Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

Some ECU?s don?t like that.
 
Some ECU?s don?t like that.

Ummmm....

With it sitting around is this likely to flatten the battery during a week of non-use? Taking into consideration that there are no other electronic draws on this '90 truck with no computers.

With it sitting around is this likely to flatten the battery during a week of non-use? Taking into consideration that there are no other electronic draws on this '90 truck with no computers.

With it sitting around is this likely to flatten the battery during a week of non-use? Taking into consideration that there are no other electronic draws on this '90 truck with no computers.

What ECU?
 
ALL Diesel engine required fuel injection, even ones that was made before the invention of any computer. All of those would've had mechanical pump. The use of ECU on diesel engine wasn't commonplace until the late 90's.
 
Mechanical.

ALL Diesel engine required fuel injection, even ones that was made before the invention of any computer. All of those would've had mechanical pump. The use of ECU on diesel engine wasn't commonplace until the late 90's.

As an example; EMD 567 (1938 - 1966).


Note: The 567 is a TWO-STROKE engine, though its four-stroke counterparts (ALCo 251, GE 7FDL...just about ANY diesel engine, really) used very similar valve train layouts.

Of the three rocker arms on each cylinder, the two outer ones are for the exhaust valves while the center one is for the injector. Intake is controlled by the piston itself, per the diagram below.

main-qimg-f183f844bc5cd7c9b320f27550176143


The 567's successor engines, the 645 and subsequently the 710, also utilized mechanical injectors up until 1997 when the 710G3B-EC was introduced which featured electronic injectors.
 
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And even with gasoline powered vehicles, there was mechanical-only fuel injection long before computers were invented, let alone something other than a house sized array of vacuum tubes. The Wright Brothers' Flyer II aircraft of 1904 used mechanical fuel injection when it flew at Dayton, Ohio. Most mid to late WW2 German combat aircraft were mechanically fuel injected. Mechanical fuel injection was a *mandatory* feature of airliner piston engines by 1954.

There were several production cars in the 50s that used all-mechanical fuel injection as well as a couple production attempts at electric (not electronic) fuel injection but those mostly failed in the marketplace (or just failed period) due to a number of factors. Here's the entire Rochester mechanical fuel injection system off a 1957 Corvette:
s-l1600.jpg


Even the 'new hotness' of gasoline direct injection is not actually new either. GDI had been accomplished by purely mechanical means long before WW2 broke out and German direct inject systems in their aircraft was a major hurdle that Allied fighter aircraft had to overcome. The 1955 Mercedes 300SL 'Gullwing' was the first fuel injected sports car and it used direct injection as well.

Fuel injection doesn't actually need electronics - electronics just help fuel injection immensely.
 
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It's a mechanical Bosch pump, same as a Cummins 4/6bt or the diesel they used in dampervan-era buses.

Didnt actually consider a battery cut off, that would be ideal to go with the fuel cut off for security too. Thanks Spectre.

I think the old Series 3 used to have an isolator but it's hard to remember now. I still miss that thing.
 
The collective knowledge in this place is always astounding.....
 
In drag racing there's a couple different mechanical fuel injection types. All are belt driven mechanical pump provides the pressure for the system.

My personal favorite, Hilborn Stack Injection.

ff09136b777d5e6e1c29a3a37ddda750.jpg



Then there's Ron's Flying Toilet. Same basic idea as the one above, just with one great big air inlet.

08e39fbdea389e1597e7504e5c64f5ab.jpg



Finally there's the hat injection, most utilized with a supercharger. Again, same basic principal, just packaged differently.

8bef2190f66a50116ced6f7e260df980.jpg
 
Ok guys, I get it. I was wrong.

Can we move on now?
 
Was at a Ford dealer's parts department the other day picking up some parts for my dad. Waiting for the guy to get the box from the stockroom, found these ancient microfiche parts catalogs.

3jySfi5.jpg


They said they use them fairly often, but i guess I'm not surprised given the classic car culture here. I'm actually surprised they haven't been digitized yet.
 
Was at a Ford dealer's parts department the other day picking up some parts for my dad. Waiting for the guy to get the box from the stockroom, found these ancient microfiche parts catalogs.

They said they use them fairly often, but i guess I'm not surprised given the classic car culture here. I'm actually surprised they haven't been digitized yet.

My wife and I are involved in genealogy. Many libraries still have not digitized their microFILM! If you think microfiche is/are fun, try looking up stuff on those ancient rolls of cellulose! Unless there's a 'paper' index, you have to scan through the images page-by-page while controlling the film speed with a device like an old radio volume knob! Patience, patience!

Edit: For both microfilm and microfiche, the lack of digitizing is mostly due to cost considerations. Neither of these old technologies is used that often, so just leaving the files and readers in place is much more cost-effective than digitizing the files. There's also a risk of the files being lost/damaged if they're shipped to a lab with the equipment necessary to convert them to digital files.

Edit again: For those curious few, here's a Wiki article on microfilm readers:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfilm_reader#/media/File:2012_microfilm_reader_6919567137.jpg

SL
 
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