It's insane that this keeps happening. Computers can remember BIOS settings for probably 40+ years now.
They use a battery backup. The main symptom of having a dead cmos battery is that your computer starts loosing it's cmos settings, it's a feature not a bug. I have a system where it keeps the cmos config on flash. the only system I managed to brick(almost). I put a bad config in(never disable usb on a laptop where everything is usb) and there was no easy way to reset it. I had to buy a sioc clip and a chip programmer…
it’s a shame that cmos battery technology has remained out of grasp for car radio manufactures these dozens of years
Well this is timely. I have a parasitic draw on my NC Miata. The first mechanic just replaced the battery. The second told me it's normal for the battery to die if you don't drive it for 3 days (because "cars have computers now"). It seems like mechanics really don't like digging into the electrical part of the car... but these days that encompasses more and more of what can go wrong. Without time to dig into it myse…
For me it lasted close to 4 years. I had installed a tracker that uses a SIM that you have to keep topped up to receive the messages. No issues where I live so over time I stopped and didn't even think about it. Fast forward, I went through 3 batteries, couple mechanics, bought a portable jumper and a physical battery disconnector and even got a voltage meter and was mucking around with the fuse box etc and just grew to live with it until one day I was cleaning the car, saw the thing and just disconnected it and then a few weeks later I noticed that leaving the car on weekends the battery was fine the Monday (usually had to jumpstart as it would drain). Turns out the tracker was trying to send messages almost every minute THAT it couldn't send messages! So it had been doing that for years and was the tiny leech on the battery, not large enough to be detected but enough to slowly drain a brand new battery over the course of a few days.
I've been to multiple mechanics, talked to roadside assistance people, posted in multiple forums, and talked to family about this problem with an old car of mine... and they all swore up and down that you should start a car if it sits longer than a weekend, maybe a week tops. They made me feel insane about it, it's one of those widely accepted things that's just not true most of the time.
There are other reasons to do that unrelated to the electrical system of the car. You're keeping the engine and any other moving parts lubricated. You're burning fuel, so that you don't wind up with as much degraded oil.
Sure but that's never mentioned... this is always talked about as common sense "this is how you make sure your battery doesn't die." It seems as though problems with parasitic drain are so common that this has become standard advice?
Thats insane... To consistently not close the door like that
My wife, bless her heart, leaves everything partially open. Not even just open, but she'll screw the lid on jars just enough where if I pick it up by the top they'll drop. It drives me crazy.
I’ve never met a woman who could close stuff properly.
All toilet users should set the seat to their preferred setting prior to using it.
Both seat and lid should be closed before flushing, to reduce spray. Has the additional benefit of requiring both men & women to lift something before using it.
Neither party gets exactly what they want, its the perfect compromise!
Reminds me of the stereotype that women will tell you something that happened in the most expansive way possible with all this context that doesn't really matter while guys will just tell you what happened.
Actually this might rather be coming from an autism spectrum. This work mate, a very fine programmer I must say, starts any point he might have with a few minutes long background presentation. I can't say that I get much value from that intro, but that's his way so I say let him have it. And we're never under that time pressure to need to interrupt him anyway.
If car is at the point of engine rebuild you'd probably have to replace half of the suspension too
At least! When my engine finally needed a rebuild, so did the transmission, steering box, CV joints, and center differential. And you're right, it needed new bushings, shocks, springs, and balljoints.
How high do used car prices have to rise before a full rebuild starts to look cost effective?
I’ve had unknown draws before and many times they’re not constant draws. A constant draw is easy and quick to find. A draw that only happens when some module or other wakes up is a lot harder to find.
As an example, my 2017 Corolla runs the fuel pump for a while 5 hours after shutdown to test fuel system pressurization. I didn’t even know until I recently started parking it inside and I finally heard it running.
I had to sleep in a work truck once and every hour or so it would modulate the shutters in the air vents to refresh the air in the cab or something. The click and buzz whir kept waking me up, it was quite annoying.
I drive a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee. I get asked if I'm interested in selling it at least once or twice a month, nowadays. The sightlines are amazing compared to modern cars, its AC is OP, and the AMC 4 liter straight six is one of the most durable car engines ever made. Mileage is not great, but it's paid for and dirt cheap to insure, that buys a lot of gas right there.
Nice, I had a 97 Jeep Grand Cherokee and it was a great vehicle. I did have a problem with the doors falling off, which I think was a defect at the time.
Heh. Yeah, terminal door sag is an issue with these. I think I'm on my third set of hinge pins. At least they're easy to replace!