Worst possible place for the ECU
- Thread starter Finklejag
- Start date
It's not just the front of the cars these days. From another forum, I regularly read.
"So, I woke up one morning to find my taillights missing.
One trip to the auto body shop later, and I find that the bill for the lights, the blind spot monitor, and the wiring pigtail (to replace the cut one) was north of $3.5k. In addition, the shop needed a trip to the dealer to reset the computer and calibrate the sensor. This is also a reminder to have good insurance."
Makes me love my 2008 Acura even more. Smart and nice enough to be an enjoyable drive, but not enough tech that I can still (mostly) maintain it and enjoy it.
"So, I woke up one morning to find my taillights missing.
One trip to the auto body shop later, and I find that the bill for the lights, the blind spot monitor, and the wiring pigtail (to replace the cut one) was north of $3.5k. In addition, the shop needed a trip to the dealer to reset the computer and calibrate the sensor. This is also a reminder to have good insurance."
Makes me love my 2008 Acura even more. Smart and nice enough to be an enjoyable drive, but not enough tech that I can still (mostly) maintain it and enjoy it.
That's what the guy told me, but I'm not sure exactly if that was the case. He worked for Enphase Energy and the product I asked about was their micro inverters and how they could give them a 25 year warranty when they'd be placed on a rooftop next to each solar panel.
This guy is having a heck of a time getting one (was apparently an older version that was replaced) open. So it wasn't epoxied but used a ton of rubbery stuff to seal out the moisture. It's in a big aluminum enclosure but no heat sink per se. I think a lot of it was built around metal internal components to draw the heat away to the enclosure like it's a heat sink, but all the electronics seem to be sealed.
You're right on all counts, but it is crazy what insurance companies will try to fix. I have seen some insane estimates in the last few years. $10k plus in parts alone isn't even that crazy anymore, and insurance companies will approve repairing IF the parts are available. More and more totalling a vehicle comes down to ETA as much as cost. We are literally hearing "they want to total the car if there's a bunch on backorder" from body shops. Rental cars are incredibly expensive.
On one hand, putting the ECU there is dumb, but having modules all over the vehicle is the norm now, so it's not that crazy. We stock some blind spot detection units for Kias that list for several hundred dollars because they get destroyed in wrecks all the time. At least cost wise, it's not far off from an ECU.
Working in parts, I love to sell modules. What I hate is selling the 5000 pieces of bling and trinkets on modern bumpers. Nobody even knows what stuff is called anymore because there's so much of it..."uhhh, I need the weird shaped boomerang eyebrow thing, it's not the fog cover but it kind of goes around it, it's uh, I don't know..." I hate estimates that are just pages of bling.
D
Deleted member 89374
Engineers: We know best how to design a vehicle.
Management: Engineers, do you like your jobs?
Engineers: Yes, we do, and the benefits!
Management: We know best how you design a vehicle for maximum profitability to keep you gainfully employed.
Management: Engineers, do you like your jobs?
Engineers: Yes, we do, and the benefits!
Management: We know best how you design a vehicle for maximum profitability to keep you gainfully employed.
It was in the laminating process. They went with another method that saved something minuscule per unit. The replacement is a new hard top and glass. The accessory hardtops are around $9K when all the parts are factored in. With the recall you don't need all the hardware, just the hard top pieces and glass.
Preach!! When they start throwing out the random names I toss a diagram at them and say to highlight what they want. I hate body orders, tons of lost time only to have half of it sent back because they just wanted the Ford parts to show insurance an invoice to get paid, then install LKQ stuff.
Yep, tip to body shops, email is your friend. I will email you my diagram. I will not give you my cell phone number unless you work on my Explorers.
" Parts restocking fees are now 50%"
Well - I'm just thinking of how this might align with my other interest, which is modern consumer electronics. Most stuff these days has limited repair options. I'm sure that if the ECU goes bad that they're not going to try and replace individual components but rather just replace the whole unit. That's essentially what smartphone repair is turning into, other than very limited stuff like replacing a battery or replacing a damaged display. Technicians these days working in this type of repair aren't even trained how to use a soldering iron. All the soldering is done by machine and if there's a problem with any part of a circuit board, the whole board is scrapped
Still - there's stuff that is still done, including remanufacturing parts like AC compressors and starters, or rebuilding engines or transmissions. I guess it can be done with modern electronics, but that's kind a niche business these days.
But as far as where the ECU goes, yeah in that part of the vehicle seems like someone lost their mind.
Still - there's stuff that is still done, including remanufacturing parts like AC compressors and starters, or rebuilding engines or transmissions. I guess it can be done with modern electronics, but that's kind a niche business these days.
But as far as where the ECU goes, yeah in that part of the vehicle seems like someone lost their mind.
Modern Vehicles are designed with a limited lifespan anyway.
This will fail immediately in a tropical third world flood.
Which is why I’ll never, ever go with Geico, Progressive, Allstate, The General or other insurance companies in that grain.
Yea this one in particular was probably the worst BMW in the state. Bought it from a friend for 400 bucks, bad starter and front control arms, door cards off, window motors out from botched repair with windows propped up by 2x4's. Bought with the intention of eventually swapping the motor into a relatively clean E30 with a blown motor I had, but after fixing the starter and control arms I just ended up dailying it. Was fun to have a relatively sporty RWD car that I could beat the crap out of without caring, thing was a donut machine.
I guess I don’t really see the issue where Ford decided to place the PCM on the Maverick. Yes, it’s near the wheel well but it looks protected from the elements. Regarding front end crashes, let’s be honest, any moderate impact is going to total out this thing anyway so ECU placement is of little concern.
Regarding flood waters, if flood waters get high enough to submerge the ECU, the water will also be high enough to enter the cabin. The ECU appears to be mounted higher than the bottom of the doors.
Regarding flood waters, if flood waters get high enough to submerge the ECU, the water will also be high enough to enter the cabin. The ECU appears to be mounted higher than the bottom of the doors.
This questions the integrity of the shop, not the insurance company. The insurance company and customer thought they were getting OEM when they got swapped for used and aftermarket LKQ parts.
When I dealt with a body shop for an non-at fault collision, the owner at the time told me he will not deal with Allstate if at all possible - they push used or aftermarket parts and will send an adjuster to decline all repairs.
Years later before he sold his shop(he had to - mostly due to politics), he posted up a banner about being a part of a rideshare drivers repair network - but that meant he would deal with Geico and Allstate, if Uber(who uses James River) or Lyft doesn’t pay for repairs.
From what a friend of the family who’s a full-time Uber driver tells me, Allstate does quite a bit of Uber/Lyft business, they are the most “affordable” for their rideshare riders on top of your policy.
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