69 replies to this topic

[Beach]

The Advanctrac light is on, 2012 F250 with only 48k miles. Dealer says it's a $2100. repair.  I said no, I'll drive it without, I've driven vehicles for years without all that ABS antiroll stuff. Any opinions out there as to my approach? I'd like to hear them. I'm a bit soured on modern technology right now, just replaced a expensive 3 yr old refrigerator last week. Thanks for letting me vent.

[DavidGraves]

Beach

 

The check engine light on my Toyota seems to come on in response to changes in atmospheric pressure and altitude......you know what .... so be it.

 

David Graves

[Stan@FourWheel]

Agreed.  X 2

 

I don't like all of the gadgets and computerization in the newest vehicles.

 

I don't need my vehicle to try and outsmart me or think for me.

 

If I have electric windows, air conditioner, fuel injection, and 4 wheel drive, I'm happy.

 

And I want to be able to work on my own vehicle when needed. Most new cars and trucks are really hard to work on.

 

 

 

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[craig333]

Kind of wish the truck had electric windows. The Jeep is easy to work on. The Jeep you have to work on No hundred thousand miles service intervals on that beast.

[PackRat]

You mean the "Check Your Wallet Light"?

[Rdy2Roam]

It's a throw away society and Nothing is made to last! Not a big fan of technology myself.

[ski3pin]

Me, I don't not have a truck with traction control, but it is my nature to have things working as they should. I'd start with research such as -

 

https://www.f150foru...ncetrac-145017/

 

and take a hard look at what the dealer wants to repair/replace for $2100. At 48k is your truck out of warranty?

 

Is another mechanic an option or is it possible to fix it yourself?

 

I understand your rant.  From what I saw on that Ford forum, it looks like the display would take a big piece of duct tape to cover.

 

Best of luck coming up with a solution. Please keep us posted as we learn from one another.

 

And, thanks for the reinforcement to keep my old truck running.

 

[verynice]

Not only that,...the weight keeps going up with all the gadgets.  My friends Tacoma outweighs my old Dodge Ramcharger by a thousand pounds......It's a mini truck????

[wuck]

Ah, High Tech. It's all so promising. And yet . . .

 

I am (Well, was) an electronic design engineer. I've designed, prototyped, tested, redesigned and shipped circuits. I have designed, coded, tested, reviewed, fixed and shipped "Apps" before anybody called them "Apps".

 

My VCR never blinked 12:00 for more than a few minutes.

 

Now, I am a technophobe. I'm really starting to hate this stuff.

 

I scream at my F-250 too often. I just want to listen to the radio, but Ford "Sync" is trying to desperately connect to a cell phone that died a horrible death on my mountain bike a year or so back. Or it is trying to read or reply to a text that I couldn't care less about, I'm driving. I want to rip Ford sync out of that truck, impale it with a pickaxe so it will never harm another human again, and replace it with an AM FM radio. But, I'm afraid that will break the truck. Mrs. Wuck would frown on that.

 

I built a home PC in the early 80's.  A Z-80 based CP/M system with 8" floppy discs. I used a 300 baud "Volksmodem" to connect to bulletin boards to get free software and communicate with other nerds. Yay! Then, I got Windows. I got really tired of going thru the headaches of upgrading to Windows.X, then upgrading my PC because the old one didn't have the speed or the memory to run Windows.X. Now, when I have to use Windows (Not often), I get grumpy. It usually starts with having to wait while it "Updates". Why do you need to update NOW? Then, it reboots while I'm trying to work. Then I start screaming, again. Nothing like a tool that keeps you from working. I like playing with hammers and saws now.

 

That said, I do use Ubuntu / Linux on my PC, and have a lot of appreciation for the folks that make that happen - most often programmers chasing their passion - and not getting paid for it. Yes, Ubuntu also updates regularly. But it asks me nicely first before doing anything, I can dismiss it with a click.

 

Yes, I have "Smart Phone". I yell at it occasionally too. But, I have very few apps on it. In fact, I can't install any Google apps on it, Google wont let me. Because  I use an open-source version of Android,  Google doesn't like that 'cause their hooks aren't in it. Well, not all of them anyway.

 

I do still fix my cars. I really don't like paying mechanics to guess at what is wrong with it, as it seems some of my friends will do. With my background in electronics and automotive (I was also a mechanic while going to college) , EFI was pretty easy to learn, and IMO it is also the best auto invention since the electric starter!

 

Just call me App-less.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[wuck]

Sorry, got sidetracked, back to trucks - 

 

My dad drove a Taurus that the ABS light came on. The Ford dealer told him he needed a new ABS controller, $2500 for a 8-10 year old car with 120k+ miles on it. It took me some talking, but I convinced him that he was going to be OK driving a car with no ABS, just like he had done for many decades already.

 

After additional questioning, I found out he had turned left onto a road from a parking lot, and had hit a raised island in the middle of that road pretty hard. Hard enough to split the tire and bend the rim. A few weeks later I visited him, on a hunch I replaced the tone wheel/sensor on that wheel. ABS light went off, it was like $30 and a bit of grunting.

 

Don't trust the dealer, get a second opinion.