http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1595329/woz-advises-toyota-reboot
cars continue to exhibit the unintended acceleration problem turn off the engine and stop don't lock the steering & reboot.
Woz advises Toyota to reboot Always works with Apples
(8 posts) (5 voices)-
Tell that to the guy in San Diego when his Prius ran away at 95 MPH. He was STANDING on the brakes, pulled the emergency brake and FINALLY (after several attempts) got the engine to turn off. Then he coasted to a stop.
With few (if any) exceptions, Macs and PCs don't run down the highway at 95 MPH. They stay put! Even then, doing a hard boot is not always easy. They are so set now to protect the hard drive that there is a significant delay (several seconds) between the time you push (or hold down) the power button and they actually turn off!
Posted 14 years ago # -
copmom
MemberI think part of the problem with all these car problems is they also have computer chips and sensors in them that make things go haywire! Can't quite 'reboot' them!
We had a problem awhile back where the drive/park/reverse lights were all blinking on the dash, the car wouldn't go in reverse, or park, it acted crazy. Had it towed to the dealer, guess what? A rodent had chewed a wire underneath the car.. he even gave us a bag of 'droppings' to prove it!Posted 14 years ago # -
Copmom,
I had a problem many years ago that had the repair guys just scratching their heads. It was a 1980 Honda Civic Hatchback (semi-automatic). As is typical with Hondas, the lights control was on the turn signal handle. A strange short developed so if I switched on the left turn signal, the headlights would go out. If I used the right turn signal, the inside lights went out!
It ended up costing me almost $100 to fix - parts $16. It was that difficult to take the steering column apart to get TO the part.
And that was just a short - no electronics involved. If the electronics is involved, it can easily cost $1000 to just replace or reprogram the chip involved!
It costs about $100 just for a KEY now and that's not one that has the button to lock/unlock. It has a sensor that's needed to start the engine. You need the key AND the sensor before the engine will start. That's getting a bit too fancy!
Posted 14 years ago # -
Terri218
MemberI hate those chips. I had a Saturn that had a problem where they needed to disconnect the battery to fix it. This was about a month before my birthday. When they reconnected the battery, all of the emissions information had been wiped out so when I went for my emissions test, I failed. I had to pay a late fee because it didn't pass emissions until after my birthday. What really hurts is that there was nothing wrong with the car and it wasn't emitting what it shouldn't have - it was just the stupid chip that didn't compile the information quickly enough.
Posted 14 years ago # -
Anonymous
Unregisteredhttp://www.nzherald.co.nz/motoring/news/article.cfm?c_id=9&objectid=10632364
Toyota not sold on 'runaway Prius' claims.
as for in New Zealand Toyota are good but we get the jap ones most are old not one Toyota in NZ been bad no runaway in NZ, as for stupid chip so they go all the time as for disconnect the battery it a big no no as you will need to rest all big job you can get 9v jump battery that plug in to the lighter to keep the power up to change the battery so on.
Posted 14 years ago # -
ibwebb
MemberI remember the good ol' days.. when I could work on a car and even diagnose the problems with cars.. though I guess that shows I am old LOL. Anywho, on this whole thing with cars I have one to make you all cringe. I have a 2002 PT Cruiser. When you lose power (change batter, unhook for whatever reason) you have to retrain the transmission. There is a computer hooked to the transmission that monitors how you drive to try and make the transmission run at maximum efficiency for you. So, you can either go to the dealer and pay $50+ to have them hook it up and download the standard shifting to start or you can go out for a 20-30 minute drive following a list of procedures to get it reset (various speeds and stopping). Though I have had several mechanics tell me that I should just go out and drive it for about 20 minutes around the city and it will retrain to my driving...just for that 20 minutes it will shift hard and not seem to shift right. That is just one of the 'fun' parts of owning a PT Cruiser.. btw if you decide to ever buy one make sure it is NO OLDER than a 2004. They changed some of the 'programing' and such starting in the 2003 and on that make them more reliable and better cars (found out after I bought mine *sigh*).
Posted 14 years ago #
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