Bob, Bob, Bob...
Well, I have lost a little faith in Bob. You remember Bob, the mechanic with the guzbucking big sledge hammer from a few days ago, right? Yes, that Bob.
By the way, it wasn’t that big of a sledge hammer only the 3 pound size, but evidently even cars don’t liked to beaten with a hammer so when Bob whacked the starter on the oldest boy’s old IROC Z last week, the Z promptly started in response to being given a solid hit. I guess cars have feelings too.
I jokingly said...
That lead Bob to believe it was the starter that needed replaced. I jokingly said I needed to check with Bob on what size hammer the boy needed when he asked me to make sure he got the correct part to fix his Camaro. Well, as I previously stated, I didn’t think it was the starter and after going to the trouble and expense over the weekend and replacing the starter on Saturday it started a grand total a five times before it wouldn’t start again.
I got it correct...
So it turns out that I was correct and Bob was wrong this time. Bob isn’t wrong very often that I know of but this has caused me to lose just a little faith in what he has to say when it comes to diagnosing car problems.
Not the starter...
So at this point I can’t say for sure what is causing the issue but I can damn sure say it is not the starter as we were inclined to believe. However it does bring up a topic for discussion and that would be auto mechanics.
Geeks or nerds...
The automobile industry has really gotten itself to a place now where in order to diagnose problems the mechanics damn near need to be geeks or nerds. There is so much computer driven equipment is in these cars now a days that it seems that you have to have a diagnostic computer and scanner to be able to even have a clue at what is going on with the engine or transmission and the air conditioning systems.
Stingy bastards they are...
Not only do you need the diagnostic equipment but it also seems that the car manufacturers have gotten real stingy on just what information they are willing to share with independent mechanic shops or with third party manufacturers of test equipment when it comes to their vehicles they produce. They only want their factory authorized dealerships doing the maintenance and repair on the stuff they manufacture. Independent shops like Bob’s are disappearing at a pretty steady pace and it may just come down to the only choice you have is to try and repair the vehicle yourself or to have the dealership do it for you.
A bad idea...
One of the worst ideas that the folks in Detroit came up with in my opinion was electronic fuel injection. There wasn’t a damn thing wrong with mechanical carburetors from a performance standpoint. Those carburetors worked for decades and a person with some mechanical aptitude and some patience could take them apart and put them back together with a reasonable expectation that they would work again without problems. Most engines only had one carburetor but there could be as many as eight if it were some exotic racing engine.
Electronic fuel injection...
Electronic fuel injection varies in how they work, some engines have an injector for each cylinder and it is controlled by the computer that determines the amount of air that is being supplied to the engine at the time the cylinder needs to fire and then supplies just the right amount of fuel, sometimes measure in milliseconds that the injector is shooting fuel into the cylinder.
To much "rigga ma roll"...
The computer has to take into consideration the amount of time that both the intake and exhaust valves are open and closed, engine RPM speed and a whole host of other parameters including ambient air temperature and engine temperature so as to make sure that it is working at its optimum performance level. That’s just too much “rigga ma roll” as my Dad used to say.
Other fuel injection systems just have one injector and use what is called a throttle body, but all the same calculations pretty much have to take place and that also includes how much spark needs to be applied to each cylinder, which I forgot to mention on the single cylinder injection type.
EFI hasn't done anything...
The bottom line is, the EFI hasn’t done anything earth shattering in terms of performance or exhaust gas emissions reduction but has added a whole lot of expense and upkeep to maintaining the vehicles. That is just one of many things we could discuss but this isn’t 
Hate is a strong word...
I hate computer systems on cars, plain and simple, hate them with a passion. Computers are damn near throw away items now, and the use of them in cars is making it where cars are becoming throw away items as well.
Leasing in my future...
I can’t ever see me purchasing another new car, leasing will be the route I go in the future to keep the Mrs. happy. If I had it my way, it would be all 50’s or early 60’s models in the driveway but I can’t always have things my way.
Maybe a dream...
Alright enough venting for today, you have better things to do with your time and I need to get some sleep. Maybe I can call on the sleep world to give me the answer to IROC Z problem in a dream tonight.
