Another unflattering piece...

[sdg3205]

This is from hemmings sport and exotic and rather a shock to me. They've been kind to the Delorean as long as I've been a subscriber. Here is yet another reinforcement of misinformation we will have to contend with. He essentially authenticates the Seinfeld/comedians in cars Delorean breakdown.


http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/06/25/vagy7u7u.jpg

[AugustneverEnds]

Yeah I thought this was a hark back to the days of incessant DeLorean-slamming. Also, how the heck does anyone think changing the thermostat on a PRV is all that difficult??? :confused2:

[OverlandMan]

Is this in the current issue? I've only had mine for a week or so and guess I haven't come to this yet.

[Josh]

Um what is he expecting? The thermostat to jump out of the engine bay and change itself? About as difficult as any old v8, two bolts and its out.

[DavidProehl]

This is from hemmings sport and exotic and rather a shock to me. They've been kind to the Delorean as long as I've been a subscriber. Here is yet another reinforcement of misinformation we will have to contend with. He essentially authenticates the Seinfeld/comedians in cars Delorean breakdown.


There was also the recent "For the Love of Cars" episode where almost the exact same thing happened as in Seinfeld (I've linked to the breakdown):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8qVdsl2opw&t=11m23s

[jmettee]

I've seen the CICGC episode & also just read that whole page. I am not finding the misinformation to be obviously apparent... :confused0: I still believe from that episode's audio that a fan belt broke & slashed a cooling hose as opposed to an actual overheat.

It's a guys opinion on the engines & I tend to agree. They are reliable engines when kept running & maintained, but there are many things on the engine that are a PITA to work on. If people don't maintain them, then yes, they become unreliable. The stock fuel system is way more complex & cumbersome than it should be, & it makes spark plug, spark plug wire, & distributor cap changes a longer job than it should be.....and covers about 50% of the top half of the motor.

[chris williams]

In for the 'Love of cars episode' it was a failed otterstat that caused the overheating, genuine breakdown.
Chris

[sdg3205]

Justin. I do post production audio for TV. Except for dialogue all other sound comes from libraries of ambiences, foley, special effects etc. it's all added after the fact, so don't rely on what you hear :)

Reinforcing the "crap engine" stereotype from cicgc and pawn stars exacerbates misinformation and only will serve to continue to exhaust us.

K-jet issues are common to every engine the system was used on, from volvo to porche, so fuel issues aren't actually inherent to the PRV design, but I totally agree that poor running is avoided with simple and regular maintence.

My Dmc was more reliable than my 2000 jeep wrangler, which fired cps's once a year with no warning. I'm never worried about the engine not starting. Electrical issues perhaps, but not the engine

[DavidProehl]

In for the 'Love of cars episode' it was a failed otterstat that caused the overheating, genuine breakdown.
Chris

Thanks for the clarification!


Sidebar for my own education: I thought those normally failed closed, meaning a failure = fans always running. Or is that not the case?

[dmc6960]

Sidebar for my own education: I thought those normally failed closed, meaning a failure = fans always running. Or is that not the case?

They can fail either way. Obviously failing closed would be preferred, but not necessarily the case. I had a "new" one which was failed closed immediately. The next one I had failed "open" after a week. 3rd time was the charm for me.

If you know that your otterstat has failed open, and its not your fans themselves of something else with the cooling system, you can use a functioning AC system to turn the fans on enough to cool the car assuming you catch it before it gets too bad. (use NORM and speed 4, that will reduce AC cycling the most) Thats for when your stuck in traffic and cannot get out for 15 seconds to put your emergency jumper across the wires. You do have your emergency jumper handy, right?

[DavidProehl]

They can fail either way. Obviously failing closed would be preferred, but not necessarily the case. I had a "new" one which was failed closed immediately. The next one I had failed "open" after a week. 3rd time was the charm for me.

If you know that your otterstat has failed open, and its not your fans themselves of something else with the cooling system, you can use a functioning AC system to turn the fans on enough to cool the car assuming you catch it before it gets too bad. (use NORM and speed 4, that will reduce AC cycling the most) Thats for when your stuck in traffic and cannot get out for 15 seconds to put your emergency jumper across the wires. You do have your emergency jumper handy, right?

Good to know! Thanks! End of sidebar.

[chris williams]

Yes, I had a new one fail after a week as well, seems some are not very good.
Chris

[NightFlyer]

The picture of the engine bay used in the article is a JOKE - missing are the stock/OEM fuel lines, stock/OEM plastic header bottle, stock/OEM coolant hoses, stock/OEM belts, probably doesn't have the Ducey alternator, etc. I can personally vouch for a FACT that a stock/OEM engine is VERY reliable - just took mine on 1,000 mile round trip to DCS/DPI that included drag racing, and I didn't have a single incident, despite all the fore-mentioned items (and most others) on my car being original and 33 years old. Engine temp stayed right around what Dave M calls the 'normal' mark (difficult to assign numerical values to the un-numbered marks on the gauge, as it's not an evenly laid out pattern) during the entire trip, despite ambient temps pushing 90F with an unblocked sun. When owners that don't know what they're doing start modifying crap - that's when you get problems, at least IMHO anyway.

[NightFlyer]

They can fail either way. Obviously failing closed would be preferred, but not necessarily the case. I had a "new" one which was failed closed immediately. The next one I had failed "open" after a week. 3rd time was the charm for me.

If you know that your otterstat has failed open, and its not your fans themselves of something else with the cooling system, you can use a functioning AC system to turn the fans on enough to cool the car assuming you catch it before it gets too bad. (use NORM and speed 4, that will reduce AC cycling the most) Thats for when your stuck in traffic and cannot get out for 15 seconds to put your emergency jumper across the wires. You do have your emergency jumper handy, right?

IMHO, experienced otterstat problems are indicative of 1) irregular coolant changes; and/or 2) a previously overheated engine (caused by another reason, such as excess air being trapped in the system).

The fact that some are having issues with new replacement otterstats would seem to support the adage of 'they don't make them like they used to,' and is more indicative of many of today's manufacturing processes being devoid of quality controls, than anything else.

My 33 year old stock/OEM otterstat continues to function perfectly, though my coolant has always been regularly changed and the engine was never over-heated due to other reasons.

When the media is basing its opinion/reporting on the performance of cars with an unknown service history, then it's crap journalism - pure and simple.

If they ever did an episode/article on my car, certainly it would sing praises of amazement and attest as to how robust and durable the drivetrain is, evidenced by how I'm still able to operate trouble free despite running all 33 year old components, right down to the stock/OEM Renault (for the water pump and alternator - which BTW is steel cored, something you don't see on any replacement belts) and Goodyear (for the A/C compressor) belts, and factory clutch fluid.

But episodes/stories about cars breaking down are much more 'lucrative' for such gutter journalists/media, unfortunately....

[Farrar]

how the heck does anyone think changing the thermostat on a PRV is all that difficult?

That was my first thought -- for me, that's one of the easiest jobs on the car!

[NightFlyer]

That was my first thought -- for me, that's one of the easiest jobs on the car!

I do envy the access you have to your distributor :approve: