I Think I Don't Want These Computers in Cars Anymore

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Ant

Ant

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Driving home in my 94 Ford and noticed that my speedometer stopped working. Then also noticed the transmission not wanting to down shift at speed. Yup, both are related and it's probably a bad sensor or wire and the TCM has no idea what to do. Made it home in 2nd gear and now I need to go to the pharmacy to pick up my prescription. Guess what car I'm using now? Yup! An A body Mopar, just a good old 73 Dart with 1973 tech. No computers to tell my transmission what to do.

I'm starting to just want simplicity and mechanically easy to fix cars now. I'll even take Bosch K-jetronic mechanical injection again. Thank god for my wonderful working 73 Dart and it's slow 225 slant 6. Moving backwards now seems like moving forwards.

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Ant said:
Driving home in my 94 Ford and noticed that my speedometer stopped working. Then also noticed the transmission not wanting to down shift at speed. Yup, both are related and it's probably a bad sensor or wire and the TCM has no idea what to do. Made it home in 2nd gear and now I need to go to the pharmacy to pick up my prescription. Guess what car I'm using now? Yup! An A body Mopar, just a good old 73 Dart with 1973 tech. No computers to tell my transmission what to do.

I'm starting to just want simplicity and mechanically easy to fix cars now. I'll even take Bosch K-jetronic mechanical injection again. Thank god for my wonderful working 73 Dart and it's slow 225 slant 6. Moving backwards now seems like moving forwards.

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Smart cars know too much!
 
Ya tell me about it. I have a 2015 Ram with the German 8spd. It doesn't know what fn gear it wants to be in.
Don't know if it's the trans or WTF controls it !!!!
 
I knew when they first conjoined computers with cars it was a mistake. I still think so.
 
RAT ROD AL said:
Ya tell me about it. I have a 2015 Ram with the German 8spd. It doesn't know what fn gear it wants to be in.
Don't know if it's the trans or WTF controls it !!!!
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You know what's so bad? Neither do the "experts" at the dealership that are supposed to know!
 
As much as I like the Challenger Hellcat, Scat Pack, and RT there's no way in hell I'd buy one. With all the computer controls what kind of support will be available from Dodge in the future? 65'
 
RAT ROD AL said:
Exactly
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That's how it is here. I've noticed in areas there's always "one guy" whose the genius. For our area, he died several years ago. He was a good friend, too. I worked with him at the local Chevy dealer late 80s - early 90s and it didn't matter what make it was, he could figure it out. Everyone in town called and sent him their problem children. Sadly, his demons were greater than he could control. Just a great guy. But he couldn't get a handle on it. I don't think I ever saw something he didn't figure out. He was that good.
 
Been pretty lucky with my 03 Ram . 190k and few problems so far . At least none that leave me stranded. Did have drive by wire issue in 2005 . Little niggly things but hasnt left me stranded. Neither have my 68 or 69 though ….
 
Semi conductors are the kiss of death. Fairchild and Bell Laboratories cursed us all. Only Niki Tesla understood the true path.
 
RustyRatRod said:
I knew when they first conjoined computers with cars it was a mistake. I still think so.
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We would have never seen a 9 second Dodge Challenger Demon without computer controls.
I would have never reached 405,000 miles on the original engine in any old Dodge truck without EFI, but this one still runs like new:

IMG_3158.JPG



Plymouth 65 said:
As much as I like the Challenger Hellcat, Scat Pack, and RT there's no way in hell I'd buy one. With all the computer controls what kind of support will be available from Dodge in the future? 65 feet.
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While I'm not fond of the nanny state junk nor the mysterious functions of the electronics, the stuff I've owned had been reliable.
I don't know what 65 feet has to do with anything though.
 
94 still isn't bad for computers in cars, that is still the EEC-4 and it's a very primitive computer compared to what they use now.

In 94 the speedometer might be less dependant on a computer than you might think. It's usually a little gear that goes on the end of a speed sensor. It's mostly mechanical.

I just went through this with a 91 ford pickup and it was the gear was warped from heat.

Could be a 15 dollar fix for you like it was for me.

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Kern Dog said:
We would have never seen a 9 second Dodge Challenger Demon without computer controls.
I would have never reached 405,000 miles on the original engine in any old Dodge truck without EFI, but this one still runs like new:

View attachment 1716293267




While I'm not fond of the nanny state junk nor the mysterious functions of the electronics, the stuff I've owned had been reliable.
I don't know what 65 feet has to do with anything though.
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I'm not arguing their good points. That doesn't mean I have to like it.
 
If manufacturers wanted to produce inexpensive cars that the people would buy they could get rid of all the electronic crap.
 
Murray said:
If manufacturers wanted to produce inexpensive cars that the people would buy they could get rid of all the electronic crap.
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But they cannot, because the government thinks it knows best how to make automobiles.
 
Princess Valiant said:
94 still isn't bad for computers in cars, that is still the EEC-4 and it's a very primitive computer compared to what they use now.

In 94 the speedometer might be less dependant on a computer than you might think. It's usually a little gear that goes on the end of a speed sensor. It's mostly mechanical.

I just went through this with a 91 ford pickup and it was the gear was warped from heat.

Could be a 15 dollar fix for you like it was for me.
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my just did a odometer gear and CEL replacement in a 94/5 explorer. i watched from afar as he wove a rich tapestry of profanity and the number of small tools piled up on the floor, table, bench, and then across the shop...

hours of work for an $8 part but it wasn't hindered by computer!
 
The very reason I took the old TBI Engine Management computer out of the loop on the '89 truck.

Went with a 4 bbl and mopar HEI ignition conversion. Ditched the "In the Tank" fuel pump. Has simple 904 automatic trans non-lockup.

Did an earlier '85 Ford Alternator 1 wire conversion to eliminate the onboard computer controlled voltage regulator, now the regulator is part of the alternator.

Even has manual crank up/down windows. They glide nice after lubing them up.

Eliminated (bypass) the rear only ABS brake system and supporting computer.

The factory PS/PB is nice to have that works simple and well.

The whole idea is to have a truck I can simply fix myself if need be, without going into a panic attack about cost and how it's going to get fixed if anyone even knows how.

The '76 D100 I previously owned was the perfect non-computer, non-bs truck to own, but can't find anything worth while in those years anymore > all used up.

So stumbled across this clean '89. Have it set up now the way I want it.

Heading into the future without worry.

20240823_022828.jpg


The price of new/used vehicles today, I am happy with this. Build it the way you want it.


☆☆☆☆☆
 
Kern Dog said:
I would have never reached 405,000 miles on the original engine in any old Dodge truck without EFI, but this one still runs like new:

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Kern Dog's correct, the right amount of computer help is actually a good thing. Ignition/timing and fuel mixture controls. That's about it.
The rest of it is mostly unnecessary and more stuff to go wrong. Linking it all together is a disaster too, they should operate independently.
It's like in my job, I do large scale cost calculations all day and would be lost without a calculator and Excel spreadsheets. The rest of the computer you can have though.
When I bought my daily driver a few years back I got a car with the least tech as possible, manual gearbox, hydraulic power steering, no lane assist, no auto braking etc.
 
Thanks.
I'm no fan of the nanny state crap like automatic braking, self drive/parking or the thing that steers you back into your lane if you drift out.
Once you rely on training wheels, you start to lose your own sense of balance. Those that rely on blind spot monitoring may not develop the ability to seek out obstructions.
For example: How many of us still remember phone numbers? We did as kids though....We had a mental roll-o-dex of numbers in our heads but now with cell phones storing the numbers, we rarely remember them.
We should. Using your brain maintains critical thinking skills like you can't spend more than you have and when you find yourself in a hole, STOP digging.
 
I bought an expensive upright washer dryer combo. 2 years in dryer was acting up. I finally called in a tech. to repair. He said it's 2 years old just buy a new one. Probably needs a computer. I now have top load only with simple dial. Everyone wants to over complicate things. Agrree great for timing and such but 95 % I could do without.
 
Kern Dog said:
We would have never seen a 9 second Dodge Challenger Demon without computer controls.
I would have never reached 405,000 miles on the original engine in any old Dodge truck without EFI, but this one still runs like new:

View attachment 1716293267




While I'm not fond of the nanny state junk nor the mysterious functions of the electronics, the stuff I've owned had been reliable.
I don't know what 65 feet has to do with anything though.
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I’ll take that high mileage pickup off your hands……
:thumbsup:
 
Get this. My wife is a prepper waiting on WW3. She is happy that I have a car and truck that has no computer that can be hacked. It is extreme at times. I tell her why worry if SHTF we will all be goners. I'm too old to have that worry.
 
Kern Dog said:
I'm no fan of the nanny state crap like automatic braking, self drive/parking or the thing that steers you back into your lane if you drift out.
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I think those features are less of a "nanny state" thing than it is some engineer saying "hey look what I made" and it becoming part of production.

I worked on cars for a living until the 80s, when all this stuff started. I decided that if I was going to have to deal with electronics and computers, I might as well go all the way so I got a CS degree and stopped beating myself up for a living.
 
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