• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

What is it? Counter under hood

Share this page

H

hottvr

Jedi Warrior
Offline
I posted about this a while ago, but don't remember getting a definitive answer. The writing on it says % Life Used and Smith's Industries. It is inline with the speedometer cable. How can a counter tell how much life is left in the engine? Wouldn't it depend on how well you maintain your engine?
See attachment
Rick
 

Attachments

  • 219551-PDR_0045.JPG
    219551-PDR_0045.JPG
    83.1 KB · Views: 123
it was to remind you of service intervals, most of them went bad and have been removed
 
I'm guessing it is only counting the miles based on some pre-determined normal life expectancy. Say some magic number 100K+ before the owner can expect to rebuild the engine. But interestingly enough my B doesn’t have one, perhaps it was removed by a PO.

Anyway it’s intended use is probably no different than the modern computer in cars that monitor the hours on an engine (not just miles). That when serviced is simply reset either manually or in some cases using an OBDII code reader.

In fact my wife’s GMC is so high tech it actually emails me to tell me when something is ready to be serviced and sends me a monthly service report as well. Kind of neat - but I swear I’ll put 230grains of FMJ hardball in the CPU if it ever says “I’m sorry Dave, I can’t let you do that”.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
Thanks for the input. There is no reset switch on it for service intervals and it doesn't register miles traveled just a percentage of life left in the engine I guess.
Rick
 
Yup monitoring the miles alone isn't really that good of a way to track an engines life. Actual hours would be a better way to do this. But back then a simple mechanical setup like that probably seemed like the best way to do it without getting too complicated & costly ($$$).

Kind of reminds me of those old “Performance Meters” located in the center of the dashboard of a lot of late sixties Mopars. My 67 Barracuda had one that was nothing more than a fancy faced vacuum gauge with a hose attached to the intake manifold. Nothing more than eye candy & totally useless doohickey thingamabob to anyone remotely knowledgeable about engines. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
That is a 'service interval counter' (SIC).It senses nothing but miles. At 25000/30000 miles (it's been so long I cannot remember) it turned on a light on the dash or console. MGB's have an 'EGR' light . Other LBC's something else. Anywho , that is what that light that you have not seen illuminated is for. It is hard-wired into the wiring harness which is why you will find most of them cut. At the dealer , we reset it with a paper clip. You will see a paper clip size hole on the side of the SIC. All it is telling you is that it is time to check the emissions system.

Alan T
 
I *believe* that it was found only on the 1976 models...*maybe* the 1975 as well (but I don't think so)
 
ya... my 76 has one. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
Thanks for the info. I'll look for the paperclip sized hole. My EGR light does come on when I start up the car.
Rick
 
75 & 76 (ok 74.5 too) the first of the Rubber bumpers, with their raised ride height, no swaybars & the strict emissions equipped the truely dark years... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

When you think about it - it kind of makes sense they’d adapt a worthless gismo like that. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif
 
oh, and what a grand piece of techonology it is... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
and 30 years from now it will make the 75 and 76's worth exactly .0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000273 peso's more valuable than later year b's with out it
 
My 74.5 GT did not have one of these boxes...manufactured in December.
 
My 76 TR6 has one, just noticed it today actually....It reads 000....so I guess my engine must be brand new /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Back
Top