The Tune Up - An Old Fashioned Job!
Friday, March 23rd, 2007Remember back in the olden days, like the 1970’s, when our parents drove those awful old Ford Country Squire station wagons? You know the ones, with the fake wood paneling on the sides, the saggy springs in the front, and the gas tanks that were stuffed up inside the rear fender well and forever rotted out from the bottom.
Those cars, like every other on the road, required regular motor tune ups; twice a year, was the recommended interval in fact. The mechanic, because he wasn’t a technician in those days, replaced spark plugs, ignition points and condensor, adjusted the ignition timing and the carburetor and sent you on your way.
Over time the words ‘tune-up’ became lingo for ‘my car doesn’t run right, that’s what will fix it”. And most of the time it did. Ignition points were a great invention for 1902 but 80 years later they were the root of most driveability and starting problems.
However, in the early 1980’s the first generation of car computers was upon us and the repair shop owners of the world had to begin a massive re-education process that still carries on today.
I’m sorry everyone, but regardless of what we were taught by our Dads as kids, there is no such thing as a tune up anymore.