The next innovation is getting rid of the cam shaft and using solenoids to activate the valves. More things to burn out before 100k miles but they will be more efficient and lower center of gravity and reduce weight. Engines will get smaller.

 

...What will be the next break-thru, digital active stabilization perhaps?...

That is already there :

 

The next innovation is getting rid of the cam shaft and using solenoids to activate the valves. More things to burn out before 100k miles but they will be more efficient and lower center of gravity and reduce weight. Engines will get smaller.

Or will electric cars get here first?

 

E-cars are here! Old gas guys like me don’t like to wait to charge. Gas cars will have to keep getting more efficient and I can’t see it going away unless they figure out Mr Nuclear that run for 100 years on one pea size piece of thorium.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mo...s-valvetrain-finally-upon-us-technologue/amp/

 

The next innovation is getting rid of the cam shaft and using solenoids to activate the valves.

Wish they were doing it now. In the middle of doing a Chevy Colorado job right now. The engine has variable valve timing on the exhaust cam. The timing selector sprockets have a bad habit of going bad, they are on a third design of them and that is what I'm putting in now. You have to strip the whole engine down to do it, Many of the screws are hidden from view so I cut "windows" in the inner fender well to get to them, The fender well is a part of the body on these trucks, it's like a unibody with a real frame or I would have pulled a fender off.

 

Most garages will have a device to do this ... a 5 minute job

Don't know where you live, but not even dealerships here have a chassis dynamometer here.

 

Wish they were doing it now. In the middle of doing a Chevy Colorado job right now. The engine has variable valve timing on the exhaust cam. The timing selector sprockets have a bad habit of going bad, they are on a third design of them and that is what I'm putting in now. You have to strip the whole engine down to do it, Many of the screws are hidden from view so I cut "windows" in the inner fender well to get to them, The fender well is a part of the body on these trucks, it's like a unibody with a real frame or I would have pulled a fender off.

My '07 F150 suffers a similar ailment. Apparently, it is a "plastic" part. Hasn't happened to me yet, thank goodness. I like the idea of the windows. You could make nice round ones and cover with plastic plugs so they look almost "OEM."

 

Specifically, are you asking about the Ford Sierra or another brand/model of car?

I wasn't asking. I was just using my Ford Sierra as an example,that uses a proportioning valve

 

2000 Land Rover; 4 discs and ABS. Rear pads not worn at all, rear wheels spin freely with no friction, no wear on discs either. Am afraid they are not providing braking assistance to fronts...
-Just back from a 2500 mile trip-

Why even try to come up with some jury-rigged, half-baked, ad-hoc test? Take it to a brake shop, describe your concerns, and let them perform the proper inspection. Most places will do this for free.

 

My '07 F150 suffers a similar ailment. Apparently, it is a "plastic" part. Hasn't happened to me yet, thank goodness. I like the idea of the windows. You could make nice round ones and cover with plastic plugs so they look almost "OEM."

The fender has a plastic liner that will cover the windows. They are square due to all of the brake lines wire harnesses and other things in the vicinity. I don't understand why they didn't put them in at the factory it would make a mechanics life so much easier.

The valve position sprockets are metal, but have gone through 3 design changes that I'm aware of. 1. die cast hub and solid sprocket, 2. sprocket with lightening holes but the same die cast hub, 3. the same lightened sprocket but a billet hub. The hub being die cast zinc was the problem all along but took three tries to get it right. Luckily they all interchange and #3 is the only one sold now.

Got tired of seeing the check engine light on all the time. Doesn't really hurt anything but cuts both the power and the fuel economy down. But why you would ever design something that needs to have the steering gear removed( and if a 4X4 the front axle), drop the oil pan, take off the intake(inline engine!), power steering pump, alternator AC pump and all of the wiring off the engine, I'll never know.