Maintenance Of Vehicles With Advanced Electronics

[tiv]

Hi there,

As the topic says there's a whole array of vehicles flooding into the country with high end electronics which need special attention and care.

My point here is to atleast make everyone aware of how to take care of the electronic bits during a normal service/ maintenance procedure.

As some of us are stationed away from the capital, agents are a bit too hard to reach..

Actually I myself need help because my Hilux is in for a service after 3000km, even though it is relatively less stuck-up with high end electronics it still runs a 2KD with EFI etc.. and I dunno if its fine to take it to a normal service station for the job.

So please experts; what should we take care in a normal routine service? underbody wash etc..

details on other vehicles would also be appreciated..

Edited February 2, 2012 by tiv

[The Don]

Hi there,

As the topic says there's a whole array of vehicles flooding into the country with high end electronics which need special attention and care.

My point here is to atleast make everyone aware of how to take care of the electronic bits during a normal service/ maintenance procedure.

As some of us are stationed away from the capital, agents are a bit too hard to reach..

Actually I myself need help because my Hilux is in for a service after 3000km, even though it is relatively less stuck-up with high end electronics it still runs a 2KD with EFI etc.. and I dunno if its fine to take it to a normal service station for the job.

So please experts; what should we take care in a normal routine service? underbody wash etc..

details on other vehicles would also be appreciated..

Not an expert Tiv, but personally I doubt the value of pressure washing cars and underbodies. I mean it looks nice but in reality it offers little value and infact I've seen examples where it damages protective paintwork. In fact years of dust and mud build up on the under body offers some protection from the scrapes and what nots of normal use. So I think the best advice is to keep pressure washing to a minimum, definitely keep it out of the engine bay and the cabin. Also ensure that you keep an eye on beadings, seals and bulkhead and the floor for water leaks as this is the primary cause of electronic component failure in SL (water seeping into electronic components). Apart from that I can't think of much preventative maintenance you can do.

[VVTi]

As long as the oils and filters are changed as per the factory recomended periods and with fcty recommended types, others things are just minor details,.

I would not take a car for an undercarriage wash unless it was near the sea or had sea sand touch the underside.

Normal washing and grooming can be a DIY job over a weekend.

A dirty engine bay and a dirty undercarriage is not something to lose sleep over. YOu can wipe the engine bay with a cloth or with some cleaning solutions, but I would not put water there.

[terrabytetango]

I, being a complete luddite, am against computerizing cars. Having said that, I would say the chances of the electronics in your vehicle malfunctioning are no more than your turbo blowing up. Electronics have always been resilient, the reason why we've seen only the recent surge of playstation cars is because it is now more economically viable to fit them into your car (sometimes even cheaper than a mechanical alternative). Consider the simple case of LED tail lights; LEDs have been around for over 40 years, but became common place in cars only in the late 90s starting with the Altezza, simply because the cost of super bright LEDs were cheap enough by the dozen to be used for automotive purposes.

[tiv]

@Don; Thanks for the reply Don... Guess I'll keep pressure washing to like once or twice a year

@VVTi; Yea this hasn't been anywhere near the sea at all!

@terrabytetango; Never thought of it that way.. the economical point; but however the cars with the fancy electronics always seem expensive.. example when the 70 series Land Cruisers came the 3L models were cheaper than the 1KZ EFI models

[terrabytetango]

@terrabytetango; Never thought of it that way.. the economical point; but however the cars with the fancy electronics always seem expensive.. example when the 70 series Land Cruisers came the 3L models were cheaper than the 1KZ EFI models

Are the 3 litre and 1KZ versions not the same? AFAIK, only the softer version of the 70 series (KZJ78 and 71) received this engine, and prior it had the 2.4 turbo. There were no 3 litre options for the hardcore 70 series; recalling from memory there was the 3.4 13B , 3.5 PZJ and 4.2 HZJ, and now the non turbo V8 VDJ, although the 4.2 is still available.

Edit: I should also add that the 70 series being such an awesome vehicle (I will take one over a defender any day of the week), market price dynamics would be more closer to the Defender than when compared to regular vehicles on the market.

Edited February 3, 2012 by terrabytetango

[tiv]

lI remember seeing a few vehicles having the 3L engine (ofcourse they were 2.8l in capacity) and some with the 2L-T engine.. Actually I've not gone through the whole engine spec.. just wanted to give an example.. Anyways I'd still prefer the Defender.. I admit; way harder to maintain and not as reliable but still puts a smile on my face everyday..

Edited February 3, 2012 by tiv

[blkr6]

get a good quality undercoating, you will have a good protection from getting your underbody rusted and at the same time demands less underbody washes. i use a all purpose degreser (make sure its anti corroseive) and spray, brush/scrub, rinse with litte water and then wipe off dry with a cloth. if you maintain a clean engine you will never get to a stage that it requires lots of water to clean.

[rangerover]

Think of it this way, there are so many changes you can do to your car engine, transmission etc by just hooking it on to a computer, thus saving a lot of labour cost and time. That the positive aspect of this shift!