blitz

Hey jcole01108, Glad the work turned out alright. Did you happen ask anyone what's up regarding #2 & #4 slapping, but not #1 & #3?

You repair it by cutting out the damaged section of wire, and replacing it with a new undamaged section cut to the same length. You'll need to solder it to do it properly, then insulate the exposed newly-repaired section with tape and/or heat-shrink tubing where the conductor is bare. You say that pretty much the whole cable's been chewed. What I don't undersand is how replacing the sensor will remedy the damaged section of cable that is not part of the sensor assembly itself. Not sure why the dealer suggested that, unless he wasn't aware of the extent of damage?

Would it be much cheaper and easier to just cut and splice the damaged section of the cable? It's a shielded-type cable (like a guitar cable), but still repairable. Which side of the connector has the chew?

PAezb, I must caution you not to frighten the sheep. I introduced this concept to the USMB elite about a month ago along with the radical concept that "throttle-by-wire" is the first step towards a means for allowing remote throttle control of any given vehicle by an outside source and was given the following gems: 1. It's technologically impossible. 2. Mmm.. well even if it is possible, don't worry. The ACLU loves you and will protect you. 3. Take government-sanctioned drugs.

Tiny, Shadow explains it best. The front coil is firing the front two plugs (left side & right side) simultaneously in a SERIES circuit, which would make the polarity of left plug opposite that of the right plug. This means that the coil must develop enough voltage to ionize two .040 gaps in series (essentially .080 worth of gap) as well as overcome the resistance of both plugs (and wires) in series all at the same time. But why series? Balance. If the pair of plugs were connected in parallel off of the coil secondary, one plug would always ionize and spark first, depriving the other of spark. In series, both plugs receive equally the full current developed by the coil after inonization is achieved. Electrons move from negative to positive (from cathode to anode) and will transfer a small amount of metal in the same direction (from the cathode to the anode), so on one side of the engine, the metal is being transferred OFF OF the center electrode (cathode) and on the other side it's being transferred ONTO the center electrode (anode). Not sure if I made things more confusing. :-\

Did we read the same article? Here's my summation: The authors spark-plug "quest" began as a result of a misfire in a new Neon (Champions). His findings were that the added resistance in many resistor type plugs (including the factory-installed plugs in his Neon) is deemed too high for good ignition and tended to cause misfires under certain conditions. He then measured the resistance of all the popular plugs and found NGK to be the lowest. Agreeably, there are other things that can affect spark plug performance like electrode dimensions, electrode material, and manufacturing defects as a result of crappy QC, but the article doesn't dwell on those issues.

I'm almost certain there are two internal odometers, one that's accessible with the select monitor, then another "hidden" one, but I've never used the select monitor tool, so I couldn't tell you how to access it.

Frag, I don't think more than half of 1% of Americans know that GM has included the 5-sec. continous loop in the cars they've been selling since 1999, they've pretty much kept quiet about it. It's not one of those features they use to try to sell cars with. Also there's a whole 'nother plethora of data that the dealer can read out of the ECU upon return of a lease car. I'm not sure of the specifics on that tho. Basically it's stuff like a record of overheat events, # of times bounced off the rev limiter, backup odometers, etc. It's essentially a document of "severe" useage. Car rental Agencies like Avis, Hertz, etc, have a GPS going with real-time data-logging. They know if your beating on the car.

FOLLOWUP Marathon /Ashland Petroleum, accepts the blame: http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2004/05/20ky/A1-gas0520-7307.html

Bizzarre article about some sorta problem with the gasoline in the Louisville area causing a lot of fuel sending units to stick. Odd that it's the only area affected. http://courier-journal.com/localnews/2004/05/18ky/A1-gas0518-6393.html Anybody on this board from that area suffer this problem?

Wow! So what sorta drugs you think would help me? Seems like you got some experience.

I'm thinking you might want to start it up on one of those humid mornings early (before the sum comes up) and have a look under the hood to check for visible arcing or coronas on any of the ignition secondary components including the coil pack. Sometimes you can hear the snapping noise of an arcing problem. The flashing CEL means that the ECU is logging a code that is read-able for information as to where to begin searching for the problem.

Good photos Kostamojen. Looking closely I see they've gone back to a MAF-based system (CA only I wonder?).

As you can tell, I'm not keen on it myself. Here's a collection of .pdf's showing how intense the interest in automotive data-logging/ monitoring is and how vigorously the technology is being persued: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/edr-site/dataformat.html I make that leap of logic to safely predict that it's only a matter of time before our vehicles will be transmitting real-time driving performance data via satellite uplink. Exactly how this data gets used is obviously the concern. I did a little net snooping this morning to dig into the current state of the art, and found a fairly conscise article: http://www.siliconchip.com.au/cms/A_30802/printArticle.html Here's a cut & paste of the essential points in the article: Convicted by your car? - it's more than just a possibility, with one such case having already occurred in the US. There, a driver involved in a double fatality claimed he had been travelling at about 100km/h. However, the electronic record logged by his vehicle's airbag showed that his speed just five seconds before impact was, in fact, 184km/h! So what data is logged and why is it recorded? Do all airbag-equipped cars have this facility? How can you read it? And who owns the information? The implications - not only for drivers but also for insurance companies, the police, car rental companies and fleet owners - are profound. But if the thought of your car logging your driving behaviour horrifies you, here's a let-off - at least for the time being. At this stage, General Motors in the US appears to be the only car company that's wholeheartedly embracing the technology. In fact, GM is publicly releasing details on their systems and also working with a third party provider to make available a dedicated data reader for general purchase. The potential benefits of Event Data Logging (EDL) has also resulted in strong US Government support for adopting universal standards for such systems. In other words, due to the influence of US legislation on car makers, it's probably only a matter of time before all cars have Event Data Logging recorded in a standard format that can be easily read. Two different systems are used by GM; one stores data on the near deployment event which had the greatest change in road speed, while the other stores the most recent near deployment event. In both cases, the following data is recorded: Driver's Seat Belt: this is recorded as buckled or unbuckled. However, this may be recorded incorrectly if power to the unit is lost during the crash. SIR Warning Lamp: the on/off status of the Supplemental Inflatable Restraint warning lamp is recorded. Change in Forward Velocity: this is determined by integrating the average of four 312ms acceleration samples and is recorded in RAM every 10ms. Depending on the module, either 300ms or 150ms of this data is available. Time To Deployment: the time in milliseconds between the start of the event (ie, enabling of the algorithm which requires two consecutive acceleration samples of over 2g) and the command for the airbag deployment. Time Between Events - the time in seconds between a deployment event and a near deployment event, if that time is less than five seconds. Vehicle Speed: the pre-crash speed, recorded every second for five seconds prior to any event. This information is derived from the vehicle speed sensor. Engine RPM: engine speed, as derived from the engine management system. As with vehicle speed, it is recorded every second for five seconds prior to any event. Throttle Opening: the percentage that the throttle is open, where 100% is wide open. This information is sent by the engine management system along with engine and vehicle speeds and is again recorded every second for 5s prior to any event. Brake Status: brakes on/off, as derived from the ABS or engine management unit every second for 5s prior to any event. Braking intensity is not recorded. Data Validity: a check that none of the four pre-crash parameters (vehicle speed, engine rpm, throttle opening or brake status) is out of range or has logged faults. Potential Benefits of Event Data Recorders (1). Real Time Assistance: the use of EDR data in conjunction with Automatic Collision Notification systems would aid in quickly locating crashes and despatching emergency personnel with better crash information in advance. (2). Law Enforcement: obtaining impartial EDR data from a collision would help in more accurately determining the facts surrounding the incident. (3). Government Initiatives: the collection of EDR data would enable governments to introduce effective initiatives to help reduce fatalities, injuries and property loss. (4). Vehicle Design: EDRs allow manufacturers to collect accurate data to monitor system performance and improve vehicle design. (5). Highway Design: the use of EDR data can assist in assessing highway roadside safety and managing road systems. (6). Insurance/Legal: Additional objective data provided by EDRs advance quicker and fairer resolution of insurance and liability issues (7). Research: EDR data could provide objective data for researching driver behaviour and performance, as well as other research related topics. (8) Owners/Drivers: EDRs can help fleet owners and drivers monitor vehicle and driver performance, to ensure the safe and efficient movement of people and cargo.

So the "tinfoil hat" response is so old it's new again? You've boxed me into a corner Martinjmpr.

brat, Bingo ...that's the one.

I got suckered into buying an e-ram a couple years back. That piece of crap actually made my car a little slower. There is somebody that is making an honest electric supercharger kit. IIRC, it's a small roots-type blower that provides 3psi (?) for 20 seconds or so via a rather substantial gel-cell battery pack. After draining the battery pack there is a penalty of a couple HP for the 10-15 minutes while attaining a full recharge. I'd imagine that this shortens alternator life a bit too.

777, first the high-end cars get the high-tech ECU-controls plus the satellite linkup, then the lower and mid-priced cars get it. The capabilities are limited only by the imagination. Here's some scenarios: Via real-time satellite linkup and unique individual ID#, every vehicle location, speed, and heading will be known. The number of vehicle occupants will be known via seat sensors, as will the seatbelt-use status of each occupant. Anti-lock brake activation will be logged with a date, time, and location stamp. Cornering G-forces will be continously monitored with a capability for flagging any driving behaviour which results in a lateral G greater than that perscribed by "law" (not unlike a speed limit). A lot of this stuff will be of interest to insurance companies. Then there's the original issue I brought up which involves essentially "forfeiture" law. As it is now, we have those creepy, cocky, well-funded towing services that operate as the long arm of the law. In a nutshell: cross a certain threshold and your car gets impounded or booted. It's a hell of an effective way to twist a person's arm into complicity with any B.S. jurisdictional whim whether constitutional or not. Once the capability for "electronic impounding" finds it's way into vehicles it's gonna be open season on the indentured servants (you and I).

777, your not bursting any bubble. The throttle is physically moved by a servo, but is ultimately controlled by the ECU which in turn will be connected to onstar. The technology does indeed exsist and will be phased in. FWIW, the ACLU is as useless as the NRA. Both agencies serve the purpose of placating the masses with false assurances. There's no agency that's going to stand up for a right you yourself aren't willing to stand up for, witness the "patriot" act. To date over 100 localities have taken it upon themselves to enact legislation overriding the Federal trampling of our Constitution, no help at all from the ACLU. 777, please don't waste any effort on my part, I'm not phased by naysayers. Frankly, I AM VERY worried about it. You're not... that's OK. Copy my post and pull it out in ten years.

legacy 2.5, modern vehicles do in fact require a plug of the correct heat range just as vehicles 30 years ago did, the difference is the addition of the "copper core" to spark plug technology who's contribution yields a broader effective heat-range by way of copper's thermal (sinking & releasing) properties. Essentially copper-core plugs are less prone to overheating on mountain grades and less prone to fouling around town. I agree with your comment about the Champions, in fact it's almost universal that NGK's trump Champions, but why? I've finally dug-up some technical info that supports and explains what it is that everyone has been subjectively feeling: http://www.lubedev.com/articles/flameout.htm

Oh yeah, armed carjackers are gonna have a ball with this new technology. Of course, being an honest law-abiding citizen/slave, you will be dis-allowed ownership of a sidearm for your own personal defense.

Step 1. High-end cars are factory equipped with throttle-by-wire, implying high-tech gagetry status. Step 2. Since high-dollar / high-speed cars are frequently stolen and used in fatal high speed chases, a system is introduced which allows law enforcement to remotely reduce maximum throttle opening to 10-20% of maximum, thereby slowing the fleeing vehicle to a safe speed and allowing other law enforcement persuit vehicles to completely encircle the perpetrator, at which point the throttle is completely de-activated and perp is apprehended safely. Public loves the new technology. Step 3. Throttle-by-wire phased-in on remaining mid and low priced cars. Step 4. A. Suspected in any crime? Throttle doesn't work. B. Missed a smog-chek? Throttle doesn't work. C. Owe a parking ticket? Throttle doesn't work. D. Owe back taxes? Throttle doesn't work. E. Caught visiting "subversive" websites? Throttle doesn't work. Copy and save my post. Pull it out in ten years. FWIW I take no pleasure in being the bearer of bad news.

Good catch, there is no advantage. It allows other people to control your throttle (e.g. police state, quite literally). Time to wake up out of the big, sleepy apathy, folks and realize you and I are becoming slaves.

I had the same experience as Strakes. Very wet rear diff which was cured by another quarter turn in on the drain plug.

I'm not sure I understand the question. Specifically which connectors are you referring to?