Showerthought: I miss when cars didn't need a computer just to change the oil

I was working on an '89 F-150 last week and it hit me how simple things used to be. That truck had a mechanical fuel pump and a distributor you could actually set with a feeler gauge. My buddy brought in a 2021 Civic the same day and I spent 45 minutes just trying to find the oil reset procedure in the menu. Three years ago I would have laughed at someone saying a car could brick itself over a bad battery sensor. Now I'm the guy telling new techs to always check for software updates before diag. Anyone else feel like we lost something when cars got smarter than us?

3 comments

3 Comments

abbyc3314d ago

Hang on, an '89 F-150? That's the one with the straight six that'll run on fumes and a prayer, right? I keep telling people my old Chevy could sit for a year and fire right up, but these new cars forget their own name if the 12v battery dips below 12 volts.

matthewh2813d ago

Not the straight six, actually. My buddy had the 4.9L and it was basically a tractor engine in a pickup. But here's what nobody talks about - those old trucks had a mechanical fuel pump, so a dead battery didn't even matter if you could bump start it or roll down a hill. Try that with a modern direct injection setup, it just laughs at you.

gavincampbell14d ago

My 89 F-150 went 30 miles on rust and starter fluid once.