Posted on 03/26/2011 7:49:43 AM PDT by chickadee
Yesterday, I decided to take my relatively new car out for a spin. Due to a combination of ugly winter weather and health issues, I hadn't driven the car in a couple of months and wanted to give it a spin to keep its "juices" flowing.
I got in the car and tried to start it. Nothing. All the symbols lit up and went nuts, but no sound of cranking.
Fortunately, Ford gives new owners 5 years of Roadside Assistance. Ford's service responded quickly and professionally. The technician came prepared with a "box" to start the car in my garage. It wouldn't start. He had discovered a loose battery connection, which he tightened, but still "no go". He was familiar with the vehicle and tried one or two adjustments before deciding that the car was in lockout mode.
After consulting the manual, he determined that the car's computer was not recognizing the key. He presumed the loss of coding was due to the "dead" battery. He said the dealership would need to repower the battery and reinstall the codes before the car would start.
I contacted the dealership and they said to arrange with Roadside Assistance to have it brought to them and they would reinstall the codes.
Longish story short - it turned out that the battery was not dead - not even low. Ford has a program built into it that if a car is not started in 50 days, it goes into lockdown mode to conserve the battery. To protect the battery from itself and its constant computer analysis.
Once the dealership discovered that the battery was fine, they contacted Ford who explained the above to them (even the techs were unaware of the 50 day thing.) The cure was simple, disconnect the negative lead for 30 seconds, reconnect and all was well.
Meanwhile, two service calls to the house and the car had been loaded on a flatbed and towed across town.
Wow. Ain't technology great?
Yes I am a fan of Jeeves and Wooster, but I am not a fan of Gussie’s . . . sorry:)
“Is it still possible to buy a normal, non-computer car?”
Sure. My daily driver is 26 years old, and my “good” car is 25 years old. They have some rudimentary electronics, but they are repairable.
I’m sure you’re right and I plan to be more consistent about using the car or at least starting it.
Actually, a battery can last a very long time. It is all of the electronic junk that siphons the juice out of the battery over a period of time. The mechanical/combustion portion of the car can sit for a very long time without any issues — months, years.
Unfortunately, all of the electronic junk in cars these days greatly reduce their reliability.
Thanks. About a week ago we got a panic call from the wife of a couple we know. They had been on vacation for a couple of weeks and neither their Pious or Tundra would start. They wanted to know if I could make a rescue call with my portable battery charger, air pump/emergency light unit. AAA was at least an hour behind.
My wife suggested to disconnect the batteries and to wait a few minutes. They did that and called us back and let us know that both vehicles were running and they were off for the day.
The suggestion below by xp38 is probably a good one:
“I was under the impression it is not a good idea to let a car sit unused for much beyond a week or two. You need to at least turn the engine over. If you cannot do it yourself you need to find a friend or relative who can. I am not expert but perhaps someone here can elaborate why this is so.”
76 posted on Saturday, March 26, 2011 8:59:44 AM by xp38
Wow indeed! Thanks for the information, and your reasoned response to Reg’s mindless rant . . .
Makes OnStar’s intrusions seem mild by comparison . . .
i know. but his name is funny and gertrude butterwick
was too much to spell!
yes, though not as much of a newt fancier since
gingrich allowed himself to be compromised by
clintons! quite a fan of empress of blandings too.
That’s a very interesting bit of information. Thanks!
Right. Even cars from the mid 90s are repairable. About what year did cars get unrepairable?
I had a problem with my car and my mechanic goes to the
website that list problems that have occured before.
Sounds like they should list this problem on their website...
The dealership called Ford after they realized the battery was fully charged. Ford gave them the solution right away.
Well, technically, you wasn't drivin'. ;-)
“I’ll share another interesting event. My wife is extremely pleased with the Hyundai Sonata she bought in 2009. However, with around 50,000 miles on the car the automatic transmission began exhibiting a loud thud when downshifting as you approach a stop.
I elected to take it to the dealer for its next service interval and explain the occurrence to the service manager. I had no more finished saying, the transmission has a problem, when he asked, is the problem with down shifting. I said yes and he responded with âit needs a software updateâ. I was a bit startled to say the least but there was a service bulletin on the topic. He was quick to point out that it was not a recall. My wife picked up her car and drove away with the problem solved.”
My wife has a 2003 Lexus ES300. She basically drives it locally and seldom gets over 35 mph. Whenever I drove it out of town, it felt like it was having shifting problems getting into the hiway mode. This happened everytime I took it to the Lexus dealer, 40 miles away for regular service. The service guys/gals looked at me like I was crazy when I explained this to them. Of course on the drive back home this didn’t happen until later when I drove it out of town.
When I bought my Honda Ridgeline, the sales rep told me that this would happen to my Ridgeline as the computer worked on memory re past trips. Once I got it on the open road, that little shudder would disappear. It did and that was basically a replay with our Lexus.
Armed with this knowledge, on the next service trip for my wife’s Lexus, I had what the Honda guy down in writing.
I showed it to the service manager, and he laughed and showed me a recall and chip change letter he had received the day before. They replaced a chip somewhere, and that problem disappeared. So I wasn’t totally crazy, and apparently other drivers/owners had a similiar problem.
Later I had to have the radio antenna replaced on my Ridgeline, the only real problem it has had. Since then I have had no problems with it re the first highway auto shifting.
I have wondered if there was something they did or did the short in the radio antennae cause the problem? Or when they disconnected the battery to replace the antennae did they control/alt/delete it?
Not a new one. Buy something pre-1980 and fix it up. In most states, you don't even have to have emission checks on them. I know, I'm rebuilding a '78 F-250 4x4.
The primary reason is emissions. It just isn't possible to meet Federal emission standards without electronic fuel injection. Spark timing and fuel mixture must constantly be changed according to dozens of different conditions to meet these standards.
The manuals are really easy to read. The important stuff is really only a few pages of actual reading. The rest is all the legalese and safety crap that most normal functioning human beings can figure out without a manual. Take a look at one. Easily half to three-quarters of it is likely legal jargon and safety. With the rest being the very basic stuff you need.
While riding in my friend’s Fiero in a snowstorm, the windshield wipers stopped working in the middle of the interstate. Turns out it was a “safety precaution” to prevent the wiper motor from burning out.
Turns out it was a safety precaution to prevent the wiper motor from burning out.
Hmm. Makes one wonder what those geek product meetings are like. Unsupervised geeks are a dangerous breed.
One thing people forget to do is to run their vehicle's air conditioning every month at least for a few minutes, even in the winter. The system lasts longer.
Another tip. Have you checked your pollen filter (also called cabin air filter ) ? You may not even know you have one. My neighbor mentioned it after he bought new two Hondas as I bought a used 2006 just before him. The owners manual briefly mentions that filter. You don't need to take your car to the dealer to have it changed. If you can change your engine’s air filter you can probably do this one. Our two Toyotas ( 91 and 96 ) didn't have them but her 2003 does. Most pollen filters are in the same place, behind the glove box. I just tap it out and vacuum it if it looks fair rather than replace it with a new one. After finding out about and taking care of the filter, many report their car's air system running like new. Search online for your vehicle specifications to see if it has one. Some even video the how to of this task and post it on You Tube.
But we can:
Cheers!
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