From Blacktop to Laptop, the "Tune-Up" has changed

It is not in me to divulge how long ago "back in the old days" might be, but suffice it to say I will stick to this:

"Back in the old days"...when I was growing up the phrase tune-up was an exciting proposition to a budding hot-rodder since it was probably a Friday afternoon just before you went out to challenge your buddies to a race at the strip. Regardless you were messing with your car which was always good.

After gathering all the acutrements of the pending job your afternoon started by looking at the carburetor. More often then not I re-set the float level, reset the idle mixture and on some days poured a can of carb cleaner down the carb throats as the engine tried it's hardest to continue to run. This invariably irritated your parents, killed some bugs and messed up the plugs which is why it was important to do first.

From here I check the points for wear, checked the points gap opening, clean and gap the spark plugs if not replace them all together. Look over the distributor rotor and cap for fouling and carbon tracks, check the plug wires for cracks and other signs of break down. I'd then pull the valve covers and set the valve clearances which by some miracle were never quite the same as I'd left them. Finally everything would go back together with a last check of the air cleaner by holding it up to the sun. If any light came through it had to be clean enough to continue using it right?

At best, and I mean if all the stars aligned and you stood on your tippy toes just so, the tune-up was spot on. You'd be able to count on it for a good fortnight if not a whole month and it never took longer than 20 minutes to clean the decidedly carcinogenic crud from your hands and beneath your fingernails. Now that is living the life.

Fast forward to now and it is difficult to understand how far the automobile has come. A tune up? Huh? Not today. Cars are so good today that parts last a virtual lifetime in comparison. There aren't anymore carburetors (good ridance even though I was good at it), no distributor, points, rotor or caps. Plug wires? Well yes in a manor on some cars but not all. Adjust the valves? I don't think so. Many engines control the cam timing and valve lift negating the need to ever look at the mechanisms much less adjust them so put away your feeler gauges as them days are gone.

So forget all this tune-up talk today. With the advent and perfecting of the ECU (the Engine Control Unit, a computer) we can now see what needs tweeking or replacing before we even open up our hand-tool box as the ECU will rat out any malfunctions it finds. Just plug into the OBDII port and read the results. OK, this too takes a computer but that is what I'm talking about. This is remarkable to say the least.

To add icing to this already tasty morsel of cake everything the engine is doing or is being asked to do can be displayed real time. Like right now. Glory be and haleluya! This saves tons of time looking and all of that high falutin' mental ciphering that went along with the guessing back then. Did I say that?

Some folks will rightfully argue that what I describe just isn't the same today since anyone could fix a car from "back in the old days". I can't disagree but none of those cars ever run as long or as well as most any modern computerized car of today. The tune stays sharper for much longer all the while the ECU is monitoring everything and making minute adjustments. If it fails the ubiquitous CEL (Check Engine Light) will call attention to the problem but the ECU will not let us down. It will find a way to let us get back home one way or the other. How great is that?

So what might be called a tune-up today is better described as a check over with the ability to modify some of the engines ECU controlled parameters if needed or desired. In many cases you don't even have to open the hood. Did I say I love it?

Ok, to us forty-somethings this computer stuff and how it all is interconnected can all be overwhelming at first but these newbies get it. They are intrinsically able to connect their computers to the car's ECU and with a few key strokes find out what is ailing their ride or make some significant changes to the engines behaviour.

These new hot-rodders are blessed with remarkable computer skills and the understanding of what is going on inside their car's ECU. They come from their mom's wombs somehow knowing how the interaction of TP (Throttle Position) , MP (Manifold Pressure) MAF (Mass Air Flow) EL (Engine Load) IAT (Intake Air Temperature) EGT (Exhaust Gast Temperature) FP (Fuel Pressure) RPM (Revolutions Per Minute) AFR (Air Fuel Ratio) IK (Ignition Knock) ST (Spark Timing) CT (Cam Timing) VL (Valve Lift) WT (Water Temperature) all relate and that these things should be addressed all together as a single cohesive functioning group all with the expectation of greater performance. One can always hope anyways.

Today we are having a ball with the current crop of tuner cars. These cars generally have some sort of forced induction (though not always the case) which give rise to some serious power when accompanied with the right ECU adjustments and/or hardware all of which attract the new hot-rodders because of the relative ease and huge reward.

The modern computer has brought nirvana to this industry and as stated is almost beyond comprehension. Today we can watch in real time all that is happening at that instant. Marvelous, simply marvelous.

In the end, it is because of this new breed of young people that I get to see this. The future is apon us and I enjoy, above all else, seeing the enthusiasm and desire to do what I did as a kid. Only these guys do it better by any definition.

Until next time!

PC

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