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Wansworth

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My father could rebuild his morris travellers engine blindfold...I seem to have not been blessed.First its a worry if it will start then a worry it will stop and if it did I would have no idea why.The odd thing is this thought process does not afflicked me when I get in the car?
 
mogy said:
My father could rebuild his morris travellers engine blindfold...I seem to have not been blessed.First its a worry if it will start then a worry it will stop and if it did I would have no idea why.The odd thing is this thought process does not afflicked me when I get in the car?
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Perhaps he had had a lot of practice because of inherent unreliability - unlike a modern boat engine.
 
mogy said:
My father could rebuild his morris travellers engine blindfold...I seem to have not been blessed.First its a worry if it will start then a worry it will stop and if it did I would have no idea why.The odd thing is this thought process does not afflicked me when I get in the car?
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My late father opened up his first Golf GTI bonet and slammed the lid down, with the comment I am a mechanical engineer not an electronics engineer.
 
Camelia said:
My late father opened up his first Golf GTI bonet and slammed the lid down, with the comment I am a mechanical engineer not an electronics engineer.
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Just did a driving test on Friday to get a license to drive early prototype cars......

First up EPS and IAS which is variable electric power steering and integrated automatic steering which also steers the back wheels. Had to know all the failure modes and was tested on identifying what had failed and how to bring the car safely under control.

Next up was dynamic stability control which brakes individual wheels to prevent the car spinning around its vertical axis among other things, fallback mode where anti-lock brakes and electronic brake balance still works. Total failure results in the car being unsafe to drive.

Then it was on to engine and transmission control.

All the theory was then tested in a BMW 650i where the instructor knocked out various systems at the most inopportune moments. Quite hair-raising, but passed.

Computers are running everything these days.
 
mogy said:
My father could rebuild his morris travellers engine blindfold...I seem to have not been blessed.First its a worry if it will start then a worry it will stop and if it did I would have no idea why.The odd thing is this thought process does not afflicked me when I get in the car?
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We had to be able to do that in those days. A full toolkit was essential. I thought nothing of changing a head gasket roadside early on, and the ability and toolkit to do so was part of being properly prepared. Modern engines are much more reliable - but if the head gasket does go, its definitely a workshop job nowadays needing special tools etc etc.

As to worrying about the boat engine - well you use the car most days so you are used to it. You just need to use the boat more too!
 
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Great until your electric variable power steering sensor decides not to work and you are left with a steering rack designed to operate in tandem-and I thought old Landis were hard work.Never mind electric boot doors that open when you start the engine and horns that need a new management computer to make them work(on that occasion I negotiated for the MOT a hard wired new button next to the ignition switch)Then there was the fishing boatman from Lewis who had to go to Aberdeen on the bus to get a new management unit-£5000 I recall for the boats engine!
and even better when a site like this doesnt attach the quote I was replying to!
 
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Blew the head gasket on a Mini coming up through France in '72. Found a place in La Rochelle that had a suitable 1275 one. Since I was on for a booked ferry, I changed it in 45mins. The guys offered me a job on the spot. Sorry, I said, need to get to UK. Went to wash up in the back of their place, full of clients cars. Several Ferraris and Massers, while the work place was fixing Citroens and rough Pugs
 
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