I read today they announced a $1.1billion battery factory.

Are they going to overstate their battery vehicles travel distance.

Or have they learnt their lesson. Joke

But this is good news.

1 hour ago, Johandup said:

Are they going to overstate their battery vehicles travel distance.

That was actually the weird bit. The car would sense when it was being tested, and swap in good values. With these values it used more fuel, but it made less Nox. These are also the values that went on the sticker and into the advertising. But then when you actually took the car on the road, it would swap in the more economic values (that also made more Nox), so the buyer would get better mileage than advertised. And that has never made sense to me... the guy has already bought the car... you have no edge in advertising. Were they hoping word of mouth was going to do it?

So the analogy for batteries would be that they will understate the vehicle travel distance, and then once on the road some illegal setting will flip and it will go like 30% further... 🙂

Just like one needs an Indy (Independent Mechanic) to service your out-of-motorplan Geloppie (car for the non SAFFER's), in 10 years time when we all are driving electric cars😮, we are going to be in need of decent DC engineer/IT techie!

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8 minutes ago, Sidewinder said:

Just like one needs an Indy (Independent Mechanic) to service your out-of-motorplan Geloppie (car for the non SAFFER's), in 10 years time when we all are driving electric cars😮, we are going to be in need of decent DC engineer/IT techie!

 

People in the USA have been rebuilding cars to battery power for ages. So no, Tesla was not the first. And they have been doing it very successfull.

Much more reliable than fuel cars. There was a recent report where Toyota replaced an old battery pack for free.

And services will be short hours for brakes etc.

Any garage owner should look long term and ensure he has access to enough electrical power for conversion to chargers in future. Somehow I don’t see the South Africans recharging cars at charging stations on the highways in the middle of nowhere. Safety will remain a big concern.

At a point in time mankind will have to choose between fuel for aviation or motoring. But I will be a goner by then. Not my problem lol.

Edited May 17, 20197 yr by Johandup

3 minutes ago, Sidewinder said:

Just like one needs an Indy (Independent Mechanic) to service your out-of-motorplan Geloppie (car for the non SAFFER's), in 10 years time when we all are driving electric cars😮, we are going to be in need of decent DC engineer/IT techie!

 

I've been an Indy for 22 years and believe me, you already need an IT degree to repair simple stuff these days. Good example. I've got an 2012 Audi A3 Tsi in the shop. Came in with a complaint that some lights were blown. Client when he brought it in "Hie's soe paar liggies doed. Druk gou da a paar nuwe globes in toe" Well, the few lights that was dead included: 

LH front foglight, LH low beam, LH High beam, LH front indicator, LH rear indicator, LH number plate light, LH front parklight, LH rear parklights, LH brakelight. Great! Took out all globes and tested, none was blown and worked perfectly. Diagnostic scan shows open/short circuit on positive on all the mentioned lights. Seems that they tried to fit LED replacements bulbs at home and fried the central convenience module. No problem, replace with a new one and program it, Cost for a new one is only R5900. Luckily I don't have all thos K@K on my Jimny and Pajero Sport..............BUT, I don't know where it's going to end up. Diagnostic machines are getting more expensive by the day, everything is going online these days. Not a problem at the big dealerships but down here in the platteland we're starting to feel the pain. If I have to buy a R120k diagnostic machine, when in hope's hell am I going to get a ROI if I only use it maybe once a week.........

They should call is "Central Inconvenience  Module"😂

Reminds me of my Jetta V - the clutch on the Alternator went - YES - it has, also couldn't believe it. Because the car was not driveable, took the alternator out to take to take to my Indy to replace the clutch, you need an impact wrench to loosen the pulley, and after that, proceeded to refit. Upon startup battery light came on - diagnosis at Indy was some "Control Module" got fried. Few R1000's later, all ok. Was my fault, I may have inadvertently shorted something during this procedure.

Seems like BFW will be a nice place to move to....Nice sunshine, but better still, an Indy that knows his way around VAGCOM.

Edited May 17, 20197 yr by Sidewinder

7 minutes ago, Sidewinder said:

the clutch on the Alternator went - YES - it has, also couldn't believe it.

I also only learned about that when I lost an Alternator recently. Apparently they call it an overrun pulley, and it is essentially a ratchet on many vehicles. Improves efficiency. Essentially what it does is allow the alternator to free-wheel on its own internal inertia if the engine slows down suddenly, or if the battery regulator cuts the charging current.

5 minutes ago, Sidewinder said:

They should call is "Central Inconvenience  Module"😂

Reminds me of my Jetta V - the clutch on the Alternator went - YES - it has, also couldn't believe it. Because the car was not driveable, took the alternator out to take to take to my Indy to replace the clutch, you need an impact wrench to loosen the pulley, and after that, proceeded to refit. Upon startup battery light came on - diagnosis at Indy was some "Control Module" got fried. Few R1000's later, all ok. Was my fault, I may have inadvertently shorted something during this procedure.

Seems like BFW will be a nice place to move to....Nice sunshine, but better still, an Indy that knows his way around VAGCOM.

Yes! You need a special tool to remove the clutch pulley. Most Modern diesel engines have got them. Fit a solid pulley and the Crankshaft damper pulley WILL fail. Make the crankshaft pulley solid (like any old diesel engines had for years) and you will have endless belt noises and failures. Sometimes it seems technology is only "improved" to improve the turnover of parts suppliers. Have you ever had such K@K with an old Toyota 2.4d/2.8d or an Isuzu KB250/KB280? NO! I guess Technology needs to take us somewhere......not always in a positive direction though😂

35 minutes ago, Johandup said:

fuel for aviation or motoring

I think planes will fly with hydrogen in the future and I might still be around to see it.

Btw, if you guys are interested in vehicle diagnostics, you must watch DiagnoseDan and South Main Auto. A dutch guy and an American. Stick a scope on it... and as the SMA guy says: "There's your problem lady!".

I especially loved the one episode where he had a Honda with the "money light" on (aka check engine light). Timing belt and cam sprocket was replaced with an aftermarket parts, changed the length of the belt loop just enough to cause the cam sensor to fire a few degrees too early..

I was laughing at my sister at the weekend with her new mazda. You can press a button on and the hatchback opens, press another and it closes. Awesome. But why? Are you disabled? Arms got shorter? What was the additional cost on the vehicle for this feature? And when it breaks? Progress is not always progress, its just a trap for consumers.

1 minute ago, DeepBass9 said:

Progress is not always progress, its just a trap for consumers.

This has nothing to do with anything, just a useless titbit. 🙂

I never could understand why, when cars are caught in floods, that the boots / hatchbacks / doors are left open. Why would you do that? 

Then it struck me. They are all electronically opened ... and submerged in water allegedly is not a good idea around electronics.

When you see these oaks (guys) bliksimming (driving) through rivers with just the snorkel (air intake) above the water, drivers head next to the snorkel (for air as the cab is submerged), you get a warm feeling knowing there are no electronic in them cars. 🙂 

3 minutes ago, The Terrible Triplett said:

you get a warm feeling knowing there are no electronic in them cars. 🙂 

I wish... Maybe for a 1980 model. 

I have a dreaded feeling when a modern car (aka Kuga) catches fire locked doors will not open and you will die. 

I am waiting for a Pajero owner to confirm this when the battery is short circuited in a river crossing... 

Even my diesel cruiser has central locking these days. The universal Toyota key still works though (piece of stiff wire through the window).

55 minutes ago, Johandup said:

I wish... Maybe for a 1980 model.

This is the level I was thinking of: 🙂 

 

 

55 minutes ago, Johandup said:

I wish... Maybe for a 1980 model. 

I have a dreaded feeling when a modern car (aka Kuga) catches fire locked doors will not open and you will die. 

I am waiting for a Pajero owner to confirm this when the battery is short circuited in a river crossing... 

I've got a 2010 Pajero Sport 3.2Did. I fitted a snorkel mainly for cleaner air intake seeing that we do A LOT of gravel road travelling but also for that once or twice I HAVE to do a water crossing that MIGHT be deeper than the original air intake (that was behind the grill) but I don't go and look for K@K. If I see it's deeper than my groin and there's a way around, I stay out of it. It's not worth risking any vehicle to try and prove to your tjommies that you bought a submerine. As soon as water enters the cabin you're screwed. Most of the control units are behind panels at about pedal height and electricicicicity and the wet stuff don't go well together as we all should know without to much Klippies and Coke.

11 minutes ago, The Terrible Triplett said:

This is the level I was thinking of: 🙂 

Hoovie's Lexus (luxury Land Cruiser) is still fine after a water crossing. Well he did blow the amp under the seat... 🙂

 

15 minutes ago, Czauto said:

Klippies and Coke

None in these videos ... 

3 minutes ago, plonkster said:

Hoovie's Lexus (luxury Land Cruiser) is still fine after a water crossing.

Cute ...

THIS is how you do it ... check the drivers head ... and wait for it ...  🙂 

 

 

Edited May 17, 20197 yr by Guest

1 hour ago, Johandup said:

I have a dreaded feeling when a modern car (aka Kuga) catches fire locked doors will not open and you will die. 

Speaking of that. My wife's Suzuki Swift first broke the internal switchie thing for unlocking the back door. Then a little while later, the electric lock also broke, leaving the door permanently locked. This is the sort of thing that scares me, it's a safety thing, not being able to get out when something is wrong (especially with my inlaws staying with us at the time, and not being very mobile), is just not an acceptable situation. I went to the dealer, blew 2k on a new doorlock and installed it.

I was extremely lucky. You can get the door card out from the inside, and once I was inside the door, I grabbed the remaining bit of the mechnical unlock cable with long-nosed pliers and wiggled it while using the remote to lock and unlock the door electrically... and suddenly the mechanical part became unstuck and I could get it open.

This is what went wrong. Note the little spirally bit that's missing a piece.

(Yes, I always open broken stuff to see why they broke).

1 hour ago, The Terrible Triplett said:

This is the level I was thinking of: 🙂 

 

 

LOL, good thing his long range tank was empty or it might not have worked so well.

3 hours ago, DeepBass9 said:

press a button on and the hatchback opens, press another and it closes

The "wave your foot under the bumper" one seems useful to me, for when your hands are full. But I agree that you can close it yourself afterwards. One less thing that can break.