Date: Mon, 5 Oct 2015 09:57:20 -0500
Reply-To: mcneely4@COX.NET
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dave Mcneely <mcneely4@COX.NET>
Subject: Re: Oil Buzzer advice
In-Reply-To: <56128861.2000606@cox.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
I am probably the world's biggest cynic when it comes to vehicle manufacturers, quality of what they build, and service to their customers. To them, the way I see it, we are just suckers from whom they can extract maximum profit.
That said, it seems a massive stretch to me that they build stuff on purpose so it will require repairs from which they can profit when they could have built something that would not need those same repairs and that would do a better job. Do they build it so it will be difficult for consumers to repair? More likely. But most likely is that they build stuff as a compromise among what their engineers want, what their marketers want, and what their financial gurus want. I will say about VW that they often build things that are good, even excellent, engineering solutions, but that in the day to day world of consumer use require more attention than should be necessary. The coolant system and oil system warning devices on the beasts we own may be examples. At one time, such building was a reasonable strategy, selling a car to people who wanted it for the sake of the engineering and so that they could use their own perceived expertise to keep it going. Maybe our Vanagons were the last of such a breed, and some of those who own them are the last of their breed.
With modern cars, which need so little maintenance, folks like those are just out of luck. They have to stick with old cars, or turn to other stuff to satisfy their need to be constantly maintaining or fixing something.
mcneely
---- vw_van_fan_Mark <madvws@COX.NET> wrote:
> The stock coolant level warning led gives the driver ADVANCE warning
> that coolant is slightly low and needs to be checked to avoid possible
> engine damage from overheating. No add-on gauge is going to do that.
> Add-on can only tell you that the engine is running warmer than usual
> and even that relies on the flow of liquid across the sender in the case
> of a coolant temp gauge. That is a fatal flaw of the add-on. If the
> coolant loss is large enough that coolant flow is disrupted the added
> temp gauge(s) may be very slow to react and may never read as high as
> the actual engine temp.
>
> The blinking leds of the coolant and oil warning systems are intended to
> alert the driver to a problem without the need to interpret gauge needle
> positions. Are they perfect? No. Are they useful as a whole? Yes.
>
> Mark
>
> Don Hanson wrote:
> >
> >
> > Observed here often: Idiot lights and buzzer warning systems, they
> > seem to constitute a rather large percentage of problems reported or
> > inquired about here with the Vanagon....Oil buzzer, flickering oil light,
> > blinking coolant level sensor....these seem to be the biggest most frequent
> > offenders....
> > The problem I have with these systems is when you DO see an indicated
> > problem, sent by one of these systems, it only means, to me, that you MAY
> > have problems with the system that the signal is supposed to be reporting
> > on, or you may have problems with the warning system itself....No way to
> > know until you take crap apart and diagnose the reason for the light or
> > buzzer.....Also, these idiot lights give no indication of the severity of a
> > problem they are supposed to indicate....Is is NO OIL!...or just that you
> > may need to up the viscosity or lower your operating temps? Is it NO
> > Coolant left, or just some smut on the probes in the tank?
> > Gauges....my answer. You can at least get some information from
> > them....and when they don't work properly, the needle stays still, or it
> > jumps right to the top....you can see something is wrong with the gauge.
> > Do you suppose the car makers have made these systems in order to increase
> > repair revenue? They must make a bunch of money hooking up vehicles to
> > read codes that are false......
> >
--
David McNeely
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