[ale] Time for this Grey Beard to stir up some stuff

[Scott Plante]

Jim wrote: "My biggest concern with computers in cars is if I will EVER get
license to fix/replace/upgrade as I choose."

Same with computers *not* in cars, to bring it back closer to ALE for a
minute. I started watching some videos by Louis Rossman after searching for
some Macbook hardware info some years ago. He does amazing things with
computer repair, including re-soldering a chip or capacitor and fixing it
for cheap when the Apple store or Apple authorized repair shops basically
want to replace the whole internals for half the cost of a new computer (or
sometimes more). Apple and a lot of computer manufacturers have been going
out of their way to make this insanely difficult lately. If I recall, in
one instance there was a very generic chip that they got the manufacturer
to make with a couple of pins switched and sell only to them to prevent
independents from accessing them. Tractor manufacturers, car manufacturers,
and lots of other products have been jumping on the bandwagon. "Right to
Repair" is a movement to pass laws to limit these practices. The Biden
administration made a statement supportive of Right to Repair and there has
been some movement at the state level. He actually got a video reply
directly from Steve Wozniak supporting his work on the issue, and how being
able to work on devices was so instrumental to his own knowledge growth as
a kid.

His channel is a mix of direct hardware repair instruction, Right to Repair
reform stuff, and some local NYC politics directly related to how they
treat small local businesses like his and commercial real estate
landlord/tenant stuff. Politics come up w.r.t. these issues but he's not a
left or right guy in general, just a guy honestly enthusiastic about being
able to help people repair their computers and frustrated at things that
keep him from doing so.

https://www.youtube.com/user/rossmanngroup/featured

Strangely, when I went to look for the URL, I discovered I'd been
"magically" unsubscribed from his channel somehow. I'm sure it was just a
simple bug or maybe a mis-click ;-)

On Fri, Jul 23, 2021 at 9:07 PM Jim Kinney via Ale <ale at ale.org> wrote:

> My biggest concern with computers in cars is if I will EVER get license to
> fix/replace/upgrade as I choose. Having secrets that must be handled by a
> specially trained flunky (plug in the box, turn on ignition, type in the
> code that proves the owner will pay $X00) is beyond irritating. A
> replacement key was $180, $80 for the key and $100 for programming the
> computer to accept it. The valet key, with no chip, locks the car to under
> 35mph (ok. That's nice.)
>
> I had an '81 Porche 924 Turbo that had a computer. And a vacuum leak at
> the fitting into the sensor on the computer. They are everywhere. And they
> all need to be 'open for business'.
>
> On July 23, 2021 7:21:50 PM EDT, Solomon Peachy via Ale <ale at ale.org>
> wrote:
>>
>> On Fri, Jul 23, 2021 at 04:45:16PM -0400, Steve Litt via Ale wrote:
>>
>>>  Most of the cars I drove were made before 1990, most had carburetors,
>>>  and at least three had no semiconductors of any kind. The considerable
>>>  probing diagnostics you said were required required were mostly
>>>  preventive maintenance:
>>>
>>>  * Replace the plugs if over 2 years old (gap the new ones)
>>>  	- Keep the old plugs for later diagnostics
>>>  * Replace the points if over 2 years old
>>>  * Replace the spark plug wires if over 2 years old
>>>
>>
>> Cars made in the last decade or so routinely hit 100K before _any_
>> preventative maintainence (other than oil/filter changes) is recommended.
>>
>> (Indeed, it's pretty easy to find 100K warranties today, but 40 years ago
>>  even 24K was unusual!)
>>
>> * Change your oil every 3000 miles
>>>
>>
>> Routinely 5-10K with modern cars, though that's more due to use of
>> high-grade synthetic oils. It's also routine to have no fixed interval,
>> instead having the vehicle tell the operator when the oil needs changing
>> (based on mileage, time, and/or severity of service)
>>
>> * Change your transmission fluid every 48K miles if automatic
>>>   transmission
>>>
>>
>> Routinely closer to 100K, though it does of course depend on how badly
>> one abuses it.
>>
>> * Look at your temperature gauge (not idiot light) every few minutes
>>> 	- Necessary on modern cars too
>>>
>>
>> It's good practice to sweep the instrument cluster every so often, but
>> realisticly, the temperature gauge isn't soemething you're going to
>> specifically monitor unless you already know the vehicle has issues or
>> you are giving it a serious thrashing.
>>
>> (And it's also pretty easy to miss, which is why vehicles have routinely
>>  had warning lights/chines for over-temperature situations.  At least as
>>  far back as the late 60s)
>>
>> The preceding were usually between dead bang easy and pretty easy on
>>> those simple cars. And the plugs and points were cheap as hell, the
>>> wires were about 2-3 hours pay for a programmer. The preceding being
>>> finished:
>>>
>>
>> You enumerate all of these things as if they are things that everyone
>> should be expected to know as a matter of course, and have handy all of
>> the tools needed to undertake these tasks.  Whereas, in reality, the
>> overwhelming majority of folks, even when those cars were new-ish, did
>> not have the knowledge/expertise or tools to handle this stuff
>> themselves.  They'd take their car to a mechanic or work something out
>> with someone they know who "knows how to fix cars,"
>>
>> As far as modern "excruciatingly detailed diagnostics", look up all the
>>> root causes possible for an PO420 OBD2 message. Careful you don't
>>> replace a fabulously expensive catalytic converter bank when the root
>>> cause is an upsteam O2 sensor, a downstream o2 sensor, an exhaust leak,
>>> an intake leak, a faulty ECU computer, or faulty wiring.
>>>
>>
>> In other words, at worst one has to follow the same diagnostic process
>> as was necessary with any pre-OBD car that failed emissions tests or was
>> exhibiting some sort of driveline problems -- which for most folks is
>> "take it to someone who knows how to fix cars" ....and hope they're
>> honest.
>>
>>  - Solomon
>>
>>
> --
> Computers amplify human error
> Super computers are really cool
> _______________________________________________
> Ale mailing list
> Ale at ale.org
> https://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://mail.ale.org/pipermail/ale/attachments/20210726/c33fe34b/attachment.htm>