[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

I have sent an email to all their IDs that I have. Let's see if they respond.

Three days on and the only response I've got is an automated script of the "We have received your mail and will be looking into it types". I'll write a reminder tomorrow and lets see what happens if anything.

[GutsyGibbon]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Complexity of system is obviously one part (more stuff means more that can 'theoretically' go wrong), but at least a part of it has to be corners cut on engineering standards in favor of cost competitiveness.

Are parts being made to high enough tolerances to be safe/reliable in extreme situations (which Indian conditions throw up often)? Looking around at all the stuff we use, not just cars, it doesn't appear to be the case.

Here is my layman theory.
1. The engine bays in modern cars now have a lot of plastic cladding. They are done for aerodynamics and aesthetics. These make excellent places for rats to build a nest. Once in, they can chew on anything and everything. It only takes one day for a rat to get in and get comfy. I have seen this in my front yard. I had done an oil change, and everything was fine - the next day there is a rat nest. There are way too many sensors and too many active wires to chew on.

2. The batteries and cabling have gotten better. Assuming a 0.02ohm resistance that is some 600A flowing through any short caused by a rat. All the plastic cladding is only going to burn really well. Also there is a lot of material used to reduce cabin noise from the engine bay that can burn well, very quickly.

Perhaps in yesterdays years, there was not as much of such material to burn. Perhaps it used to spread slow and would have been possible to be put out. With active vehicle diagnostics, there is circuitry that stays active even when the vehicle is off. Greater the number of active sensors, greater the number of active wires that can cause a short.