SprinterPete

Is this the best place to get an answer to this question?

If my '013 OM642 equipped Sprinter van gets hit by EMP or CME what parts would I have to replace? I might consider buying the parts as spares and keeping them in a Faraday cage. Also where are good places to source the parts?

Thanks.

Micah / AF1 Rac

Pretty much anything with a circuit board would at risk from a strong solar flare or a nearly direct EMP type hit! It might be WAY cheaper and easier to just buy an old mechanical injection Dodge truck (then use sprinter as fifth wheel sort of tow behind) or an 80's Benz car in the fairly remote case of a strong enough solar flare to wreak havoc down here. It's not like many gasoline or diesel pumps would be operational anyway, so all vehicles would be fairly range limited for a while?

N_Jay

Somebody is worried about the wrong things.

Micah / AF1 Rac

Oh f-it, I'll admit it, I have a Cat 3306 150kw genset, and an 87' 190D just in case the world ever does go to ****. I can pretty much guarantee with the right CME type event my Sprinter, F350, W211 etc...are garage art for a while anyway. Ironic is that such a question is asked on the Internet, the first thing to go dark in the event of a millennial level CME aimed right at us, lol. Heck, my little Cessna with its twin magnetos will be my only surging gas burner in such an event...

N_Jay

The "Science Fiction Movie" / "Paranoid Prepper" concept of the outcome of an EMP or other EM wave event are so far off of reality they are hardly worth discussing.


"IF" (and that is a big "IF") one were to occur, the outcome is more likely to be lots of little and mostly intermittent failures of electronic equipment starting with the most poorly hardened consumer crap.
Automotive and aeronautical electronics (san communications) already live in a horrid EM environment.
The control of the power grid is mostly ancient electronics, and again, is designed for a horrid EM environment.


Ungrounded equipment is relatively safe, your car, a plane in flight, heck, even that piece or trash remote control on the coffee table.


Although our Keyless Go systems may be more susceptible than other car electronics.

Now your lawn sprinklers, home light dimmers, and home network equipment are likely items to shut down, lock up, or maybe even be damaged.

Micah / AF1 Rac

Working in a dyno room with an oversized eddy brake I'm dreadfully familiar with all sorts of electromagnetic and RF type interference. I'm far from a prepper type, no worries but I very much see where you're going with that line of reasoning. Your explanation is perfectly accurate, the environment automotive electronics must already survive in is insanely rich with challenging conditions. I didn't even bother with thoughts about an EMP type device as the only of the two realistic options in op we may experience one day is a massive x class CME type event. Part of me hopes it happens...I would love watching the local hipster community go insane without working smartphones and devices.

Modern automotive electronics are actually far more failure/trouble prone than they were a decade or two back however. Now EVERYTHING is talking over a CAN (controller area network) and some cars have as many as 50+ individual processors and boards that run everything from brakes, to lights, the engines and even the power seats. German cars are the most insanely complicated electronically I see around, yes I'm getting old, because I do miss stupid things like manual windows, carburetors, mechanical injection and the like. Just because something can be computerized doesn't necessarily mean it should be, SBC brakes are a perfect example in the 03-06' W211. At the same time without common rail injection and computer control, our cars would be no where near as quick or efficient as they are now.

Everyone has their quirk. If EMP/CME stuff really concerns you, old school all mechanical stuff is the way to go. Just make sure you have a good store of above ground fuel cause if things were to go seriously sideways in that sense it wouldn't be fun manually pumping up all the fuel you need from below ground!

20swrt

I agree with Micah. Get a reliable 80s/90s era Mercedes that can run with virtually no electronics. You can fit it with WVO/SVO/Biodiesel conversion in case you run out of diesel supply. It shouldnt cost you much to build/aquire.