Look what my trucks ECM printout told me (big brotherish)

[Wayne M.]

This is stuff that concerns me. I always thought about removing the computer if I ever got into trouble. I have seen the data stream of a lot of different medium and heavy trucks. I know critical crash info is available with mack's vmac system. A friend bought a '06 Impala and has onstar etc. GM Emails him monthly with his mileage, oil life remaining and other info. He dosen't like it at all!



Just wait until OBDIII comes along! We haven't seen anything yet!

 

[RDyson]

There was a test recently by Ford that recorded the last words of the driver before a fatal accident- In forty-seven states those last words were "OH S---".

In Texas, Arkanas and Tennessee the last words were -----

"HOLD MY BEER AND WATCH THIS"



Denny

Have a nice day

That's a good one. :-laf



Randy

 

[mclunas]

on the new cat equipment they have a program called vims. it will tell you just about any thing you want to know... strut pressures, how much boost your gettin, how much engine is derated etc. etc. etc. its pretty much a tattletell system. its nice for us mechanics though cuz we can tell by the engine hours what operator it was that did it... it tells us if their abusively shifting, coasting in neutral. blah blah blah. . it is amazing what ecms can tell you now days

 

[CBeeman]

Ok I finially figured out how to put pictures on here. There are 2 pics in my gallery. From a 99 Dodge. Not sure how accurate some of it it is... Max engine speed 7506 RPM!!!!... I doubt it. (It was in for a crank sensor)

 

[tgordon]

If you wanted to subscribe to it Deere has been ofering it for a couple of years on farm equipment. Online in the office one could see what gear, ground speed, engine temp etc. Working in service it is very nice to have this info at your disposal, especially with how fast everybody expects everything repaired now.



What can you say, its a douple edge sword. I'll stick to my 2'nd gen and my CJ7 with very few computers on either one, not none, but few.



C D Day, that was hilarious:-laf :-laf

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

It gets worse. The service manager at one dealership around here said in the very near future vehicles will be given updates automatically via satellite. A system similar to Onstar. You'll just be cruising down the road and a message will go across the screen saying "update in progress" or something like that.



Haven't gotten this confirmed by anyone else but it wouldn't surprise me if it happens.

HMMmmmm - you mean Microsoft is now, or will be, supplying automakers with the computers our vehicles contain? :-laf :-laf

 

[CSnyder]

Personally I like the ability to read a big trucks ECM because I was high bidder, but didnt meet reserve, on a Freightliner in CA and I contacted the seller afterwards and asked him what he had to have for it. He gave me a price I could live with but I requested he have the ECM read and fax me the paperwork and the printout showed 370,000 miles versus the 498,000 low miles he was selling it as. It made me leary real fast that this truck probably has 1,498,000 miles and has already burned up one ECM. It had also told me that top speed was 92 MPH at one point and IMHO if someone had driven it that fast they were probably pretty abusive to the truck's driveline. So with the ability to read an ECM I feel I saved myself a 25,000 dollar butt whippin'! Now I wont buy a big truck without having the ECM printout provided first. It sure helps keep honest sellers honest.



eBay Motors: 2001 FREIGHTLINER FLD CLASSIC XL ONLY 498K MI, CONDO (item 260108418795 end time Apr-23-07 18:00:00 PDT)

 

[BTowler]

There are good points to being able to read this data, but there is also a down side. The manufacturers wanted to use the data to deny warranty coverage because the vehicle was being operated outside safe limits. This is a clear invasion of privacy, if I purchase a car that is capable of going 150 mph and I decide to exceed the speed limit and drive 80-90 this is nowhere near the capabilities of the vehicle, but the manufacturers wanted to be able to use this type of data to deny warranty coverage.