call updating me on progress, any issues that might have been discovered, and the estimated time of completion. Ditto for the two local indie shops I use. My Mazda dealer was also extremely good about updates.

As I've mentioned before, the treatment I receive from my dealer makes me very reluctant to stray from the Munich fold. In fact, the hopelessly inept service departments at the local VW dealers essentially knocked the Golf R out of contention(I didn't buy another Mazda because they abandoned the hot hatch segment).

Mr_Shiftright

This entire system is heading for a train wreck IMO--the kinds of cars they are building, the way they are sold and serviced--the automobile industry is chained to a sick man.

Mr_Shiftright

roadburner said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

yeah, right. Perfect solution for Las Cruces----NOT!

I am seriously....SERIOUSLY...considering building an older simpler car, like a Volvo 122S, and putting in vintage AC. I can fix anything on that car. I am a 100% fully qualified Volvo technician circa 1966! I will be the CarDoc of SU carburettors, pushrod engines, and ignition points.

Free at last! No more a hostage to computers and nanny gadgetry. My only homage to modern cars would be the basic safety features of seat belts and radials and better lighting.

That's why I loved my '02; I could fix anything- in my sleep.
As for the Mini, I know more than a few BMW mechanics who maintain that Mini engineering and replacement parts are substandard. One mechanic I know told me he had to order three transaxles(from Mini) before he received one that worked. In his words: "Third one worked long enough for the customer to wake up to the fact that these cars are junkers from new, and she dumped it."

The First Generation MINI was an unmitigated piece of junk IMO---brilliant in design, a failure in execution, an utterly preposterous in maintenance and repair costs given the price level of the car.

thecardoc3

Mr_Shiftright said:

This entire system is heading for a train wreck IMO--the kinds of cars they are building, the way they are sold and serviced--the automobile industry is chained to a sick man.

Makes one tend to wonder if it is intentional.

http://www.autonews.com/article/20160215/RETAIL05/302159998/service-counter

Mr_Shiftright

Yep, train wreck all right. Thanks for posting that. It's about what I thought. It would have been interesting to break all those stats down between non-lux and lux brands.

stever

I think the solution is going to have to come from outside the car industry. Some anti-Future Shock book I'm skimming talks about how ballpoint pens didn't come from the fountain pen makers, cars didn't come from wagon makers and the Yellow Pages didn't invent search engines. (Anyone remember the paper Yellow Pages?).

Right now my money is on Google or Apple but who knows - maybe Elon's tube gizmo will be all the rage in ten years (unlike, say, Segways).

Mr_Shiftright

Actually most cars did come from wagon makers, because the first early cars WERE wagons with motors attached. BUT, they also came from a) bicycle manufacturers and b) gun makers--the latter among the first to introduce the concept of interchangeable parts from gun to gun.

It's interesting that the main concern of consumers was NOT how timely the repairs were done, and even of less concern, to have the repairs explained. The main concern was $$$.

So what does that tell us? For me, it says that the more people "shop cheap" the less satisfied they will become---add that to the increasing complexity of cars, and the car owner will face one of two scenarios in the near future: 1) to be eternally dissatisfied with repairs or 2) to pay through the nose for everything.

stever

I think the allure of car ownership will continue to fade, at least for people in any sort of mostly urban area. My brother-in-law hasn't driven in 45 years, much less owned a car. He's still good friends with his ex, who does drive, but he rarely needs to get somewhere that he can't manage with public transit. He's in Seattle now, but did the same when he was in the Bay Area and San Diego.

thecardoc3

Technician wages dropping 4.4%, while everything else went up. Then you look at the tenure, less than four years on average. Put that together and not only are the wages dropping, you can forget about getting vested in any retirement plans from a career perspective.

thecardoc3

Remember EFF? One of the groups that is trying to force the O.E's to open up their proprietary software?

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/02/eff-support-apple-encryption-battle

stever

I don't see a disconnect - accessing code to fix your own device is different from letting someone else access everyone's personal information without their knowledge or permission or a court order.

If Apple could backdoor that particular iPhone without backdooring every device running Apple iOS, then I might be okay with that. That in theory would prevent the state or feds from running a fishing expedition off the books without court oversight.

thecardoc3

stever said:

I don't see a disconnect - accessing code to fix your own device is different from letting someone else access everyone's personal information without their knowledge or permission or a court order.

What EFF really wants is for offshore interests to have access to your cars software, they couldn't care less about what you do.

stever

If they don't want my personal info or don't want to know where I'm driving my car, then why do I care?

If they want to offer a way for me to fix my car, or tweak some parameters, if that a bad thing?

thecardoc3

stever said:

If they don't want my personal info or don't want to know where I'm driving my car, then why do I care?

"They" can get that now.

stever said:

If they want to offer a way for me to fix my car, or tweak some parameters, if that a bad thing?

Curious, exactly what parameters are you interested in trying to manipulate.

stever

I'm the guy that wants to buy the base John Deere and tweak the software to suddenly have the fancy trim level Deere (without having to pay for it - same rig, just different software).

Some tweaks I'd like include a way to give me an Eco mode or a Power mode like the buttons in the Prius, turning off the beeps without going to a dealer (who may refuse to turn off certain "safety" beeps), turning on other beeps, maybe over-riding a NAV if it won't let me change destinations while moving, maybe turn the back-up cam on full time, changing what kind of engine information is displayed on the screen (like a ScanGauge), increase the TMPS reading so that my preferred psi is a couple of pounds over the factory default, make my interior lights strobe to my music, turn the power ports on or off full time, keep the rear defroster on until manually turned off, enable the fob to lower all the windows without having to get the dealer to program it, enable cruise control presets available (I always go 45 leaving my neighborhood), automatically adjust the power lumbar every x minutes, individually control all interior lights singly....

Stuff like that.

thecardoc3

What are the potential pit falls with each of your tweaks? List all that you can think of for each one. That's the first step of any modification, first do no harm.

When the day comes that you want to sell or trade in what are the repercussions should one of your tweaks have an unintended consequence that causes injury or death for the next owner? Would the vehicle manufacturer be held responsible or would you be the person that is liable?

Mr_Shiftright

In a few years they won't be able to fix your stock vehicle much less tweak it. In the future cars will be turned in and pro rated like defective batteries IMO.

thecardoc3

2006 Chevrolet Colorado, P0017

Another shop directed this customer to me. This has been a problem for this customer for a number of years. The owner has tossed parts at it to the point that it has been able to get a waiver for the emissions test.

Here is an oscilloscope capture that shows exactly why the PCM is flagging the cam/crank synchronization.



Here is a second one.

stever

thecardoc3 said:

What are the potential pit falls with each of your tweaks? List all that you can think of for each one. That's the first step of any modification, first do no harm.

Pitfalls run from nothing to I could brick the car. Big whoop - I build my desktops and overclock them and swap cards and run all sorts of software on them (the laptops and tablets not so much, although I have dismantled a laptop or two).

Heaven knows my last van got bricked three times in the last year of ownership, from the busted timing belt to the bad distributor. Losing a timing belt in the wrong place can kill you too. Did I mention that my mechanic missed a tooth and had to redo that one?

Sell the car? Just restore it to factory default - that's a two step process on a computer, with a couple of "are you sure" questions. With a car, just changing the battery without a saver in the power port would probably suffice (whether you wanted that result or not).

Mr_Shiftright

Oh you futurists--tell us again about flying cars Steve.

Doc---what are the symptoms of this car's misbehavior. I need a context.

stever

Here's another tweak that would be handy to be able to do, especially if most of your driving involved freeway commuting in heavy traffic with a lot of lane changes required. Just default to the Power button when you turn the car on.

[edit] - here's another - "As unobtrusive the "engine start/stop" feature is on the CTS, I turn it off when I'm burning up the road, too." Why can't the owner change that default to "off"?

That was kind of fun - must be a zillion more tweaks out there that some owners would enjoy playing with. Didn't even think about tweaking the shift point patterns - guess that would tie in with those Power and Eco mode "chipping".

qbrozen

I think its just an unresolved CEL. Car is running fine, Doc?

thecardoc3

By some perspectives there would be opinions that the car is running "good enough". It runs fine on the highway under moderate engine load. It will set P0300 at idle on occasion. As far as fixing this goes, this is where I have to choose to draw the line. I showed him what is wrong, he needs to find someone else to fix it because of the physical demands.

qbrozen

hmmm... physical demands? cam/crank synchronization issue? I guess you are talking about pulling the engine? Something physically wrong with the crank?

thecardoc3

I've got more discs failing and pinching nerves. Several just below the shoulders, and several more in the lumbar area.

Hint: The parking brake is bad and won't hold the truck, that is what caused the failure. The engine rolled over backwards.

roadburner

stever said:

That was kind of fun - must be a zillion more tweaks out there that some owners would enjoy playing with. Didn't even think about tweaking the shift point patterns - guess that would tie in with those Power and Eco mode "chipping".

Over on 2 Addicts there is a topic on recoding; there are a lot of different features and defaults that can be modified. It doesn't look that hard but I'm still waiting until the warranty runs out. High on my list are turning off the "Lawyer/Nanny Screen" when the car fires up as well as disabling the seat belt warning chime for the driver(I don't like buckling up just to drive the 1500 feet to my gate).

xwesx

thecardoc3 said:

I've got more discs failing and pinching nerves. Several just below the shoulders, and several more in the lumbar area.

Hint: The parking brake is bad and won't hold the truck, that is what caused the failure. The engine rolled over backwards.

Those are some seriously "hairy" lines compared to what I would expect to see based on your past posts. What would cause that? Some sort of small deflection in the crank that is creating a tiny oscillation, maybe? It does look like a mechanical problem as opposed to electrical in this case.

Mr_Shiftright

Well it is possible on some engines, if turned backwards, to loosen the tensioner to the point where engine timing could skip a tooth.

thecardoc3

Mr_Shiftright said:

Well it is possible on some engines, if turned backwards, to loosen the tensioner to the point where engine timing could skip a tooth.

That's exactly what the scope shows, the exhaust cam timing is advanced. For the cam to jump ahead, the engine had to be forced to turn backwards. That capture is created by using a pressure transducer on a compression hose instead of a gage. There is no Schrader valve in the hose allowing all four strokes of the engine to be seen. The compression peaks show two crankshaft revolutions. The time that it took for the two crank revoutions is divided by four, and the TDC, and DBC ends of the piston strokes can be identified. From there, the pressure waveform shows the valve events and that can be compared to the crankshaft positon. The second capture shows the valve timing event flags, the exhaust valve opening position should be 43 degrees before BDC. But the pressure is already rising indicating the valve opened up before that, in fact it opened some 30 degrees early.

thecardoc3

Hey Steve. So you want to want to try and tweak. Here is as built data for a Ford. See if you can find out what each of these lines are, and what changes could be made to make the car different than it was when it was built.


PCM Modules

PCM 1 FFFF FFFF 020F
PCM 2 D00E 0AFF FEF7
PCM 3 FFFF F3FF 5F62
PCM 4 FFFF FFFF FF0F
PCM 5 FFFF FFFF FF10
PCM 6 FFFF FFFF FF11
PCM 7 FFFF FFFF FF12
PCM 8 FFFF FFFF FF13
PCM 9 FFFF FFFF FF14

Front Display Interface Module

FDIM 7A6-01-01 2D00 10B0 20BC Inst
FDIM 7A6-01-02 00B0 Inst
FDIM 7A6-02-01 00B0 Inst

Accessory Protocol Interface Module

APIM 7D0-01-01 800C 8000 00E5 Inst
APIM 7D0-02-01 0255 5300 0084 Inst
APIM 7D0-03-01 0000 0000 00DB Inst

Instrument Cluster Module

ICM 720-01-01 DB88 7C05 010E

Generic Electronic Module

GEM 726-01-01 750A AE Inst
GEM 726-02-01 03C0 2020 0033 Inst
GEM 726-03-01 0D00 3E Inst
GEM 726-04-01 0638 Inst
GEM 726-05-01 040C 43 Inst
GEM 726-06-01 1A81 CF Inst
GEM 726-07-01 2505 5F Inst
GEM 726-08-01 0105 0A46 Inst
GEM 726-09-01 C003 FA Inst
GEM 726-10-01 8006 0000 00C4 Inst
GEM 726-10-02 0000 0000 003F Inst
GEM 726-10-03 0000 0000 0040 Inst
GEM 726-10-04 0000 41 Inst
GEM 726-11-01 1400 53 Inst

Audio Control Module

ACM 727-01-01 0500 908B 64B4 Inst
ACM 727-01-02 0031 Inst
ACM 727-02-01 6495 Inst
ACM 727-03-01 0000 32 Inst
ACM 727-04-01 0007 2F57 5B1B Inst
ACM 727-04-02 765B 572F 0792 Inst
ACM 727-05-01 000A 3335 5C02 Inst
ACM 727-05-02 645C 3533 0A67 Inst
ACM 727-06-01 000A 3335 5C03 Inst
ACM 727-06-02 645C 3533 0A68 Inst
ACM 727-07-01 080E 3C01 169F Inst
ACM 727-07-02 1F4B 697C 8309 Inst
ACM 727-07-03 0116 1F4B 09C2 Inst
ACM 727-07-04 0D33 7380 84F0 Inst
ACM 727-07-05 090D 3373 0E04 Inst
ACM 727-07-06 003C 6978 86DE Inst

Variable Assist Power Steering Module

VAPS 730-01-01 033C Inst
VAPS 730-02-01 013B Inst

Electronic Automatic Temperature Control Module

EATC 733-01-01 013D Inst

Restraint Control Module

RCM 737-01-01 3146 4D43 559C Inst
RCM 737-01-02 3944 3734 416A Inst
RCM 737-01-03 4B44 3433 3971 Inst
RCM 737-01-04 3433 AA Inst
RCM 737-02-01 CE02 0000 11 Inst

Anti-Lock Bake System Module

ABS 760-01-01 3146 4D43 55C5 Inst
ABS 760-02-01 3944 3734 4193 Inst
ABS 760-03-01 4B44 3433 399A Inst
ABS 760-04-01 3433 8000 0053 Inst
ABS 760-05-01 1924 0012 00BC Inst
ABS 760-06-01 0000 0000 006E Inst

Mr_Shiftright

thecardoc3 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

Well it is possible on some engines, if turned backwards, to loosen the tensioner to the point where engine timing could skip a tooth.

That's exactly what the scope shows, the exhaust cam timing is advanced. For the cam to jump ahead, the engine had to be forced to turn backwards. That capture is created by using a pressure transducer on a compression hose instead of a gage. There is no Schrader valve in the hose allowing all four strokes of the engine to be seen. The compression peaks show two crankshaft revolutions. The time that it took for the two crank revoutions is divided by four, and the TDC, and DBC ends of the piston strokes can be identified. From there, the pressure waveform shows the valve events and that can be compared to the crankshaft positon. The second capture shows the valve timing event flags, the exhaust valve opening position should be 43 degrees before BDC. But the pressure is already rising indicating the valve opened up before that, in fact it opened some 30 degrees early.

Pretty slick test. Might you have deduced the same thing with a compression test?

stever

thecardoc3 said:

Hey Steve. So you want to want to try and tweak. Here is as built data for a Ford. See if you can find out what each of these lines are, and what changes could be made to make the car different than it was when it was built

Lot easier just to grab the tweak program off the net and just play with the front end app.

Mr_Shiftright

So you'd feed internet coding into your $35,000 vehicle?

stever

If the source is public, yeah. It's easy enough to vet the kind of stuff you can grab at places like SourceForge. Looks like there's already an ECU mapper there for Euro cars.

How long have techs been making and selling performance chips? 25 years? Longer?

Dealer techs do this every day with their factory scan tools. Is their "official" code any better or tighter than the lines cranked out by a stoner with a 12 inch pink Mohawk? (A. - ask John McAfee. Well, maybe not, lol).

Mr_Shiftright

What makes it easy to vet public software? It's still anonymous, with no responsibility to you.

thecardoc3

Mr_Shiftright said:

Pretty slick test. Might you have deduced the same thing with a compression test?

No, in fact a compression test won't show any signs of that at all. Only the exhaust cam is out of time and it's advanced. The cylinders will make normal compression because the intake cam is still in time with the crankshaft.

Mr_Shiftright

Would a vacuum gauge give you any hints?

thecardoc3

If the cam was advanced far enough that the exhaust valve closed before the intake opened then you would get some bouncing of the needle. But the pressure waveform shows the intake is opening almost exactly when the exhaust is closing so no it would not. Even then the large plenum's that we find on the cars today tend to dampen out a good bit of any pressure pulses.

stever

Mr_Shiftright said:

What makes it easy to vet public software? It's still anonymous, with no responsibility to you.

No worse than some fly-by-night chip shops. Or an incompetent dealer shop using the official tools who then turns around and accuses you of missing one oil change so your warranty is void and any liability is disclaimed.

Word gets around - I use donation-ware to do my taxes, my passwords are stored with freeware, my checking is done on freeware, my quotes are downloaded on freeware, my health trackers are free. .

I know how to play with my Windows registry, but often it's easier to let a utility program do it (to get back to @thecardoc3's latest quiz).

If someone wants to let me change my seat position remotely after my wife drives our car, well, bring it on.

To paraphrase Bill Buckley, these days it sounds like a tech is a fellow who is standing athwart 100 years of automotive history yelling 'Stop!'.

thecardoc3

stever said:

No worse than some fly-by-night chip shops. Or an incompetent dealer shop using the official tools who then turns around and accuses you of missing one oil change so your warranty is void and any liability is disclaimed.

Word gets around - I use donation-ware to do my taxes, my passwords are stored with freeware, my checking is done on freeware, my quotes are downloaded on freeware, my health trackers are free.

I'm seeing a pattern here.

stever said:

I know how to play with my Windows registry, but often it's easier to let a utility program do it (to get back to @thecardoc3's latest quiz).

Say's the guy that can't identify the right oil for a given car let alone advise an owner how to. Comparing what some people can do with a PC, to what people should be able to do with the first publicly owned robots has more holes than substance. That "quiz" above that you have otherwise avoided exposes some significant complications if the code is opened. Those personality inputs tell the systems things like does the car have side air bags. Does it have all wheel drive, traction control and stability control and more. Being able to manipulate that information could have cars "repaired" by eliminating systems instead of properly fixing them. We have already seen counterfeit air bag components, and drivers modules that were not airbags at all. If the only things that were going to be played with were the creature comforts nobody would care, but that isn't what is going to happen and you would have to be naïve to believe otherwise.

stever said:

If someone wants to let me change my seat position remotely after my wife drives our car, well, bring it on.

Some cars already do that, and the memory seat function recognizes who is getting into the car via the key ID.

stever said:

To paraphrase Bill Buckley, these days it sounds like a tech is a fellow who is standing athwart 100 years of automotive history yelling 'Stop!'.

Takata has a significant recall going on right now with repairing the drivers airbags. Fortunately they aren't putting price first and they are repairing the cars instead of just disabling the bag and using code to prevent the warning light from coming on. Given the choice, legally or otherwise there would be people who would make the wrong decision and put someone else at risk over their love of money. If that is the 100 years of automotive history you are referring to, I am glad to be that tech standing in the way yelling stop.

thecardoc3

thecardoc3 said:

stever said:

If someone wants to let me change my seat position remotely after my wife drives our car, well, bring it on.

Some cars already do that, and the memory seat function recognizes who is getting into the car via the key ID.

BTW, did I ever mention how much I hate it when someone drops off one of those cars and leaves me the wife's key? It seems like it takes an eternity to suddenly have to locate the seat controls to try and stop it from crushing me against the steering wheel.

Mr_Shiftright

stever said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

What makes it easy to vet public software? It's still anonymous, with no responsibility to you.

No worse than some fly-by-night chip shops. Or an incompetent dealer shop using the official tools who then turns around and accuses you of missing one oil change so your warranty is void and any liability is disclaimed.

Word gets around - I use donation-ware to do my taxes, my passwords are stored with freeware, my checking is done on freeware, my quotes are downloaded on freeware, my health trackers are free. .

I know how to play with my Windows registry, but often it's easier to let a utility program do it (to get back to @thecardoc3's latest quiz).

If someone wants to let me change my seat position remotely after my wife drives our car, well, bring it on.

To paraphrase Bill Buckley, these days it sounds like a tech is a fellow who is standing athwart 100 years of automotive history yelling 'Stop!'.

My tax accountant claims that TurboTax and other tax software people use are directly responsible for his brand new Lexus and his second home in Scottsdale AZ.

stever

thecardoc3 said:

thecardoc3 said:

stever said:

If someone wants to let me change my seat position remotely after my wife drives our car, well, bring it on.

Some cars already do that, and the memory seat function recognizes who is getting into the car via the key ID.

BTW, did I ever mention how much I hate it when someone drops off one of those cars and leaves me the wife's key? It seems like it takes an eternity to suddenly have to locate the seat controls to try and stop it from crushing me against the steering wheel.

And even if you have the right key, it still takes a minute for the seat to move. You should be able to do that from your phone five minutes before you head to the garage, or set the default to move to the primary driver's position thirty minutes after the car sits in Park.

stever

thecardoc3 said:

I'm seeing a pattern here.

Sure, there's tons of free or cheap software out there that's as good or better as the stuff you can buy at the app store.

thecardoc3 said:

Say's the guy that can't identify the right oil for a given car let alone advise an owner how to.

You lost me here, I know what oil my car uses and I know how to tell people to look it up in the manual for their car.