Posted on 05/21/2025 4:42:50 PM PDT by where's_the_Outrage?
They don’t put in dipsticks and other things like that, because it cuts into the income of mechanics and the sellers of OBD readers.
I bet within 10 years, (despite the court cases against John Deere), it will be illegal for anyone that is not a certified factory technician to do repairs on any relatively new vehicle. And it will require a million dollar machine to analyze anything more arcane than a flat tire or worn out wiper blade.
There is a comment on aviation sensors and their breakdown. Reminded of a trip in the Caribbean, small island hopping airline, and it was a Dehavilland turboprop. Each stop at every little island strip on the route, when they fueled up- it was reassuring to see the service people walk out on the wings, flip up a smooth molded hinged cover and unscrew the filling cap, afterwards checking the level manually with a gauged wooden/metal stick (corresponding gals of fuel per level at the filling input. It was very reassuring vs. looking at the pilots!
In honor of this excellent Jalopnik article and discussion:
Natalie McMaster (of Cape Breton) and genius bassist Edgar Meyer—and a great piper, the song- “Appropriate Dipstick” the song is great to drive to, enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RoRJDWIzpE
we had a 2010 BMW 3 series with out a dip stick. it was on the infotainment screen. you had to look for it to find it.
Don’t worry about the seal. The rod bearings will fail first.. (but the price tag stays the same)
Another early term for the hand brake was emergency brake. That’s because the hand brake was completely independent of the main hydraulic brake system. With these electronic brakes, if the main system fails, you are screwed.
And these electric parking brakes are nothing new. My dad had it on his 1949 International truck. It was called a Mico Brake Lock. What this did was lock the Hydro-Vac’s extreme hydraulic pressure to all four wheels brakes and held it. It was used to park heavily loaded trucks on steep hills.
I have a 2008 F-250 that just turned 90,000 a few months back. The fuel-level sensor will make the check engine light come on if I get below half a tank, otherwise no problems since I bought the truck new in October of 2007. I use it pretty much only for hunting and hauling stuff, and put new synthetic oil in it every fall whether it needs it or not.
I wouldn’t want a new car or truck even if I could afford one.
It’s true now. I have never had to add oil between changes like I used to. Never.
If someone in changing the oil drains the oil out but forgets whether they added new oil back in how do they check?
A friend of mine couldn’t find his oil dipstick. So I looked in my car, and I couldn’t find it either. I also couldn’t find my transmission dipstick.
I’ve done that, and one time in an Econoline cargo van, I used the hood prop to pop the lock through the gap in the bulkhead. I had somehow left the keys in the cab after opening the rear section. I think they fell out of my pocket while I was in the cab answering a call on the radio or something. At the time I was working for a well-known delivery service. This was mid-80s.
Just one of many adventures I had on that job!
My dad’s 1940 Lincoln Continental didn’t have a dipstick either. I t had a steel rod with a pointer and a scale that told you what the oil level was. It was located at the rear left side of the engine. The rod was attached to a brass float that was located in a well in the oil pan moved up and down according to the oil level.
We just sold our 2007 manual transmission Yaris. Best car I ever owned. 150,000 trouble-free miles. Everything was manual. Nothing electronic. It was just time to replace it. 2018 RAV4. Nice vehicle, but a lot more complicated and a lot more points-of-failure with a computer display in the dashboard. Still has a manual parking brake though.
My 2024 GMC Sierra SLT is loaded with technology but it still has an oil dipstick.
I think you are senil. Not even the most expensive car from “ Yesterday” was as comfortable, or trouble free as todays cars. Trust me, I drove most of them. Todays cars are far better. I don’t miss the old ones at all.
A very good question - why don’t new cars have physical handbrakes any more.
And the conspiracy theorist in me will answer thusly - everything on the car is controlled and operated by the computers in the car. And computers have software/firmware. Cars also have comms - and with comms, the computers are vulnerable to hacking. Improbable? perhaps, but do-able. someone could hack in and control your car. And since nothing is mechanically controlled (even the brakes have ABS which can disable them regardless of how hard you press the pedal), your car can theoretically be controlled and the driver can do NOTHING to stop it.
There’s not even a way to kill the engine if you have a pushbutton start - no way to physically disconnect things.
As a matter of safety, the driver should have the means to positively stop, steer, and kill the engine if they deem it necessary.
Forum needs a like button.
My thoughts as well. Excessive use of unnecessary electronics.
Michael Hastings agrees.
I had a 1963 Nova SS that had blowby so bad when I bought it that would push up the dipstick and spray the underside of the hood with 30 weight oil. I put the dipstick in the trunk and tapped a dowel into the dipstick spout to stop the flow of oil and drove it for 50,000 miles.
Have an ABS light that has been on for the last 100,000 miles. Everything works so I ignore it. Same here, synthetic since new.
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