Now what's broke?

[ultrarunner]

Solar panel strapped to the roof?

 

[2manyrocks]

I thought about it. Even thought about one of those bike generators that rubs against a tire to power the lights on a bicycle.

But generally, I think that all the classic 1950s cars will still be running 50 years from now where today's new cars will be in the scrap yard because of the electronic systems.

 

[ponytug]

Given the high voltage, I'm not too keen on the idea of poking around in there myself, either. What's sad is the car is otherwise great and the gas side of it probably has another 60-80K of life, but the lack of a simple alternator system means having to keep the electric hybrid charging system functional, and the parts/labor repair cost for that system was too much, IMO, especially compared to what a normal alternator replacement would have cost.

Or, on the bright side, some kid will buy it at auction, fix the $19 part that is really the problem, and have a working car. I have a stack of stories that amount to dealers not being able to diagnose the underlying problem. I had a dealership tell me that I had a $6,000 issue that turned out to be a n hour on the internet, and an hour under the car. No parts. Or the dealer that wanted $3,200 a decade ago to change some wheel bearings on a front wheel drive car. $500 in factory bearings, and an hour of my time and we were back in business. The factory procedure must have included some complex procedure somewhere.

I did have the dealer to the vacuum based coolant replacement on a hybrid. (The batteries are liquid cooled with the coolant entry and exit at the bottom of the batteries, and a low flow coolant pump, so there is no way to displace the air without a significant vacuum. In fairness to the engineers who designed it, that means that the batteries have a wonderful shell covering 99% of the top of the battery, keeping the batteries sealed and dry.) That one had mega problems written all over it for DIY, as far as I was concerned. Of course, as luck would have it, the technician knocked a sensor loose that started growing errors when I got home. It was a $14 part and clearing the vehicles codes. That one I did.

One of our trucks also is supposed to have a vacuum coolant replacement due to how the hoses are run. I finagled it the first time, but the next go around, I might breakdown and get the vacuum pump and coolant reservoir. 100,000 mile coolant changes are one thing, 30k changes...

All the best,

Peter

 

[ultrarunner]

Reminds of the time Deere was quoting 8 to 12K on the 110 when it would only move in creeper mode.

TBN mentioned flywheel sensor and less than a $100 and one bolt and back in business.

 

[2manyrocks]

Daughter searched the reviews before going to the dealer and still picked the dealer with the worst reviews in her area because they had the quickest opening in their shop. She's in another state. I wouldn't have picked that dealer based on the number of bad reviews. I didn't get a good impression when she sent me a list of additional service procedures they were suggesting to her that had absolutely nothing to do with the problem in the hybrid charging system.

I also considered having the car towed to the other dealer in town to get a second opinion.

 

[ponytug]

I had an uncle that would never eat at a restaurant that was empty. He felt it meant that the food was bad. I wonder if the same applies to dealership service departments?

 

[garry1p]

I don't know about dealerships but I wont stop at a restaurant that doesn't have any cars in the parking lot.

 

[Tomtint]

I was just talking about this to my wife a a couple weeks ago… It seems like I always have to fix something to fix something to fix something that needs to be fixed. .. It never ends. We have a number of cars .. at one point a couple months ago 5 of them were in the shop for one thing or another.. I spent 2 days dropping off and picking up vehicles alone… actually just got a call from the Toyota dealer ..where my 2024 Tundra has spent the last month.. that it’s finally ready.. for now. Between home appliances, outdoor power equipment, vehicles, things on the house itself, other computerized equipment we use for work…. Something is always in some state of broken… it’s exhausting.

 

[Eagle1]

Yup fixed the overheating Dakota rusted out thermostat and gunk in the Rad. Cools fine now however now the alternator refuses to generate anything. Drove it back to the my shop and will deal with it after the rain. Some days I back up faster than fix things, going to reinstall the recoil on the splitter now..... Arrgggg