What effect would an EMP have on modern day vehicles?

I think most of them and probally all of the old ones would be OK.
cuhulin

On 12/19/2010 8:53 AM, wrote:
> I think most of them and probally all of the old ones would be OK.
> cuhulin
>

Just rip out the ECM - if the car still runs it's gonna handle that high
altitude nuke blast just fine. You probably won't have a radio but
that's really a good thing because playing a radio will only attract the
atomic-zombies. Make sure you always go for a head shot!

wrote:
>
> I think most of them and probally all of the old ones would be OK.
> cuhulin

Doubtful. Anything with a PCM/ECM/TCM, electronic ignition or even an
electronic voltage regulator in the alternator has the potential to be
damaged. If the vehicle is off and you are able to disconnect the
battery(ies) before the EMP they have a better chance of surviving.

Pete C. > wrote:
wrote:
>>
>> I think most of them and probally all of the old ones would be OK.
>> cuhulin
>
>Doubtful. Anything with a PCM/ECM/TCM, electronic ignition or even an
>electronic voltage regulator in the alternator has the potential to be
>damaged. If the vehicle is off and you are able to disconnect the
>battery(ies) before the EMP they have a better chance of surviving.

Nahh, disconnecting the battery won't do anything much because the basic
configuration of the system remains the same.

The good news, though, is that the amount of digital stuff in modern
cars has required the shielding and ground configurations to be
dramatically improved compared with the cars of the eighties. When
you have proper shielding and you don't have ground loops, it makes it
that much harder for noise to get induced into the system in the first
place.

Back in the eighties it was not uncommon for a five-watt 2M transmitter
keyed up next to the car to confuse the ECU. The improvement in layout
and grounding design that has mostly eliminated these problems are also
going to reduce the EMP issues. Things have improved a lot since then.

EMP does damage because it is induced into cabling acting as antennae and
then carried into electronics. Filtering and high voltage clamping on
the electronics side, combined with keeping the stuff from getting induced
into cabling in the first place are the first line of defense.

EMP is really just the usual RFI suceptibility problem, just with a
whole lot more RFI.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

wrote:
> I think most of them and probally all of the old ones would be OK.
> cuhulin
>

You would need to go WAY back to the 70's to find ones that would still
run. Points and carbs would still be OK.

Anything with electronic ignition would be finished, Unless it was VERY
well shielded.
Modern vehicles don't stand a chance. Neither does about 90% of the
control systems for various items around the world. Anything that isn't
shielded from the EMP will shut down.

--
Steve W.
(\___/)
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