"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 22 Sep 2014 08:48:01 -0700, pyotr filipivich
wrote:
Nowadays, we have modules which are plug and play, do multiple
functions, and can't really be repaired. Not cost effectively,
compared to removing and replacing.
I don't know about the cost effectiveness. I've had this
conversation
with Tier 1 automotive supply-chain engineers -- me being in line
with
your thoughts, and the frustrations of not being able to fix many
things these days -- and they've pretty well convinced me that
making
things repairable at a flesh-and-bones level is not at all cost
effective with today's engineering.
I've substantially modified densely packed Segway control boards for
factory testing and then ridden the machine, with padding and a
helmet. There's no way I can match the reliability of the original
manufacturing process. Afterwards the engineer who designed it asked
me what changes would have made working on it easier, but I couldn't
give him any that wouldn't unacceptably increase the size of the
board. On surface mount prototypes I extend the pads out half a mm to
give a spot to heat them with an iron.
I did the layout for the 2nd generation Balance Sensor Assembly
circuit board ("gyroscope"), crammed with much effort into the same
footprint as the first one, and am very glad I didn't have to
hand-solder one.
I don't know. Sometimes I miss my old VWs and MG, which I could fix
while on the road. OTOH, I now own two 10-year-old cars that have
never needed a repair.
My suspicion is that they're doing it right. Nostalgia for fixing
and
adjusting my S.U. carburetors (carburettors, I guess) on my mother's
kitchen table isn't enough to overcome the fact that I had to do
*something* with my old cars almost every week.
--
Ed Huntress
I've tinkered with the Mass Air Flow and Oxygen sensors on my 1991
truck, and thoroughly scoped out the signals to and from the ignition
module. I found some help on line but most of the instructions and
operational parameter data came from my complete set of factory repair
manuals.
http://www.amazon.com/CRC-05110-Mass.../dp/B000J19XSA
Amazon just loads quickly over dialup. I bought it at NAPA.
-jsw