F150 Black Box - How does it work?

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Mar 24, 2004 | 10:01 AM

HoustonPerson

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F150 Black Box - How does it work?

Does it record irregular vehicle events that are out of the norm? And how long does it retain that information?
And would it apply a date time stamp?

For example: Driving at speed with your foot on the brake?
Excessive Engine RPM?
Braking and sliding (skiding) and quick forward/reverse gear changes?

I need to know what happened to my vehicle a few days ago, is any of that information available in the onboard computers? If it is can a qualified dealer get it out?

Mar 24, 2004 | 11:31 AM

Dr No

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The first question i need to ask is did an air bag deploy.If not there is no info. in the system.This system was created to monitor the air bag system not for government or ford to keep track of your driving skill.No matter what you have heard around the water cooler no one cares how you drive unless there is an accident and someone is suing or has killed someone.The info is not available to the dealership employes.It takes a special reader to access it.The info is used when you say the air bag did not work in a crash and ford needs to prove that it did.

Mike

Mar 24, 2004 | 12:42 PM

HoustonPerson

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AFAIK it has nothing to do with Air Bags. I know that on some cars the information is available when cars have been driven outside of their parameters (like over-revving, abuse, or other conditions I mentioned). On some cars it is recorded until reset by the dealer, on others it is only in that last few seconds of a crash (which is not the case here). I did not know if the F150 black box had that capability or not? I personally have no concerned as to wheather Ford or the Governement is aware of my driving or not. It is the "other people" I am worried about.