Mysterious miss

[Power Hungry]

I just miss worn out Points & Condenser.

[jimmyv13]

There's always the lawnmower...

[88Racing]

Hate to tell you guys this but lawn mowers are following the vehicles and recreational vehicles also!

A lot of the higher end commercial types already have obd1 systems in them or some type of engine management systems.

Remember EPA and the trickle down theory.

Who would have ever thought motorcycles to have cats or even EFI systems.

Lars

[jimmyv13]

Originally Posted by 88Racing

Hate to tell you guys this but lawn mowers are following the vehicles and recreational vehicles also!

A lot of the higher end commercial types already have obd1 systems in them or some type of engine management systems.

Remember EPA and the trickle down theory.

Who would have ever thought motorcycles to have cats or even EFI systems.

Lars

It's a good thing I can't afford anything with an EMS...my 19HP, 48" cut simple lawnmower is great....AND I can fix it when needed without plugging it in to a laptop to read codes.

I miss my 85 carb'd rotary RX-7....easiest thing I've ever had to work on.

[Sburn]

Originally Posted by Power Hungry

I just miss worn out Points & Condenser.

Sorry, not me. Maybe I spent too much time by the side of the road in my formative years, messing around with a matchbook cover and a screwdriver trying to revive the points on some beater car in the dark.

Ditto with tweaking. I sure don't miss fiddling with carb jets, accelerator pump spings, float bowls, little tiny distributor springs and weights, and oh yeah -- reading plugs after trying to take them out while the headers are still hot.

I sure don't miss pulling heads and cams and such going from stock to performance modes. With a Gryphon, I'm but a few button presses away from what used to be a weekend project changing hard parts. A few more button presses returns it back to stock for things like smog checks.

[Power Hungry]

I understand the lack of enthusiasm with older vehicles and those types of engine controls (points, condenser, carburettor, distributor, etc.) and for reliability you just can't beat newer vehicles. Even performance is available at the push of a few buttons.

What I am waxing nostalgic about was the sheer simplicity of the older vehicles, where anyone with simple hand tools and Haynes manual could work on it and repair most problems. Nowadays, you need thousands of dollars worth of diagnostic equipment and specialty tools just to find a bad $25.00 sensor. Not to mention the hours and hours of classes on diagnostics, troubleshooting, and maintenance of today's electronic control systems.

I'm not saying that progress is bad, it just seems sometimes that things are moving too fast towards computerization. Sometimes simpler is better. Or maybe I'm just getting old.

[Sburn]

Originally Posted by Power Hungry

What I am waxing nostalgic about was the sheer simplicity of the older vehicles, where anyone with simple hand tools and Haynes manual could work on it and repair most problems. Nowadays, you need thousands of dollars worth of diagnostic equipment and specialty tools just to find a bad $25.00 sensor. Not to mention the hours and hours of classes on diagnostics, troubleshooting, and maintenance of today's electronic control systems.

Very true. 30 years ago, when you did break down for bad points or whatever, with a couple of combo wrenches, and a scredriver or three, you stood a pretty fair chance of finding the problem and using your 1970's autoshop 101 skills to get back on the road.

Today, unless you happen to have a code reader or laptop/VCM with you, along with the training and skills to use it, it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that you're on the tow truck to a dealer or shop.

As for repair parts, you could be assured of finding points, wires, plugs, etc.. day or night, just about anywhere. New cars now -- it's "BOHICA" at the dealer only for a very expensive module or sensor. And you're not going to get those parts on the spot if dealer is closed for the weekend.

[88Racing]

Ok, gryphon installed and no dtc's came up?

So maybe something got wet and dried out. Or to many key cycles.

Lars

[88Racing]

Ran through some good rain showers on sunday on the way home. I was a nervous nelly thinking the truck was going to start missing again. Nothing happened?

Who knows maybe the miss was a one time fluke? Or maybe a sign to get the plugs done?
Only 24K on the truck now.

Lars