Second in a Series, the format of which I described in the introductory remarks of Part One, this article will focus on specific modern technologies—not at all egregious in themselves—that have, in my opinion, been applied and utilized in a most egregious fashion in the modern automobile. Boldly going where no one ought to go, ON TO THE BIN!!
The Motorized Floor Mat
Laugh if you want—and I find the thought amusing, too—but it would not surprise me if we see such a technology offered to, aggressively marketed at, or just downright foisted on future auto consumers.
Way back in the early days of the “electric motorization” of the automobile, and even into later times, the elimination of manual duties often reserved for the operator/driver was often motivated out of sheer necessity. Should anybody rightfully regret the invention of the Electric Starter? It’s been considered one of the most important advances in the history of automotive development. The electric Blower Motor, used in HVAC systems since well before we started using that acronym—what else could fill the bill so well? Really, any other design employing an electric motor where safety is a priority, and there really are no other simpler viable options, is just fine with me.
Even where safety is not a concern, using motorization in the accomplishment of a task, if it both simplify the process AND enhance accuracy, reliability and serviceability—well, I’m all for it. For example: though some may argue the necessity of an EGR Valve at all, the modern motorized units ARE quite an improvement over the old vacuum operated systems they replaced.
Unfortunately, when clear-cut reasons to employ electric motorization became less apparent, rather than just leaving well enough alone, manufacturers found other reasons to justify their promotion in new and exciting areas. It started with “Power Seats” and “Power Windows”, and then escalated into the egregious.
You want that trunk lid to shut like a “luxury” car’s trunk ought to shut? With an electric motor integrated in the latch, you no longer have to use any force at all. Just set it down and the motor will do the rest for you! Want to adjust your steering column? Just lightly push the controls, and the motors will handle the grunt logistical stuff! Want to go Four-Wheelin’, but you’re not burly enough to sling a J-Pattern manual transfer case? Just push the “Soft Touch” control panel buttons, and electric motors will do all the dirty work! Had a long day hauling around the kids and Fido, and you don’t know if you’re up to dealing with hucking that large rear hatch and slinging the sliding doors on your minivan? No worries, with the advent of motorized closures!
It has come to the point that if there’s ANY potential for the user/operator (I hesitate to use the word “driver” in this context) to have difficulty with any vehicle interface, the manufacturer will unhesitatingly introduce a motorized solution to the “problem”!
Since there’s been so much in the news of late regarding the mis-positioning of the all-critical Floor Mat (the manual retainer system being apparently at the end of it’s product-cycle), the only viable solution must be to MOTORIZE IT!
When it comes to repairing and servicing these systems, experience has taught that it will be neither CONVENIENT nor INEXPENSIVE.
Ahhh, the cost to save us from ourselves…
The Computerized Cigarette Lighter
For all I know, this technology is probably being offered on some six-figure European luxo-cruiser. The way computerized technology is advancing, however, it will probably be standard equipment in your next econobox/appliance commuter car!
The point I’m making here is similar to the one I made about the over-use of electric motor technology: Computerization of (not to be confused with use of Electronics in) many automotive systems and components is unnecessary and self-defeating.
I recall the first time I had to repair a computerized power window system on a Honda. The user interface, that is, the master switch, looked almost identical to the one from the model year before. When I removed the switch from the door panel for testing, unfortunately I was greeted with unfamiliar looking sub-harness connections. Upon breaking out the brand new, never before used Service Manual (as this was a very late-model car at the time) and perusing the wiring schematic (one of the last of the wire-for-wire charts), what to my wondering eyes did appear but a Control Unit integrated into the switchgear and relays!
I was dumbfounded at the added complexity for no apparent good reason!
I had been around the wrenching end of autos since the era of power window systems employing point-to-point soldered crossovers in the switchgear, with no operational relays (except maybe for a Main Power unit). That was antique technology best left for boutique guitar amplifiers; and I was glad to see switchgear with internal metal “busses” (circuited for low-amperage duties while relays did the high-amp transmission to the motors), as they were much more reliable. But going as far as COMPUTERIZING the process—THIS was bordering on SACRILEGE!
As history has borne out, this borderline sacrilege was only beginning at that time. We now also have Computerized (in similarly unnecessary fashion): Main Power Distribution, Power Seat Control, Inside Rear View Mirrors, Anti-Theft Systems, Starter Actuation, Transmission Gearshift Selection, Automatic Climate Control, Windshield Wiper Actuation, Lighting Systems, Vehicle Stability Control, and more!
As with over-motorization, the added complexity of over-computerization has not improved simplicity, reliability, or serviceability, allowing it entry into the Pantheon of The Egregious!
Stay tuned for Part Three.
Phil Coconis is the owner of a West Coast independent auto repair shop.
I joined the automotive repair world right about when things started to get ugly. I was working for an Acura/Nissan dealer at the time and noticed that the Acuras I was seeing in for service and repairs (mostly made in the mid-to-late 90’s) were a bit ahead of the Nissans of the time (probably on par with the Infinities of the time). I can tell you with certainty that diagnosing a window motor problem on a 99 RL was a pretty different game than diagnosing a window motor problem on a 99 Sentra.
When you throw multiplexing into the mix, and you have to contend with systems that go about their business without dropping many hints to the on-looker as to what was going on, you’re dead in the water without that factory service manual and a quality Fluke meter. Toss that test light. You’ll do more harm than good.
Mentioned in the last thread, but electric parking brakes are especially egregious.
Also added to the list, electric folding door mirrors. You save two inches of width when you park, but they cost how much to replace?
I support power folding mirrors. cars used in places with tight streets, city parking, etc. sure they’re expensive to replace, but it’s less expensive to not have to replace a fixed mirror that’s been smacked off by a bike, delivery box truck, errant parallel parker, or any other common city hazard.
I prefer manual folding mirrors, if it’s so tight to park, getting out of the car to fold mirrors really doesn’t add that much more to your day.
The Mercedes-Benz S600 W140 had a power assisted rear view mirror. Unfamiliar drivers would just reach up to adjust it manually, and break it. I think some of these features are a gift from the factory to the dealership service department.
Add electric door closing assist to the list. Also debuted in the W140 Mercedes-Benz.
The MB W140 soft close doors are vacuum operated, not electric. The vacuum pump is in the trunk and would burn itself running continuously out if there was a systems leak. Another expensive part to replace.
Don’t forget about the Vacuum operated central locking in the W108’s.
The car manufacturers seems to have low expectations of their customers. Why can they not at least offer a base model without all these irritating features?
Regarding the Electric Starter; I have often wondered if it would be possible (and not too expensive) to incorporate a crankhandle as a back up, for when the battery is flat? That could have been convenient.
If you’re the 10% thatdrives manual, you can still bump start the car. But adding a hand crank would probably set off the lawyers in this day and age, there’s even a medical term for the type of wrist fracture that you get from an engine in the midst of hand cranking…”Chauffeur’s fracture”!
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM190411031511802
My three Peugeot 404s (all gasoline)had hand cranks, which fit through a little hole in the front bumper. I did in fact use this feature a few times. I wonder if the diesel version had these too.
More often than not, manufacturers won’t recoup the cost of developing the cheap features.
Its doubtful that you’ll be able to crank over a modern high compression motor, compression ratios back in the day where about half of what they are now. I’ve done it on old tractors, and its a real workout. You would also need to have enough battery power to fire the spark plugs and injectors.
Thanks for the answers!
’98 Audi A4 (and probably anything VAG of that vintage) – vacuum operated door locks, with a dedicated vacuum pump. Same thing for the Cruise Control. Why?
Heck, the W126 Benz S-class from 1979-1991 had vacuum door locks and cruise control.
But unlike Audi, the Benz system never had problems – parents had a W126 for 10 year and the power locks always worked. Can’t say that about their 1st gen Saab 900, which had electronic locks.
Maybe it thinks its a 1977 Monte Carlo.
Maybe it thinks it’s a 1977 Monte Carlo.
I remembrer fondly the motorized headrest adjustment and motorized seatbelt height adjuster in the 2001 Audi S8. I used those feature approximately once in the 5 years I own the car. Although the car had many other gizmos, those two were the most useless ones! Come to think of it, the motorized auto-retracting steering column is not far behind… Mostly because it broke the first time I tried to use it when the prospective buyer discovered the button near his knees during a friendly test drive. Had to knock a quid off my selling price because of all those defective motors everywhere. Oh! And that makes me recall that according to the service guide, there were 22 motors within the hvac system to control flaps and other stuff. By 2006, many were defective leaving the hvac innefficient sometimes.
Thanks for letting me share and get this off my chest! :-)
Martin
Oh, and don’t forget the powered dashboard vent covers on the Audi A8 and Jaguar XF. If those aren’t going to be a pointless nightmare after a couple of years, I will be very surprised…BTW I worked for a time with a guy who had been in charge of the workshop of a Honda/Audi dealer. He had nothing but praise for the Honda quality, but said he would never consider an Audi after it was two or three years old due to the over-complexity and poor durabilty of the electrics.
If I could buy a new 1967 car with modern brakes, suspension, and drivetrain, I would do so gladly.
Agreed.
You can buy a ’67 and put that stuff on – it’s been done. In a crash, though, you’ll wish you had the airbags, high strength steel, and crush zones built into modern cars.
Those cars are called “Restomods” in the classic car world and are much more common now than the full on restorations. People want the look of the classic car but they also want it to be as reliable – or close to – as a modern car. They vary from adding seat belts, disc brakes, electronic ignition, and in the pre-60’s cars, power steering to upgrades to the suspension, electric windows, electric door locks, and modern AC. Then you get the people who go so far as to add fuel injection and a fully modern ignition system.
Just taking a guess at the computerized Honda window… some car windows will nudge down a quarter inch when closing the door, and then nudge back up. This makes for a good seal, but also spares the occupant any ear popping due to the change in cabin pressure.
Particularly on convertibles.
The one that gets me is the trunks without a key hole, or the fact that only the driver door can be opened with a key, too much dependance on electric locks and such!
They also tend to have an electrically operated latch, another creeping item of complexity
All undoubtedly true, and throw in the fact, as mart_o_rama notes, if you don’t use this stuff, it will stop working. I try to open my TC’s rear windows once a month in the winter, because if I don’t I know they’ll be stuck in the spring.
However…and ain’t there always one of those…the Town Car’s full-power trunk lid is arguably superfluous and inarguably fabulous. Every time I squeeze the remote and it shuts, I grin. So that’s my standard for power accessories–if it makes you grin big, it’s worth what it’s eventually gonna cost to fix it.
+1
Ahh multiplexing (to be fair I work for a company that works with and engineers multiplex system but not for the auto world) If I remember correctly one of the case studies I viewed a number of years ago was the 1999 neon which saved 70 lbs in wire weight and 25% in manf cost vs conventional harness and relays. This kind of savings will certainly push manf into a technology.
Computerization + complexity = unreliable? MyFord Touch?
Well played, sir.
I think we will eventually get to the point (if we aren’t there already) in which each “device” will have an IP address and the ECUs will just send the instruction to whatever it has to do. Even if it’s something as simple as turning on a lamp.
This actually is sort of how multiplexing works. Instead of the ECU sending to a specific IP address though, the devices use frequency filters. Essentially the same bits of information are blasted out to many different components on a common information system, but only the intended component responds to the request because the unintended components’ filters block that request. It’s a little like emailing everyone in your address book, but putting the one specific person who’s supposed to read it’s name in the subject line. Everyone else who gets the email will just delete it (and grow increasingly pissed at you each time you do it).
Anyone thought about that electric motorized throttle body? What is the lifespan and cost to replace out-of-warranty for that little jewel? I hope I find out from someone else first!
“The Computerized Cigarette Lighter” — Cigarette Lighter???
Eeeuuwww!
Sooooooo 20th century. They are power points now.
‘Xackly what I meant — well, that, and how utterly disgusting smoking in cars is.
This is great fodder for the get-off-my-lawn good ol days anti-technology contingent here!
The steering wheel is motorized so that it can be tied in with the memory system.
The Honda windows were computerized so that there can be an auto-up feature, they have to have travel feedback monitoring so small children won’t get caught up in there. (Subaru got sued over the simpler kind) You should know how elegant and complex window wiring for 4 doors with master/slave switches are, the computerized stuff is simpler in a way.
Data bus, multiplexing etc. removes complexity in an integrated system, especially the way modern cars work.
You make the age old assumption that computerized/motorized means more frequent failure. Throttle by wire motors and sensors will likely outlast a cable and linkage with return spring.
No doubt mfrs do this stuff to increase “features” for oohs and ahhs. Nobody needs a power liftgate but its nice. The last rental car I had, a Buick Lacrosse, turned the rear defogger on when I remote started it from the keyfob on a cold morning. Then it turned the heat blower down when I made a call over the bluetooth. None of that is easily possible if the starter relay must be closed by the ignition switch, the blower is wired through the switch to the resistor pack etc.
Last Throttle Cable I replaced on my ’92 4Runner @ just under 200K miles cost about $70 and took less than an hour to install.
The Throttle Body assembly on my friends ’02 Tundra @ 200k miles cost about $1200 and took a couple of hours to install!
I run across this sort of thing all of the time.
Sorry Power, but your argument just doesn’t carry the necessary weight–even with all of the added motors and computers!
PhilOut…
Isn’t that a little bit of cherry picking? The economics of OEM parts distribution and pricing is far from based on competitive economics. I figure I don’t I have to explain how that works to you. I don’t know though is 200k failure typical for an electronic throttle? Small sample size there. How many times did the IAV need to be replaced on the 92? 02 doesn’t need that to idle. Did the 92 have cruise control? Lets price up the vacuum reservoir that is surely gone by 200k, and the vacuum tubing and solenoid, extra throttle cable etc. none of which the 02 has or needs to have cruise control. Imagine if the truck had Trac! My 01 Lexus ES does and it has a cute little throttle cable unit with motor that takes over the throttle. A friends older GS lexus had an entire “Trac” computer and throttle cable unit. Each part was like $1000 to replace. Any current car with traction control does it with no extra parts.
I guess you could say “who needs that stuff” and in that you have a point. If you think the world should stand still then I agree keeping the technology stagnant and just iron out the bugs is great.
I don’t disagree that there is needless complexity from a reliability standpoint, but cars are not made to be serviced they are made to sell to buyers. Though my point is some technology is simpler, a simple auto climate control vs. the old tubes and vacuum and sliders? Carburetor vs Throttle body fuel injection? Solid state coil-on-plug vs mechanical distributor? Electronic vs. hydraulic controlled auto trans? I could go on all day…
I am curious, at what point do you think things went awry? You mention you have a 92 4Runner and rag on the 02, but the 92 is a pretty electronified vehicle compare to an 82 Toyota truck. Where would you stop turning the clock back?
I remember reading either BMW 7-series or MB S-class had electrically powered adjustable door armrests. Ooh, it’s an inch too high. Ahhh, that’s better. The MB SL500 “handed” you the shoulder belt via electric motor. It was nearly impossible to reach back to the B-pillar over the high-backed buckets.
Several generations ago the BMW 3-series introduced windshield wipers which pressed harder on the glass as your speed increased. How? Perhaps a pair of electric motors, linkages, sensors and such?
The Austin Mini accomlished the same thing with a little airfoil on the wiper arm. Mine shucked those wiper arms almost every time I drove faster than 60 mph. So I finally replaced them with non-airfoil equipped arms. The only “automatic” functions on the Mini: self-cancelling turn signals, and the dome light which lit up when the door was open. Pretty cool, huh? Except the Lucas door switch was rusted open, so the light was purely manual.