These Are The Automotive Mysteries That Haunt You
Everything from old GM engines to BMW well... everything.
The casual car owner likely thinks owning a vehicle is pretty straightforward — a bunch of smart people in a building somewhere came up with a car, tested it out, and put it on the market. Gas goes in, going places comes out, nothing left to think about.
Oh, to be so naive! We with our eyes wide open to the world know cars are hulking masses of mysteries that can not be explained.
What Is He Building In There?
Why was it supposedly impossible for my father to drive at night with the interior dome light on?
From elgordo47
We Want Answers, Man!
1. Who developed the WK2 (2011-2020/1) Grand Cherokee platform? — This platform was also used by the gen. 3 Durango (still in production), the 2012-2019 Mercedes-Benz M/GLE-Class, and the 2013-2019 Mercedes-Benz GL/GLS-Class. It's probably the final DaimlerChrysler collaboration, and didn't even debut until a couple of years after the merger ended. But who led the design? There are aspects of these cars and their platform that are very Mercedes-Benz, like the shape of the seats and the battery being under the passenger seat...but also aspects that are very Jeep, like having the integrated longitude frame rails (a la XJ Cherokee and ZJ and WJ Grand Cherokees). Who led development of this platform, Chrysler/Jeep, or Mercedes-Benz? No one seems to know. I want to know.
2. Would the L322 Range Rover have been different if BMW had kept Land Rover? — The third-generation "L322" Range Rover (2003-2012) was originally codenamed "L30." That's because BMW owned Land Rover and the rest of Rover Group during most of the L322's development in the late 90s. But, since Rover Group's various brands were costing an absolute fortune to update and had started to drag BMW's own stock prices down, BMW sold most of it off (keeping only MINI) and even fired the person responsible for the idea of purchasing Rover Group. At that time, the L322 was halfway through development. The unverified lore I heard is that the L322 was supposed to get BMW's then-new electronics architecture, the one that went into the E65 (2002-2008) 7 Series and Rolls-Royce Phantom VII Series I (2003-2012). But...when BMW decided to sell Land Rover to Ford, it decided not to give away its best tech, and instead finished development early with an older electronics architecture. The earliest L322s (2003-2005), as a result, have what are very obviously reskinned E38/E39/E53 modules and interfaces (instrument cluster, sat nav, switch packs). By 2005, these were quite outdated. They also have BMW powertrain packages, but that would have happened, anyway. outdated. But...would the L322 Range Rover have been more high-tech had BMW kept the company?
3. Why do VW and Audi often delete auto-hold from their cars in the US? Auto-hold, a feature that allows you to have the car hold the brakes for you at a stop, is a very convenient feature. However, most VW and Audi models in the US have this feature deleted. They'll have a blank where the button that ordinarily activates that feature is, and retrofitting it is a pain. Why do they do this, when their competitors don't have any problem giving you auto-hold?
And for a personal one:
4. What the hell happened to my 2004 XJ Vanden Plas' air suspension? I know, I know, it's a Jaguar. And mine was one of the very early run of that generation, having been produced in late 2003. I bought it and soon realized the air suspension was leaking. I ended up replacing all four struts with Arnott units, which are well regarded. Well, at first, the car just refused to air up the struts and I had to take it to a mechanic. They replaced the compressor, which seemed fishy in and of itself. But then, after that, it raised all four struts as high as they would go and displayed a permanent "Air Suspension Fault" light. Neither I, nor a reputable Euro shop, nor Jaguar specialists, were able to get that car to act right, and we replaced just about all of the system (ride height sensors, valve block, compressor, struts, lines, rear body computer). I finally ended up deleting the air suspension with a coilover kit and selling the car. I subsequently had a 2006 Jaguar XJ Vanden Plas (same generation) and didn't have any such trouble.
From Kyree
It’s The Long-Lasting Mysteries That Are So Haunting
Why BMWs don't seem to have an electrical connection between the turn signal stalk and the front and rear signal lights.
Defrosted Secrets
Why do all cars put rear window defrosters on timers? I used to have a 1987 Toyota Corolla (one of the last passenger sedans sold in the US with a carbuerator), and its rear window defroster was a switch, on or off. You could leave it on for hours at a time, which is fantastic when it's raining, since it prevents sheets of water from forming on the rear window. Now, every car's rear defroster is a button that shuts off after 10-15 minutes, and you have to keep remembering to turn it back on in order to keep the window glass warm enough to prevent moisture from sticking to it.
From neverspeakawordagain
TBI Engines Avoid TMI
GM TBI engines. Around 75k miles, they would go into this weird idle thing (happened on 3 TBIs) At engine start up, hot or cold day, the car would rev to 3000 rpm and slowly start stepping down. If you put it in gear and drove off before it was down to 800 rpm, the next time you stopped or put the clutch in, it would start the 30 second sequence from 3000 rpm back towards 800.
I once got in a car, had it start the sequence and decided the hell with it, I had a road trip. Got up on the interstate and drove until the fuel gage was tickling the E about 350 miles away. When I stopped to get gas and put the clutch in for the first time in about 5 hours...
WAHHHH!! 3000 RPM, I need to warm up!
It would occasionally throw a CEL for the IAC, and I've replaced them. I heard rumors of the TPS, which I also replaced. I took the TBI off of one car cleaned every passage and replaced the IAC and TPS with Delco parts before putting it back on. Never did a bit of difference.
Eventually, I just got used to spending 30 seconds on a 90 deg day at lunch time for my dumb ass engine to "warm up."
From hoser68
Er... What’s Up With That?
Chrysler's brands have had a lot of car models over the decades that end with "er":
Chrysler New Yorker, Prowler, PT Cruiser, Voyager, Grand Voyager.
Plymouth Roadrunner, Duster, Trail Duster, Voyager, Grand Voyager, Laser, Prowler.
Dodge Charger, Challenger, Viper, Wayfarer, Avenger, Caliber, Ramcharger, Lancer.
But I've never found any proof that it was a deliberate affinity to "er"-ending names was a driving factor for all these cool "er" monikered models. So if this is a coincidence, it's a helluva good one.
BMW Issues
Had an 87 BMW 535i. For some reason the heater would work good and then randomly would stop blowing hot air. If you downshifted, it would usually start working again for a good while. Never bothered to actually figure out why.
A Personal Mystery
Why my 2015 Forester has an unexplainable and intermittent issue starting that mirrors when my old 1991 Acura Integra when it had a cracked distributer cover and wouldn't start when it was real humid or raining. Sometimes, inexplicably, it'll take 10 to 15 seconds of cranking it over to to get it to start and then it runs like crap for 5 or 10 seconds. No environmental issues I can imagine. No gas differences. No engine codes. It is too inconsistent to get diagnosed, only happening once or twice a month. I've done a few things (fuel filter, cleaned harness to ignition circuit, new battery terminals) and nothing has made it go away.
Dodging All Answers
Neither the service department nor I could ever figure out why the key for my 1995 Dodge Neon got permanently stuck in the ignition. It would let you turn the car on and off, but the thing simply wouldn't come out.
As a bonus, those keys glowed in the dark, so what better way to entice a car thief to put away their 90's Chrysler skeleton key (a screwdriver), steal it the easy way, and put me out of my misery?
Ciao!
I've never been able to figure out where the little magical Italian Sprites live in Alfa Romeos which make them fit every one of their stereotypes to a T.My decade+ experience with my 1972 GTV read like a dark comedy with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. The first drive speaks volumes:
Absolutely flawless performance driving it 65 miles home, then going for a mid-day drive with my father on the backroads. A transcendent driving experience that I don't think I'll ever match. But, when parked at the restaurant for lunch the horn started going off constantly (heat caused the horn button to contact) and I had to pull the wire under the hood with a mass of onlookers. That evening on a drive with friends, I came around a corner pretty hot and the front outside tire popped off it's bead (I later learned that the same thing happened to my dad 30 years earlier on the first drive of his GTV-6).
The proceeding 12 years with that car was similar ups and downs. I don't think I regret it, though my wallet is significantly lighter. I'm not sure that I'd do it again...unless anyone happens to have a nice early-70's Giulia for sale?