[alfa] re: Automotive reliability

[Joe Elliott <jee@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 11:26 PM +0000 11/24/03, alfa-digest wrote:
> Going out on a limb, I'm going to say the two biggest strides in
> automotive reliability (I'm limiting reliability to the engine and
> drivetrain operating well enough to get you to your destination -
> whether it be through thick or thin or on a nice sunny Sunday afternoon)
> are overhead valves and alternators.
I'm not sure what overhead valves really have to do with reliability, 
but the only engine I've ever seen throw a rod right before my eyes 
was a sidevalve lawnmower.  (That's also probalby the only sidevalve 
engine I've ever taken apart.)

As a student of engineering, I'm tempted to agree completely about 
alternators, for theoretical reasons.  But as a kid who grew up 
around daily-driven vintage Jaguars, I must say that I never heard my 
parents say anything about a generator, and those cars were 
rock-solid reliable.


> I'm going to cheat a bit and include that on occasion one's car might
> have a problem (on the way home). However, if you can pull into say a
> Standard Station (or?) and the mechanic on duty there not only has the
> part / parts required and can get you out in less than an hour, it only
> counts as a slight delay to your destination.
>
> (Just eliminated every Alfa - not to mention every non US or Asian
> automobile -  on the face of the earth with that one).
No way.  If you pull into a service station in most parts of the 
world, you'll have a lot more luck getting a Peugeot or VW repaired 
than a Chevy.  In fact, I remember a caller on CarTalk once--he was a 
USA military guy who took his Chevy Suburban with him to where he was 
stationed in Europe, blew a headgasket on the Autostrada, tried to 
get it fixed--the story reminded me a lot of what it's like having an 
Alfa in the USA.

Joe Elliott
'82 GTV-6
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