| Author | Message | ||
     Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov Grand Master Username: soviet Post Number: 643 Registered: 2-2013 |
Errk Jetsetters. Yesterday Saturday, in the stifling humidity with hordes of little black carnivorous FEMALE mosquitos I set about trying to locate the evil source of an annoying beeper announcing a rear door opening problem on a bus for the kiddies. This beeper is there to alert the driver that the totally uncontrollable school kiddies have tampered with the back door and may be about to exit the rear of the bus while it is travelling just for a dare. Queensland kiddies are good at that thing. The system operates on an earth grounding that can be set off either by the door lock switch or the little button behind a very cheap and nasty red door on the inside that covers the opening handle. Our driver had radioed this little problem in on Friday afternoon and I delighted in telling him to just check the door was shut and to proceed enjoying the insane screeching of this beeper as I knew this meant at 4.00pm my knock off time on Friday that I would not be able to return to my country lair for some serious drinking to relieve the stress of the work week. No weekend off for me. First I checked for a broken wire at the back of the vehicle which was a nightmare in itself as it seems the bus was built around this wire. I gave up seeing the monstrosity of having to remove countless items to get at the wire which travels from the rear of the bus to the beeper located somewhere in the dash. I then proceeded to attempt to locate the beeper under the dash. It was at a sound frequency that defies using your ears as a direction antenna. Finally, with a good portion of the dash disassembled I located the beeper INSIDE the instrument cluster that contains the speedo, odometer, tachometer, fuel gauge, temperature gauge and indicator left and right on lights. It was an amazing instrument cluster and I only knew the beeper was buried somewhere inside of it when I pulled one of the two wiring plugs at the back. Some of those wires look like they are one half a millimetre thick which shows our Asian friends are quaintly decreasing the amount of materials used while simultaneously increasing the prices. Oh what a feeling - its a Toyota Coaster 2015 model by the way, a vehicle very popular with bus companies and quite common in OZ. The instrument cluster is held together by three small screws and ELEVEN clips that require releasing together which means you need to be a bloody octopus or an insane mechanic that can control at least four screw drivers at once to get the bugger apart. Its weighs about as much as the paper planes you all used to make as teenage boys. Yes the beeper was inside and totally unmoveable. Its soldered into the printed circuit so the only way to stop it driving the driver nuts is to unplug the wiring plug which means no speedo, tacho, fuel gauge etc. And then I realised what the future holds for us. In this case if the indicator lights blow, you have to replace the instrument cluster. If the fuel gauge blows you have to replace the instrument cluster. If the amazing little beeper blows again you have to replace the instrument cluster. I don't know what the price of a new instrument cluster is but I priced one on a Daewoo bus the other day and our Korean friends only need $780 plus GST thank you very much and pass the solid gold chop sticks. No need to attempt to trace the printed circuit back to the wiring plug either because its not a magnifying glass job its a microscope job and it probably entails destroying the instrument cluster to get a good view of the printed circuit. I gave up. Its being sent to my long suffering electrical technician down the road who for mega bucks will solve the problem eventually and pin the bus company with a tidy invoice. But the positive point I am trying to make about the future is this. If Toyota decided to put all these instruments together with the indicator lights and the beeper, what is to stop them from developing AN ELECTRICAL MODULE that contains every relay and fuse and idiot light and gauge that the vehicle needs to run and get out of the sales room. Something that their robots in Japan or even China can build in under a minute and which they can then place in a position that the whole vehicle is then built around it. What is stopping them? I predict they already are looking at this on their drawing boards. It will probably be available as a part at a tidy price which will send the small operators into a frenzy and looking for the nearest rope and chair. Yes Jetsetters this marvellous Toyota has done less than 60,000 kilometres and ah it appears the digital odometer freaks out permanently if you unplug the instrument cluster. Guess I will be pricing the new one on Monday and attempting to sneak that invoice past the General Manager. Egad. Yes Jetsetters, give me a rusty old Shadow or a 1965 Buick Riviera any day. I only have to mentally prostitute myself for the next six years working on this Asian garbage and then the Mount Coolon Motor Museum will open with the Camargue the Cadillac the Jaguar and pile of other old cars that in a fairer world would still be getting manufactured today. The future is hideous but there will be no Asian cars in my museum and the Mad Scot will still not be allowed to bring his KIA past the front gate !!! | ||
| Christian S. Hansen Grand Master Username: enquiring_mind Post Number: 424 Registered: 4-2015 |
Vladimir... Your vision of the future gets worse! Consider when EVERYTHING is connected and therefore CONTROLLED by the INTERNET which is controlled by a bunch of money hungry customer serivce devoid billion dollar corporationss who don't really give a rat's ass about their customers and then the internet has a glitch, or gets hacked, etc. Talk about being out on a limb or skating on thin ice!! ...and worse, by then we are in an entirely digital economic system where there is no cash and the biblical "mark of the beaast" is imprinted on every "world citizen" and under the thumb of the "world central banking authority" and if you screw up, or even if you do not, your ability to transact business can be terminated by some hack somewhere in an anonymous control room with the push of a button...sort of like what happens to your website if you miss your payment, auto-deduct of course, for even one day. Egad!! It's coming!! | ||
| Patrick Ryan Grand Master Username: patrick_r Post Number: 706 Registered: 4-2016 |
Vlad. You're lucky your not in the Captains chair of a Mitsubishi/Fuso Rosa. Times tour awesome tail x10 and you might have the idea. | ||
| Omar M. Shams Grand Master Username: omar Post Number: 923 Registered: 4-2009 |
Gentlemen, I have put my finger on why I dont share your frustrations. Its simple - my work and my play are two different things. I play with my amazing cars and my work is as far removed from cars as you can get. I work in an oil company and go nowhere near cars. If I had to work with some of the crap cars on the market today I will be reaching for that chair and rope that Vlad referred to. I only play with lovely cars - Cadillacs, Bentleys, Rolls-Royces, jaguars, Buicks and so on. Best not to forget the Citroen too. I have started to use the Azure as a daily driver - and dear oh dear - what an amazing car this is. It is so practical and a complete joy to be in. Life is too short to be surrounded by crap cars - enjoy the good stuff guys. | ||
| Patrick Ryan Grand Master Username: patrick_r Post Number: 715 Registered: 4-2016 |
You are spot on Omar. If I was to drive one of Vlads crappy Coasters, or one of those even crappier Rosas without having worked so close with them , I would find them quirky, and fun as any older spec vehicle is we have the pleasure to try. Have we seen a pic of your Azure? | ||
| Robert Noel Reddington Grand Master Username: bob_uk Post Number: 1207 Registered: 5-2015 |
Omar, I agree about jobs I am pondering a job which has no engineering in it. Betting Shop!! I despair at modern cars, once an electronic gremlin gets in its never cheap to fix. Damp is bad news for electronics. | ||
| Omar M. Shams Grand Master Username: omar Post Number: 924 Registered: 4-2009 |
I have attached an image of the blue Azure. I am too embarrassed to put a photo of the black one on the forum yet - so please wait a few months until I get it up to a state where I can show you pictures of that car in all its glory. Bob -Love the betting shop idea. In fact when we originally chose Amsterdam as our reunion/first union location it was to ensure we were in a country where consumption of certain plant leaves is legal. Now that is an amazing job in my opinion....... fawna peddler... but legally.  | ||
| Robert Noel Reddington Grand Master Username: bob_uk Post Number: 1208 Registered: 5-2015 |
Cor | ||
| David Gore Moderator Username: david_gore Post Number: 2331 Registered: 4-2003 |
Omar, Magnificent - words fail me. My choice of colour and interior exactly. Better hide it when I come to the UAE as it might find itself on a freighter back to the Land of Oz .   . | ||
| Patrick Ryan Grand Master Username: patrick_r Post Number: 728 Registered: 4-2016 |
Omar! Simply stunning mate, congrats on another beautiful car in your stable. Agree with David, the colours are awesome. | ||
| ross kowalski Prolific User Username: cdfpw Post Number: 196 Registered: 11-2015 |
Omar, Which Citron do you have? (drive?) | ||
| ross kowalski Prolific User Username: cdfpw Post Number: 197 Registered: 11-2015 |
Vlad, That reminds me of my Diesel golf. There's a wire going to the fuel shut off relay and another to the starter. You can barely make out the engine under them. Seriously, I was working on my mini the other day and while there are some crazy things going on there is nothing stupid. My friends cadillac just had a coolant leak from a fitting between the engine and the firewall. There is exactly zero inches of space to get a special tool (yes a heater hose is affixed with something other than a Jubliee clamp .@#????) in there and replace the oring. It gives me a headache. Lotus on the other hand is the only manufacturer that doesn't use enough parts. "Ok, we can have this plate retain the shocks, locate the brakes and lock in the parking brake cable and save 1 oz of weight,... do it". While I enjoy the purity of vision that gives us that car, it makes working on it a bit of a challenge. | ||
| Omar M. Shams Grand Master Username: omar Post Number: 925 Registered: 4-2009 |
Thanks guys. I love driving it. The Citroen is a US spec ID19 built in 1969. It has been in the garage part way through restoration for over 5 years now. I have driven the car for only half a Kilometer in that time. It is nice to have a rust-free Texas ID 19 - very few of these cars are rust-free. Well actually most of them are rust free, you buy the car and the rust comes with them for free. | ||
| Patrick Ryan Grand Master Username: patrick_r Post Number: 732 Registered: 4-2016 |
Your a funny guy Omar | ||
| Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov Grand Master Username: soviet Post Number: 647 Registered: 2-2013 |
Smashing car Omar but I prefer the black one. Please do the right thing and tire of the black one in a couple of years then sell it to me. Love the way the top folds down neatly - very super swank. Now for an update the Toyota Coaster instrument cluster was nicely priced at $803 and we have to get one from Japan. Talked to my car electrics technician and he asked me if I took the front cover off the cluster. Well I didn't - it fell off by itself. Told that these clusters are incredibly frail. Nice for only 30,000 kilometers and even better knowing its from a company who was instrumental in croaking the western car manufacturing industry. Things like this tell me that one day Shadows are going to rise in price to dizzy heights - including the basket cases riddled with patina. The future of classic cars is evil and I like it. | ||
| ross kowalski Prolific User Username: cdfpw Post Number: 203 Registered: 11-2015 |
Vlad, Here's s fun game you can play when you're not tracing wires. It's called "find the engine".  Try it on your falcon and compare the times. | ||
| Robert Noel Reddington Grand Master Username: bob_uk Post Number: 1211 Registered: 5-2015 |
Found the engine its bolted to the alternator. | ||
| ross kowalski Prolific User Username: cdfpw Post Number: 205 Registered: 11-2015 |
Robert, Great work, now you know what to remove to get at the thermostat. What in the name of all that is good would make anyone put a thermostat somewhere other than the upper radiator hose?" | ||
| ross kowalski Prolific User Username: cdfpw Post Number: 206 Registered: 11-2015 |
Vlad, With all the parts of cars being made from plastic, which will of course turn to brittle dust in 40 years now is the time to buy a bunch of essential plastic bits and put them into light free long term temperature controlled inert gas storage. Then when someone tries to restore an Astra or Twingo or whatever, they will have to pay you $$$ for the privilege of owning a OEM part. | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 2143 Registered: 6-2009 |
Ross asks, rhetorically, "What in the name of all that is good would make anyone put a thermostat somewhere other than the upper radiator hose?" Well, not that I don't think a convenient location is preferable, but other than Rolls-Royce (for the SY era, anyway), which recommends replacing the thermostat every 2 years, and for one odd Chrysler I owned that "ate" thermostats, this is a part that has a very long (often more than that of the rest of the car) service life. What I want to know is why spark plugs would ever be positioned such that the engine has to be dropped out in order to change them?!! Even though there are now spark plugs that have a virtually perpetual service life if all is working correctly, it doesn't take much "incorrect" working in a fuel system to foul them. I guess the fact that I've never replaced a thermostat on any car other than my RRs and Chrysler makes me far less concerned about the location of that particular item. They very seldom fail or need service. Brian, who also doubts that, with the rise of 3-D printing, there will be much of anything that is plastic that won't be able to be churned out pretty much "on demand" in the future. [I actually expect some very interesting developments in terms of the creation of "wax" positives for casting parts "made of unobtainium" in the future, with the ability to have the computer put the broken bit or missing areas right back in | ||
| ross kowalski Prolific User Username: cdfpw Post Number: 207 Registered: 11-2015 |
Brian, Check out the ford triton v8 for a good one on spark plugs. If that engine lasted 400k miles or got 300hp and 25mpg or something equally special I could see a weird plug that literally takes two days to change and probably breaks off anyway. But it is effectively no better than the competition. There are so many examples of good engineering out there that it is hard to deal with the nonsense stuff. | ||
| Robert Noel Reddington Grand Master Username: bob_uk Post Number: 1218 Registered: 5-2015 |
Computer Aided Design is responsible for a lot of engineering nonsense, I have AutoCAD qualification and its so easy to get carried anyway and design stuff, that is way to complex, then add in CNC machinery and we get silly stuff being made because they can. | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 2147 Registered: 6-2009 |
Bob wrote: "Computer Aided Design is responsible for a lot of engineering nonsense. . ." Correction: Engineers who just "go with" what the computer shows them, rather than seeing it as an *aid* to the design process, are responsible. Tools are just that, and their users *should* be their masters, not the other way around. Intellect distinguishes between the possible and the impossible; reason distinguishes between the sensible and the senseless. Even the possible can be senseless. ~ Max Born | ||
| Robert Noel Reddington Grand Master Username: bob_uk Post Number: 1219 Registered: 5-2015 |
agree with you Brian. CAD system are marvelous but nonsense in means nonsense out. Modern cars seem to be a riot of curves requiring press tools with lots of curves. Press tools like this are much easier to make with CAD/CAM but just because we can make Jukes it doesnt make the Juke better looking than say a Range Rover with its straight shape, |
