There has been a lot of talk lately in the past week and months in the major news outlets and halls of government about the dangers and vulnerabilities of electronics to Electro Magnetic Pulses (EMP) either created from the detonation of a high altitude nuclear bomb explosion or a sun fart otherwise known as a solar flare.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...ld-not-ready-for-massive-emp-caused-blackout/
http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/12/opinion/gingrich-gathering-cyber-storm/index.html?iref=allsearch
http://time.com/93193/congress-hearing-solar-flares-electric-grid/
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/hearing-electric-grid-vulnerable-to-emp/
http://www.wnd.com/2014/05/expert-to-congress-emp-clear-and-present-danger/
http://newsfixnow.com/2014/05/09/congressman-mccaul-says-a-solar-flare-attack-would-be-catastrophic/
Since our Landcruisers are nearly EMP proof due to their almost entirely mechanical nature, it seems like it would be cheap and maybe wise to know how to make our vehicles EMP proof by installing stored spare parts in case Russia or another group attacks the United States in this manner. After all, if experts are telling congress this past week that the nation is vulnerable, why not have some spare electrical parts stored in a makeshift faraday cage ready just in case something happens. That way, you swap out the electrical/computerized part that was fried and now we are back on the road.
Guys, I'm not saying this is going to happen or is even likely to happen, I'm just saying it COULD happen. Its just like purchasing car insurance just in case, none of us plan on crashing our cruisers but it COULD happen, so we plan for it. So I think's it's pertinent to plan for this possibility as well. It's cheap to do, and has fringe benefits even if nothing ever happens just because you have spare parts. However, if it did happen, having one of the few running cars like the FJ40 which will run on all sorts of gasoline, avgas or propane fuels due to the lack of an ECM (or the BJ40 which will very easily run on Biofuels or vegetable/plant oils in a pinch) could be like winning the lottery.
I'd like to hear some of the guru's tell what Fj40 and Bj40 parts, (probably cheap ones)- that I and maybe we all should buy just in case. Like a spare voltage regulator ($18.99 AutoZone), older points style distributor ($50-$100 Junk Yard) and ..... Well, what else should we consider? It's not like these parts are all that expensive and it couldn't hurt just to have a spare anyway.
What about the stock alternator? I'm not aware of any sensitive electronics in them unless yours was upgraded to be internally regulated, I've kept the stock voltage regulator on mine.
Would the solenoid on the starter be vulnerable?
I'm driving an stock 77' FJ40 2F and '78 BJ40 w/ B diesel engine.
According to my research, an ungrounded metal trash can with a tight fitting lid would MOST LIKELY protect the sensitive electronics if there is a buffer between the metal and the parts such as a cardboard box. Then, if an EMP attack happened, just pull your spares out of the trash can and install them to restore proper functionality of the car afterwards.
For those of you who think this is stupid, I'm just a proponent of being prepared, and it is the Boy Scout Motto.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...ld-not-ready-for-massive-emp-caused-blackout/
http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/12/opinion/gingrich-gathering-cyber-storm/index.html?iref=allsearch
http://time.com/93193/congress-hearing-solar-flares-electric-grid/
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/hearing-electric-grid-vulnerable-to-emp/
http://www.wnd.com/2014/05/expert-to-congress-emp-clear-and-present-danger/
http://newsfixnow.com/2014/05/09/congressman-mccaul-says-a-solar-flare-attack-would-be-catastrophic/
Since our Landcruisers are nearly EMP proof due to their almost entirely mechanical nature, it seems like it would be cheap and maybe wise to know how to make our vehicles EMP proof by installing stored spare parts in case Russia or another group attacks the United States in this manner. After all, if experts are telling congress this past week that the nation is vulnerable, why not have some spare electrical parts stored in a makeshift faraday cage ready just in case something happens. That way, you swap out the electrical/computerized part that was fried and now we are back on the road.
Guys, I'm not saying this is going to happen or is even likely to happen, I'm just saying it COULD happen. Its just like purchasing car insurance just in case, none of us plan on crashing our cruisers but it COULD happen, so we plan for it. So I think's it's pertinent to plan for this possibility as well. It's cheap to do, and has fringe benefits even if nothing ever happens just because you have spare parts. However, if it did happen, having one of the few running cars like the FJ40 which will run on all sorts of gasoline, avgas or propane fuels due to the lack of an ECM (or the BJ40 which will very easily run on Biofuels or vegetable/plant oils in a pinch) could be like winning the lottery.
I'd like to hear some of the guru's tell what Fj40 and Bj40 parts, (probably cheap ones)- that I and maybe we all should buy just in case. Like a spare voltage regulator ($18.99 AutoZone), older points style distributor ($50-$100 Junk Yard) and ..... Well, what else should we consider? It's not like these parts are all that expensive and it couldn't hurt just to have a spare anyway.
What about the stock alternator? I'm not aware of any sensitive electronics in them unless yours was upgraded to be internally regulated, I've kept the stock voltage regulator on mine.
Would the solenoid on the starter be vulnerable?
I'm driving an stock 77' FJ40 2F and '78 BJ40 w/ B diesel engine.
According to my research, an ungrounded metal trash can with a tight fitting lid would MOST LIKELY protect the sensitive electronics if there is a buffer between the metal and the parts such as a cardboard box. Then, if an EMP attack happened, just pull your spares out of the trash can and install them to restore proper functionality of the car afterwards.
For those of you who think this is stupid, I'm just a proponent of being prepared, and it is the Boy Scout Motto.
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....as the articles and others discuss, it is a nuclear weapon detonated 7-10 miles into the air that would produce an EMP strong enough to wipe out all complex electronics with microprocessors of any kind throughout more than half the continent. Unless you were in the blast radius high above the earth in a jet, your body wouldn't even notice it happen unless you saw the flash, but the EMP created disables complex, small, fragile electronics for thousands of miles. The nuclear warhead is less dangerous detonated at the surface than so high in the air as obviously everything is now run by computers, even your microwave, and without those devices there would obviously be some level of anarchy until these devices were fixed. Since the articles, experts, pentagon officials and the military are openly and publicly saying this is a major concern, I thought, why not spend a hundred bucks or less on spare parts just in case.
