Got A Work Van On GovDeals Today!

[Robin97396]

The male chouvanist pig comment; Weren't those auto stop features designed for women?

I have vehicles that didn't come with seatbelts and when you lock up the brakes all four wheels are sliding. Vaccume operated wipers and all.

 

[Twigg-SKO]

The male chouvanist pig comment; Weren't those auto stop features designed for women?

No. They were designed for men who run out of talent more frequently, and at higher speeds

 

[cadillackid]

they were designed to protect people who are biusy texting and pull out in front of expensive fancy cars!! all I can say is my car shopping got easier each time my lease is up.. because if a car doesnt have it Im not buying it..

-Christopher

 

[Robin97396]

That brings about a good question. If you're traveling at high speed and there is an obstruction in the road, do the brakes lock up? I can understand auto breaking at low speeds when things are hectic. The rest of the time I don't want computers second guessing me, unless it's the autodrive feature.

I drive appropriately like an old man and don't need a whole lot of skill for that. That is as long as I stay off my big bike. It's easy to drive like an old man in a bus.

 

[Twigg-SKO]

That brings about a good question. If you're traveling at high speed and there is an obstruction in the road, do the brakes lock up? I can understand auto breaking at low speeds when things are hectic. The rest of the time I don't want computers second guessing me, unless it's the autodrive feature.

I drive appropriately like an old man and don't need a whole lot of skill for that. That is as long as I stay off my big bike. It's easy to drive like an old man in a bus.

The brakes wouldn't lock up. That system is combined with anti-lock brakes. They would allow you to steer while right on maximum braking effort.

I drive like an old man in the car too. I have the bike for slightly more rapid progress.

 

[Robin97396]

That always scares me a little when the anitlock brakes come on while I am driving and applying the brakes. It would scare the carp out of me if my vehicle suddenly started braking hard on its own.

 

[EastCoastCB]

Tomorrow I'll get into doing the water pump job on this van.
I did one on my 93 dakota and they have the SAME pump it appears.
Scraping off the old gasket is the hardest part of this job.

$102 for the pump, fan clutch, thermostat, rad cap, hoses, and felpro gaskets.
At least this dodge is cheap to fix!

 

[EastCoastCB]

I'm heading to the parts store to borrow a fan clutch tool.
Its hard to find info on how to do certain jobs on these vans. The part that has me confused is the fan shroud and the oil and trans fill tubes. They're all in the way and I am wondering how to get access.
This kind of stuff is what makes vans a bit more challenging.

 

[Brewerbob]

You can skip ABS day now.

View attachment 17597

Nice.

ABS may have improved to the point that it is > any driver, but that wasn't the case just a few years ago

Define "a few". I'd say at least 10 year, maybe 15.

automatically actuated braking ios incredible. as the computer's reaction time is better than 99% of humans..

Come on Chris. You're a technogeek. I bet even you can't name a computer that is slower than the fastest human. They aren't building cars with Tandies.

The male chouvanist pig comment; Weren't those auto stop features designed for women?

It was cheaper than highering a bunch of men with red lanterns to walk in front of them.

No. They were designed for men who run out of talent more frequently, and at higher speeds :grin:

The lack of skill out there is scary. Everyone should have to autocross in HS before getting a license and being turned loose on public roads.

they were designed to protect people who are busy texting and pull out in front of expensive fancy cars!!

The richer and fancier the car, the less talent there is behind the wheel.

That brings about a good question. If you're traveling at high speed and there is an obstruction in the road, do the brakes lock up?

That's a good question for the Google car.

They would allow you to steer while right on maximum braking effort.

So what does the Google car do there? Crest a hill, object in the road, hitting it is unavoidable; does it swerve? Interstate with multiple EMPTY lanes; does it go around?

 

[Brewerbob]

This kind of stuff is what makes vans a bit more challenging.

That is NOT a word I like while messing with automotive stuff.

 

[cadillackid]

well the brakes applied at 45 mph in my case... so I guess they operate at high speed.. when im on auto-cruise and a car cuts in and brake-checks, the system is fast enough to hit the brakes pretty solidly..


EC - depending on which side of the pulley your belt drives on, your fan clutch nut may be a left hand thread. I have a set of fan clutch wrenches if you cant borrow one from the parts store.
-Christopher

 

[Twigg-SKO]

Nice.


So what does the Google car do there? Crest a hill, object in the road, hitting it is unavoidable; does it swerve? Interstate with multiple EMPTY lanes; does it go around?

The Google car doesn't go faster than the stopping distance it can see.

A better question is what the car does if an obstruction suddenly appears. They haven't figured that out completely because there are ethical implications. It will, however, react faster than humans.

 

[cadillackid]

no, the car isnt perfect.. by any means... in my case its not fully autonamous so it expects me the driver to steer if I choose to take an escape route... the only steering it does is for the lane keeping assist...

if i just let go of the wheel on the freeway... the car will loosely keep itself in the lane.. not totally dependent on the edge lines but it works better when they are there.. if i dont take the wheel back then it starts beeping... "take steering" shows up on the screen.. if i still dont take the wheel it activates the extra loud beeping and flashing red lights of collision warning.., disengages the cruise but wont disable the go-pedal however it does call onstar emergency number.. and they have the ability to shut the car off.... I suppose if you lapse your onstar subscription that part doesnt happen... none of that is in the owners manual.. my guess is its "beta" type stuff that they put in.. some cars just eventually disable the auto-ster and you go careening into the ditch..

still the biggest thing is that the cars dont yet have the ability to truly learn intuition.. such as a certain area of the city I know is always traffic Hell at the top of the hill.. and which lane to be in for best safety, etc.. even when the teslas had the full auto driving enabled.. friends said they never got the correct lane for best traffic flow... or the cars had issues with navigating short on ramps.. things that as drivers we learn our cities, towns, and how traffic will act in various situations.. the self-driving cars have a long way to go in that respect.. they are still more reactionary

-Christopher

 

[EastCoastCB]

Started getting stuff together to get this water pump job done.
Apparently the thermostat is the hardest part to replace, but I may as well do it all while I've got it apart.

Still looking at that 98 Dodge, Chris?

 

[cadillackid]

Started getting stuff together to get this water pump job done.
Apparently the thermostat is the hardest part to replace, but I may as well do it all while I've got it apart.

Still looking at that 98 Dodge, Chris?

yeah its still sitting over there.. I was gonna walk over there this morning actually.. but it was pouring rain... now the winds are 35. and the temp is plunging.. was 57 an hour ago.. now 47.. on its way to 37 by evening... WTF didnt i install my webasto heater yesterday and day before when it was 62 out...

-Christopher

 

[Robin97396]

I'm not buying a new car until they fly.

I tried not to even buy a cell phone until they moved to all satellite, which should be in the works. Had to buy a cheap cell phone anyway.

Your car seems to have an alarm for sleeping drivers. We used to just open the window and freeze to stay awake.

 

[cadillackid]

I'm not buying a new car until they fly.

I tried not to even buy a cell phone until they moved to all satellite, which should be in the works. Had to buy a cheap cell phone anyway.

Your car seems to have an alarm for sleeping drivers. We used to just open the window and freeze to stay awake.

sat phones are out.. i rented one anytime when I would go Jeeping in the sticks out of cell range.

yeah it has a driver-alertness system... mine doesnt vibrate the seats like mercedes does.. and its not advertised as such but it would have the effect if you did fall asleep.

I only got the car for its tech.. otherwise an old-man-car would be my last choice.. though it is pretty nimble and fast with the bigger-engine package I got.. amazing the 2.0 litre engine has 250 HP... and the 7.3 Litre engine in my school bus is onlty 190.. lol

-Christopher

 

[Robin97396]

Yeah, sat phones have been out for a while but they're still very expensive and have outrageous rates on their minutes. Years ago I read that we would all eventually go to sat phones and do away with cell towers.

Currently I have to drive half way to town to make a cell call. Yes, a landline is available here but I don't have one due to the excessive number of calls from random merchants.

 

[Brewerbob]

The Google car doesn't go faster than the stopping distance it can see.

That's total bullshit. There are blind hills on interstates that you can't see over at high noon. It isn't going to stop at the top to "look around".

A better question is what the car does if an obstruction suddenly appears. They haven't figured that out completely because there are ethical implications. It will, however, react faster than humans.

Yeah, I heard about the ethical stuff. One of the radio stations was talking about it. Everyone agreed that the car should drive off the cliff before taking out the school bus full of kids. Until they asked, what if you were in that car...

I suppose if you lapse your onstar subscription that part doesnt happen... none of that is in the owners manual.. my guess is its "beta" type stuff that they put in.. some cars just eventually disable the auto-steer and you go careening into the ditch..

I'm going to have to throw the B.S. flag at you again. There had better be no way in hell that NHTSD is 1) going to let you roll around with beta software 2) simply put an automated car into "who cares mode".

Hell, they make the auto manufacturers put disclaimers that James Bond car doesn't really drive under water.

 

[cadillackid]

That's total bullshit. There are blind hills on interstates that you can't see over at high noon. It isn't going to stop at the top to "look around".

Yeah, I heard about the ethical stuff. One of the radio stations was talking about it. Everyone agreed that the car should drive off the cliff before taking out the school bus full of kids. Until they asked, what if you were in that car...


I'm going to have to throw the B.S. flag at you again. There had better be no way in hell that NHTSD is 1) going to let you roll around with beta software 2) simply put an automated car into "who cares mode".

Hell, they make the auto manufacturers put disclaimers that James Bond car doesn't really drive under water.

call the BS flag on me all you want.. but the advertisement is "lane keep assist" and not "ill drive you home"... the manual clearly states that you should take the wheel back when it says.. and not to "let go of the wheel" at all.. so the fact they shut off the feature on some cars is well documented as its not an autonamous feature but a simple assist...

as far as beta software or not.. i know what my owners book says and DOESNT SAY.. and how my car acts... im the one driving it every day I know how it acts regardless... you can call BS when you go drive the same car and play with it like i have... my book says nothing about "ill wake you up" but the fact is it does and it goes ballastic and it calls onstar if you fail to take the controls back... but the book states nowhere that the car will do such a thing... I know it does because i took it out on an empty stretch of I-270 at night where its 4 lanes each side and drove it and let go of the wheel and didnt take it back.... ..
-Christopher