[T3] cool weather idle hunt

[Keith Park]

"As for aging capacitors, there are no electrolytic caps in these 
brains. Bosch was smart enough to avoid them. The types that are in 
there should last forever. Transistors are more likely to have an 
internal bond failure, expecially the ones in the metal cans; the 
more modern epoxy style seems to be much less prone to failure from 
vibration."  

Jim, Hope you continue to feel better.

A famous old radio person once told me "Theres no such thing as a good old
capacitor"  and even the mica ones fail once in a while.

The ones used in our control units were excellent quality, Bosch had alot
on the line with these systems, but after 50 years, moisture leaks in thru
the leads and especially in an automotive environment, things dont last
forever.  I agree that transistors can fail, again from contamination or 
migration of metals inside them, they dont last forever either.

Anyone ever see that episode on the Pick n Pawn channel's Modern marvels
about "tin whiskers"? It describes how these semiconductors fail with age
and I was the person who did the failure analysis on the op amp that
scrammed the Nuclear reactor on CT.

KEith