What nonsense...

"Duncan Wood" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

I could point to at least one manufacturer building and selling new cars in 1990 with an alternator and solid-state external VR, but I think you could probably guess...

(The alternator off another car from the same manufacturer launched in

1978, with a very similar engine, fits straight on - and provides an internal reg, as well as a slight increase in power generated)

Adrian presented the following explanation :

If they are built for obsolescence, how do you account for so many modern car mechanicals and bodies lasting so very long? I'll bet most of the cars in scrap yards, other than the accident damaged ones have been scrapped for very minor problems. Its not that long ago they were paying people as an incentive to get rid of the older cars.

[...]

Like many Japanese cars of that era (for it was essentially a Honda), it had a relay for isolation when not running, and an external regulator, but the regulator, at least on the only one I've worked on, was electronic.

Chris

steve robinson was thinking very hard :

I have had one fail (acording to the RAC recovery guy) in 17 years. That particular car was a few months old, when it failed.

This was definitely mechanical, I adjusted it a couple of times.

Harry Bloomfield gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Precisely.

The car itself is perfectly capable of considerably longer service, but for a small array of minor problems which high parts & labour prices, and the death of DIY (largely enforced through poor maintainability) have raised to the stage where it's not economically viable to repair.

No, as an incentive to sell new ones. Subtle difference.

OK. Of course, early Acclaims had a dynamo. Conversion to alternator used to be a popular mod.

Chris

I'll take your word for it. However, I doubt many have ever DIYed

*anything* on a new Rolls or Bentley. Seems a bit strange you quote two cars from different makers, though. Care to say just how they are sealed? Ie, do seals have to be broken to gain access? Or is it sealed in such a way as to make it near impossible?

Depends on how serious they are.

The price of that kit is artificially high. To keep it out of reach of independant garages etc. Something which should be outlawed.

You believe what they tell you?

It happens that Chris Whelan formulated :

No thanks, not me thank you :-)

I'll stick with the plenty of surplus charge, even at a tick-over and the reliability.

That is like earlier Lucas ones. A mechanical one would cost more to make

- as well as performing worse.

Some larger alternators continued with remote regulators for quite some time. Easier to prevent overheating.

Early Lucas alternators with a remote regulator were adjustable too. But you were turning a pot.

And factor in the very low cost of even recent secondhand cars, due to over-supply.

[...]

Easier for fault diagnosis and repair too, keeping neatly on-topic!

Chris

Yup, but a mechanical regulator doesn't look like that & it doesn't have a pot.

Adrian laid this down on his screen :

I have not researched it, but my gut feeling is that commonly replaceable parts are relatively much cheaper now, than they were say in the 1960's. More exotic parts like ECU's are relatively expensive and the more recent ones do need dealer install if the original one cannot be repaired up.

There is also the issue, of course, that it is simply a nuisance when you own a car that is constantly in need of repair to keep it on the road. What most people want from a car is that it just sits there waiting to be used - and when you want to use it - it works.

I note from a recent post that Mike is hanging about waiting for a pump of some sorts for his Citroen. Having a new or nearly-new car is no guarantee of trouble-free motoring (as I know from personal experience), but the odds are more in favour of that.

Newer cars are also invariably safer in terms of occupant protection (multiple air-bags) and technological advances such as ESP and brake-assist, etc.

I found it amusing when I mentioned that my new Golf had all of these safety features and you immediately asked, "And when did you last need such features?" I've never had need of the (supposed) superior grip of branded tyres - but you make enough fuss about buying mid-price and budget tyres. You really ought to make up your mind on these issues.

All this fuss about branded tyres - and yet you drive a car that would struggle to achieve a single NCAP star rating if it was compared to modern cars today!

I've no doubt you will come out with your old chestnut about you preferring to avoid being involved in an accident in the first place - which is precisely what advances such as ESP and brake-assist are designed to achieve.

"ESP (Electronic Stability Program) has recently been introduced onto the market in an effort to reduce the number and severity of loss-of-control automobile accidents. This reduction is expected to be particularly evident for accidents on roads with low friction (e.g., wet or icy conditions). This study aimed to evaluate the statistical effectiveness of ESP using data from accidents that occurred in Sweden during 2000 to 2002. To control for exposure, induced exposure methods were used, where ESP-sensitive to ESP-insensitive accidents and road conditions were matched in relation to cars equipped with and without ESP. Cars of similar, or in some cases identical, make and model were used to isolate the role of ESP. As predicted, the study showed a positive effect of ESP in circumstances where road surfaces have low friction. The overall effectiveness was 22.1 (±21) percent, while for accidents on wet roads, the effectiveness increased to

31.5 (±23.4) percent. On roads covered with ice and snow, the corresponding effectiveness was 38.2 (±26.1) percent. In addition, ESP was found to be effective for three different types of cars: small front-wheel drive; large front-wheel drive; and large rear-wheel drive."

As you are so red-hot on safety - shouldn't you be considering buying a car with ESP?

"Ret." gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Except, of course, they do nothing until and unless you run out of grip.

There was a double-bulkhead, about 6" wide, on the 75 which ran right across the car. This created a sort of rectangular box, covered over at the top with a plastic vented cover. As well as the ECU, this also contained the brake fluid reservoir, wiper motor, and pollen filter. The drains that got blocked up were right at the bottom of the 'box' and most owners would not even realise what was beneath the cover. To remove the cover you had to pull off a full car width rubber seal and remove around eight plastic pin clips. One of the drains is below the pollen filter and not easy to see, let alone clean!