On Sun, 20 Dec 2009 11:07:22 -0600, krw wrote:
Definitely downhill on serviceability, but thankfully they require a
lot less.

Yes, but they make up for it by often costing a small fortune when
something *does* go wrong...

Not so much now. It's not like the '80s with the GM "computer
controlled" carburetors. I had to replace all of the spark coils (two
at a time - they wouldn't replace them all the first time) on the '00
Sable. It was a couple of hundred each time, but that's not so bad.

Well, I suppose a lot of the cost these days is in the labor to fix it, so
if you can do stuff yourself you save a lot - but the parts on more modern
vehicles that do go wrong always seem to be more complicated and therefore
more expensive to me.

... plus I like keeping it simple; if something does go wrong when I'm
out in the middle of nowhere, there's more chance I can fix it by the
roadside in an older vehicle than a modern one. I like that safety and
convenience.

The more chance you'll have to. I *like* fuel injection and all of
that. The only repairs I've ever had to make to a fuel injection system
was a leaking distribution rail in my Vision and that was under a
(silent) recall.

I have issues with any computer-controlled stuff, though. If it was
accessible, they gave me full schematics and a copy of the firmware then I
wouldn't mind; I can fix it myself if it does break. But I really don't
like stuff that's "black boxed" like that and considered not to be field
servicable.

Agreed on the "mechanical" side of FI, though - definitely better than a
carb (although I've stripped and restored a few carbs now and they're not
too bad and *should* work for a long time before they next need to be
messed with).

My '78 Granada went through at least a carb a year.

How come? Was that a known bad design, or was something else causing the
failure (the fuel used, lack of fuel line filter etc.)? I suppose it does
matter how many miles you were putting on it, but I'd expect a good carb
to go for close on 100k miles before needing major surgery.

(I'm starting to feel sorry for all these woodworking folk putting up with
this thread :-)

cheers

Jules