EMP and car functions

[Sam Or I]

OK, I am writing a fan fiction for the third part of the video game Interstate '76. It basically takes place in the mid to late 90's and the estranged daughter Grove Champion (the main character of the first game) reluctantly takes up the mantel of a now outlawed auto vigilants.

So my question is would a strong EMP pulse fry a spark plugs, mechanical distributor and ignition coil (70's car technology)?

[loomer]

70s technology? I imagine the cars would function just fine. Everything on the subject I've read indicates that those wouldn't really be damaged by an EMP, since they're more robust than a lot of the stuff in more recent cars.

[Gunhead]

Spark plugs, distributors and ignition coils withstand large currents when operating normally. At best there might be some temporary misfires and other small malfunctions but no permanent damage at least to the primary ignition circuits. Some less robust car electrics might suffer damage, but it depends on a variety of factors like how powerful the EM pulse is.

-Gunhead

[Elheru Aran]

Yeah, cars didn't really become very electronized until like the late 80s, and even then you didn't see a whole lot of it until the mid or late 90s. A '70s era car isn't *that* far removed from a 30s car technology-wise, it's just more powerful and has a few more perks-- but it still runs just the same. No widgets to go "hey you missed the goddamn turn two blocks ago" at you. At the most extreme-- if it's right by an EMP burst-- you might see the electronics overload and burn out the fuses, but otherwise you're just looking at some moderate to mild damage.

[Isolder74]

Most of the electronics in those cars are analog. EMP's mostly only effect digital systems because of the nature of how the circuit cards and microchips are put together. It might blow out the radios on the cars, if solid state, but most of the system in the engines are mechanical rather then electric. Am EMP wouldn't effect the function of the timing belt, etc. There were some high end cars that were starting to add electronic monitoring systems but they still mostly relied on the mechanical and analog system to make the cars run.

[Sam Or I]

Cool, thats the answer I thought it was but I had no backing. I wanted to make sure. I know a bit about cars themselves but not about how EMP interacts with with older electronics.

I know how much dues ex devices are looked down upon, but I could not resist blowing out the modern cars to give the hero and villian a jousting like match.

[Phantasee]

What about early cars with electronic fuel injection?

[Sea Skimmer]

As long as you don't have integrated circuits or vacuum tubes you can withstand a lot of radiation, EMP is a catch all term that people use for a wide range of very different radiation effects. Assuming you mean the kind of ‘EMP’ radiation you get from a nuke in space, and not from being near the atomic blast, the fuses might, indeed very probably would all blow of the engine was running at the time it was hit but everything else should be okay. The next most easily damaged part would be the ignition coil, which as a coil will pick up induced voltages far more easily then straight runs of wire.

Digital vs. analog has almost nothing to do this with it though on its own. Transistors are simply more vulnerable because they are very small and short out more easily, not because they are digital devices. Some of the chemicals inside them also don't like rads too much. If you had a digital computer made out of 1ft diameter wires and barrel sized transistors it would I dare say survive radiation levels that would cause instant drop dead death to the user. Meanwhile dump enough source radiation effects into a car and the engine block and frame will crack in half from neutron embrittlement, so this is all a matter of degrees, details and the specific design of the car.

[LaCroix]

Depending on the power of the EMP, you might blow the fuse box, as there is the starter motor and the generator in the car, which would cause harm to the battery, as well. Light bulbs might pop, as well. Anything strong enough to really damage these vital parts would mean that the initial blast would have hit you, as well.

So the absolute worst that could happen is that you have to replace some/all of the fuses and lights now, and the starter/generator/battery a bit earlier than normal. A diesel engine would even keep on running, as they don't need a spark.

[Sam Or I]

In the Tom Cruise War of the Worlds remake, I thought they were going to use the 1960's Mustang to help them get away. But he repaired a minivan instead.

(Because in my mind the Road Warrior is still possible after a few EMP bursts.)

[Andehtron]

I used to drive a 1980 Morris Marina ( Its the car top gear drop pianos on). My survivalist friend (well in his head at least) reckoned that I'd still be able to drive it come the end times. I think he had a point, the most advanced piece of electronics it had was an AM radio. Everything else was mechanical, manual choke and all.

[Andehtron]

In the Tom Cruise War of the Worlds remake, I thought they were going to use the 1960's Mustang to help them get away. But he repaired a minivan instead.

(Because in my mind the Road Warrior is still possible after a few EMP bursts.)

If memory serves, his son had abandoned that in town after a joyride that was put to a sudden end by the arrival of the evil tripod driving nasties.