Quote:
Originally Posted by TimFreeh
The earliest electronic fuel controlled systems that I'm aware of were the early D-jet analog systems - some of them date from the late 60's and I'm not aware of any significant number of failures and you can still find loads of parts from junkyards and FI control units are still available from MB.
BMW and Porsche started to use integrated fuel and ignition systems (MOTRONIC) in the early 80's - millions of these cars are still on the roads after nearly 30 years with no problems at all. I suspect the majority of the early E30's that are now entering junkyards are doing so with their factory installed MOTRONIC control units still in place and untouched since the day they were installed in Germany 3 decades ago.
I don't deny electronic engine controls can be difficult and expensive to fix but the fear of "black boxes" is a bit overblown IMHO.
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I see enough posts on these forums from people having to deal with ailing D-Jet systems, and many years ago my parents were afflicted with an unreliable D-Jet equippeed VW Squareback so perhaps I'm biased. It's one reason why my latest Mercedes purchase was a 240D.
Now my daily-driver, a '98 Nissan Altima has electronic fuel injection (recently treated to a $300 mass airflow sensor) twin airbags and an electronically-controlled automatic tranny. But I still prefer to keep my vintage vehicles simple.
And it's not just the electronic fuel-injection systems, but the proliferation of all the other 'black boxes' for airbags, antilock brakes, stability control, navigation systems, security systems, etc...
Cars that still have decent bodies and interiors will be junked because the cost to diagnose and repair these systems will exceed the cars value.
And finding someone competent enough to properly diagnose these electronic systems is already a problem. Ask my neighbor, whose relatively simple '96 Corolla took two tows to the shop, where the 'mechanic' finally got the car running after installing two distributors, one ECU and a crank angle sensor, to the tune of about $800!
Happy Motoring, Mark