Originally posted by Kremithefrog:
a overheating detecting/shutdown device would be good, until it failed.
Now that I think about it, overheat auto-shutdown would be something that could be done purely on a software level, in the ECM. The already existing hardware of the ECM could easily perform the task. They could possibly even flash the overheat shutdown program right into the stock EEPROM chip.
But, the odds of some system like this failing, is no more likely to happen than a failed ignition module, or a bad fuel pump, which are both more likely things to cause a stall, than a software glitch in the shutdown software. Any system on a car can fail. Mechanical systems are always more likely to fail than electronic systems. Whenever electronic systems fail, it is usually due to mechanical reasons (i.e. a sensor, which is a mechanical to electrical converter, or an actuator, which is an electrical to mechanical converter).
