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"Catastrophic Failure" sounds a bit dramatic.
by travelton 7y ago
"Catastrophic Failure" sounds a bit dramatic.
- chc 7y ago"Catastrophic failure" is a common engineering term that essentially means "complete and irreversible failure."
- Gibbon1 7y agoFor a regular car when I hear catastrophic failure I think scrap metal in the oil pan.
- LoSboccacc 7y agoyeah, they got the 2020 equivalent of a blinking engine check light, but !on a Tesla! so it's a blog post and on the front page nonetheless
- newnewpdro 7y agoAccording to you the 2020 equivalent of a blinking engine light is an immobilized vehicle. That alone is worthy of a blog post on the front page if it were true (it's not).
- LoSboccacc 7y agoyou are supposed to call a tow with a blinking light, so yeah. hardly different
- newnewpdro 7y ago> you are supposed to call a tow with a blinking light Citation needed.
- LoSboccacc 7y agojust open your owner manual, for most cars is standard steady light: maintenance flashing for a time: issues on the emissions controls, you risk on the long run to damage the converter or stuff like that fixed flashing light: something seriously wrong, like a misfire or worse, running the engine is actively damaging it. car runs in protected mode as not to leave you stranded in a dangerous situation, but you are not supposed to run it. what's your car if I might ask?
- newnewpdro 7y agoCitation from the 2003 SL55 AMG owners manual under "what to do if ... the yellow check engine indicator light comes on" Have the vehicle checked as soon as possible by an authorized Mercedes-Benz Center. An on-board diagnostic connector is used by the service station to link the vehicle to the shop diagnostics system. It allows the accurate identification of system malfunctions through the readout of diagnostic trouble codes. It is located in the front left area of the footwell next to the parking brake. And this is only after checking the fuel cap and ensuring the fuel tank isn't empty. They don't recommend towing the vehicle. There are surprisingly few conditions mentioned in the manual where a tow to the service center is recommended: brake system failure indicators, and visibly dangerous tire damage/vibrations. There is however substantial discussion of towing methods and proper towing procedure, mentioning significant risks of damage when done incorrectly. So we see, towing isn't some kind of panacea the manufacturers are eager to suggest - the process may break things like the transmission or body if done incorrectly, especially over long distances. It's a noteworthy difference in the failure modes of Teslas (and perhaps EVs in general) vs. conventional ICE vehicles. ICE vehicle drivetrains often fail more gracefully. The first vehicle I purchased, to rebuild before getting a driver's license, had a broken con-rod, yet it still drove noisily with a hole in the side of the engine block. ICE vehicle manufacturers do not actively disable a vehicle in a CEL-triggering condition. They want nothing to do with potentially pro-actively stranding someone, which could be a life-or-death situation like a snowstorm, just because some sensor is malfunctioning on an otherwise perfectly operable automobile. Requiring a tow is a self-evident condition. It's been generally left up to the owner to decide if they want to risk potentially costly repairs driving with an indicator light flashing.
- travelton 7y agoI was sort of expecting the car to have exploded, parts strewn about, and the steering wheel missing. Nope, just a check engine light.
- rightbyte 7y agoI've collected more miles on my last car with the engine light on than off. Earlier you could at least override false positives by just not caring.
- LoSboccacc 7y agoon is different than blinking
- antris 7y agoYeah, I totally expected there to be some kind of injury or at least a threat of it involved. But I'm not a frequent driver so I guess I cannot relate to these "catastrophes" as well as I could.
- MBCook 7y agoThe car could no longer drive. Short of bursting into flames that’s about as bad as it gets.
- jryan49 7y agoI think catastrophic to me would involve some sort of destruction of the car. Like it exploding or something.
- callesgg 7y agoThat was what I was imagining when reading the headline. The battery had spontaneously combusted or something like that.
- gleenn 7y agoI think you're downplaying the number of cars that actually do burst into flames. A car telling me it can't run seems quite undramatic.
- AngryData 7y agoSo what would constitute a normal failure? Because I wouldn't consider it a failure at all unless I couldn't drive.
- Alain-lf 7y agoIf you are late to work because your car won't start, say a bad starter or a dead fuel pump, would you really tell your boss that your car had a "catastrophic" failure?
- jessaustin 7y agoTFA mentions a "pyrotechnic battery" which sounds like a great feature for a military fort but not so much for an automobile?
- rzzzt 7y ago"Disconnect" also belongs to the expression - essentially, a tiny explosive is used to ensure that the safety switch disconnects the battery from the load side, permanently and without arcing: https://insideevs.com/news/334322/tesla-patents-pyrotechnic-battery-safety-device/ https://insideevs.com/news/334322/tesla-patents-pyrotechnic-...
- BeeOnRope 7y agoIt was a "pyrotechnic battery disconnect", i.e., basically a type of switch/active fuse using some type of small explosive charge as part of its operation. Here's the patent for all the gory details: https://patents.google.com/patent/US9221343 https://patents.google.com/patent/US9221343 The fact that this part has a "problem" probably means that it was triggered, e.g., maybe some type of false collision detection, short circuit or other failure which ended up triggering the disconnect.
- dasv 7y agoA pyrotechnic battery disconnect, which I suppose cuts the connection to the battery instantly in case of accident to avoid shorting it. There are already pyrotechnic devices in cars: airbags are pyrotechnic, as well as safety belt detents. It's the fastest type of actuator.
- sosodev 7y agoAre you sure? A catastrophe is often defined as “A complete failure” and the car certainly meets that criteria.
- tus88 7y agoMore like irreversible, total destruction. It may have been catastrophic for his afternoon plans, but the car has clearly be repaired.