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OP
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No update yet. I’ve been away and haven’t called or received a call. Should know more by the weekend.
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2011 Aston Martin V8 Vantage N420 Goes Full Lockdown
- Thread starter Editor_Reid
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OP
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Just got a phone message this afternoon that the repair is completed and I’ll try to pick it up Monday.
Fingers crossed that I won’t have to remortgage and that the repair corrects the root cause and there will be no reoccurrence.
Some people call me a dreamer.
Fingers crossed that I won’t have to remortgage and that the repair corrects the root cause and there will be no reoccurrence.
Some people call me a dreamer.
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OP
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OK, today I picked up the Aston Martin from the shop here in Portland. There is no Aston Martin dealer in Portland, so the shop I use is probably the best choice (and may very well be the best choice even when there IS a dealer handy). The entries on the work order include:
Diagnose and replace waterlogged engine compartment power distribution box.
Repair extensive wiring damage due to corrosion at fuse box/distribution box connectors.
Labor cost was $1350 (probably a fraction of what I would have paid at a dealer).
Parts cost was $553 (cheaper than I would have thought, all things considered).
Here's the old, waterlogged engine compartment power distribution box:
<-- Note water stains from multiple, long-term standing water episodes.
This distribution box was not installed in a place where it would normally be protected from water. So here are my theories:
1. Aston Martin is a new company and their designers and engineers are trade school drops outs, so obviously they don't know any better than leaving electrical components where water is likely to enter.
No, wait a minute, Aston Martin is a decades old company.
2. Aston Martins are made in England, and since it never rains there and moisture is never an issue, it's not surprising that they designed, engineered and built a car without adequate, or even the most basic, moisture protection for electrical components.
No, wait a minute, it rains all the time in England. Cars built there should be as waterproof as submarines.
Hmmm ... so what could explain this? Maybe it's just being the world's worst engineered and designed cars since the Yugo? I'm leaning toward that theory.
And the shop owner tells me that I was just lucky that they were able to save the engine compartment wiring harness. That's a $2,000 part, and Heaven only know how many hours it would have taken to install.
Postscript: The Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) light had illuminated prior to the last trip, and adjusting the tires to the recommended pressures didn't make it go out. I know that this is far, far advanced design and engineering, but wouldn't it be great if they could invent a system where the warning light goes out when the tire pressures are adjusted to recommended pressures?
No wait, every other marque in the world has that system. Only Aston Martin can't seem to manage it.
But can't the shop reset the TMPS light? Gosh, it's annoying to have that warning light flashing at you when the fault has been corrected.
No wait, the tool to reset it is an Aston Martin proprietary item that only the dealer has. So unless and until I drive the 180 miles to the nearest Aston Martin dealer and pay Heaven only knows how much for a factory-trained mechanic to reset it, I'll be driving around in high style with a warning light flashing, and be unable to pass the next bi-annual Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (Oregon DEQ) smog check (no warning lights may be illuminated to pass the test). On the bright side, maybe the warning light bulb will burn out by then.
I have formed an opinion about the marque Asston Martin. I don't think I need to elaborate.
Diagnose and replace waterlogged engine compartment power distribution box.
Repair extensive wiring damage due to corrosion at fuse box/distribution box connectors.
Labor cost was $1350 (probably a fraction of what I would have paid at a dealer).
Parts cost was $553 (cheaper than I would have thought, all things considered).
Here's the old, waterlogged engine compartment power distribution box:
<-- Note water stains from multiple, long-term standing water episodes.
This distribution box was not installed in a place where it would normally be protected from water. So here are my theories:
1. Aston Martin is a new company and their designers and engineers are trade school drops outs, so obviously they don't know any better than leaving electrical components where water is likely to enter.
No, wait a minute, Aston Martin is a decades old company.
2. Aston Martins are made in England, and since it never rains there and moisture is never an issue, it's not surprising that they designed, engineered and built a car without adequate, or even the most basic, moisture protection for electrical components.
No, wait a minute, it rains all the time in England. Cars built there should be as waterproof as submarines.
Hmmm ... so what could explain this? Maybe it's just being the world's worst engineered and designed cars since the Yugo? I'm leaning toward that theory.
And the shop owner tells me that I was just lucky that they were able to save the engine compartment wiring harness. That's a $2,000 part, and Heaven only know how many hours it would have taken to install.
Postscript: The Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) light had illuminated prior to the last trip, and adjusting the tires to the recommended pressures didn't make it go out. I know that this is far, far advanced design and engineering, but wouldn't it be great if they could invent a system where the warning light goes out when the tire pressures are adjusted to recommended pressures?
No wait, every other marque in the world has that system. Only Aston Martin can't seem to manage it.
But can't the shop reset the TMPS light? Gosh, it's annoying to have that warning light flashing at you when the fault has been corrected.
No wait, the tool to reset it is an Aston Martin proprietary item that only the dealer has. So unless and until I drive the 180 miles to the nearest Aston Martin dealer and pay Heaven only knows how much for a factory-trained mechanic to reset it, I'll be driving around in high style with a warning light flashing, and be unable to pass the next bi-annual Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (Oregon DEQ) smog check (no warning lights may be illuminated to pass the test). On the bright side, maybe the warning light bulb will burn out by then.
I have formed an opinion about the marque Asston Martin. I don't think I need to elaborate.
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For many things that are just too pretty to look at, maintenance costs are extremely high.
trrdster2000
Luke Skywalker
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Reid, as info, the XK8 Jaguar has the main ECI and several control boxes in two compartments on the back of the firewall with plastic covers over them.
Here is the kicker, at the very bottom of each box is a tube that empties the ingress of water down to the ground. Guess what happens when they get blocked up. They also just clip on to the side and any little knock disconnects it. We have many members talk about that section being full to the top with water.
Might want to look at the manual and see if the same design team thinking that was a good idea installed those in your car.
Great to hear all is well for the moment.
Here is the kicker, at the very bottom of each box is a tube that empties the ingress of water down to the ground. Guess what happens when they get blocked up. They also just clip on to the side and any little knock disconnects it. We have many members talk about that section being full to the top with water.
Might want to look at the manual and see if the same design team thinking that was a good idea installed those in your car.
Great to hear all is well for the moment.
OP
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I agree that it could have been MUCH more expensive. I'm actually surprised that all those parts shown in the photo in my last post came to only $553, retail.
I agree that "exotics" are expensive to own and maintain (and repair) and that I got off cheap this time, but the bigger question is, Why was this repair necessary at all? Just make the Engine Compartment Power Distribution Box waterproof. How hard is that?
It doesn't have to be expensive to own an "exotic car." They could simply be well designed, engineered and built. They could be as reliable as a Honda. Why is that option off the table?
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I presume there aren't other signs of a possible "flood car" (or similar)? Do you know the history of the thing?
Amazes me (guess it shouldn't) that there isn't a simple re-set for the TMPS! Even if not auto-reset by taking the tires to the correct pressure, others have a re-set system (sometimes found deep within menus on the main screen).
Amazes me (guess it shouldn't) that there isn't a simple re-set for the TMPS! Even if not auto-reset by taking the tires to the correct pressure, others have a re-set system (sometimes found deep within menus on the main screen).
OP
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I know the history of the car. One previous owner. Purchased at Dimmitt Auto Group in Florida. The first owner traded it in and I bought it from the same dealer after seeing the ad for it on eBay (an ad, not an auction). I have the service history.
It doesn't seem too much to ask for the TPMS warning light to go out once the tire pressure(s) is/are adjusted to factory recommendations, but apparently it is. If they ever work the bugs out of these things called cars, I think they could catch on.
Meanwhile, my Bugeye Sprite is in top form and ready for the drive to Deadwood, South Dakota in September. No TPMS. I'm safe.
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Is this the one you keep in Louisville (was it?)?
OP
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No, this is the one here in Portland with me.
The one I keep in Louisville will get exercised later in September when I drive it to Encounter in New Jersey.
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Wait a second. I thought you got rid of a dark blue-purple one with a big stripe down the middle. That one?
OP
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No, that one is long gone. My current Portland-based Bugeye is also Nevada Beige, has a 1275, five-speed, front discs, alternator with tach conversion, electric fuel pump, factory hardtop (white), Minator wheels, rear-mounted Lucas 576 driving lights, and voltmeter.
I claim the honor of being the only person in history to own two Nevada Beige Sprites, or at least the first person to have owned two simultaneously.
And neither has a TPMS. Or any warning lights for that matter, unless you count the ignition light, and it goes out when the fault is corrected. No special dealer-proprietary tools required.
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Maybe I saw it last year at ABFM... did it win? Anyway, perhaps I'll see it this year.
OP
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I haven't entered a car in the Portland ABFM in several years. I attend as a volunteer with the Columbia Gorge MG Club. However, this year I'm going to miss it for the first time in many years as I'll be at Conclave in Deadwood, South Dakota.
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Ah, right. Last year (I think) the "people's choice" for a Bugeye was a Nevada Beige one.