My truck died last night

Thanks to the internet these companies will not get away with all of this poor engineering anymore i hope.

And if you are an engineer Please STOP using and making plastic parts on the engine !!!!

I have had a fantasy for many years about a movie where one of these pieces of crap breaks down in the middle of nowhere but through a miracle the poor person gets picked up by a millioniare, and then they go find the engineer,
drag them out of bed and dump them at the site of the broken down car, and he has to stay there and get it fixed.

Then when the engineer recovers he goes back to his factory and gets the changes made to the piece of crap.
Then the company gets fined for letting it happen even after reports of failures did not get them to do anything.

I bet the people watching this movie would be standing up cheering and whistling.

The plastic wiring plugs seem to be reliable until they get old.
But if The just used good wires on terminals it would never break down.

I would bet that if you advertised a car that has no plastic engine parts it would be a BIG hit !!!

 

OK...The van is history.

A young guy came and looked at the van and decided to buy it and try to do the repair.
I sold it to him for only $500.00 I wish him luck.

Glad it is gone.

Then I was looking at more vans thinking maybe a van with a different engine.
Then I found out that they sell the Ford FE-150 with a V6!!
I found out to change the spark plugs in the V6 you must first REMOVE the intake manifold!!! Not kidding. Cheeeessshhhh!!!

Can't the USA make a decent van that is easy to work on?

The Ford vans had the same body style from 1992 until the present day.
But in 1992 you could get the van with a 351 V8 cleveland engine.

Stlll looking for alternatives.
There are two kinds of people... People WITH vans, and people LOOKING for vans.

 

Have you considered something other than a Ford? We all have our own personal experiences with each of the Big 3. You've listed several continuous issues with Ford. All of my Dodge/Ram products have been outstanding as far as transmission/engine goes, but it seems the front end needs to be replaced every 75,000 miles (tie rods, control arms, whatever).

As far as getting away from plastic parts - ain't gonna happen. There is too big of a push for lighter, more fuel efficient vehicles. Having all metal adds weight, and it won't happen. The reality is that most customers are not going to be like you Donald - they are going to look at a window stick that says 34mpg and that's all they care about. Not how its made.

By the way, are you talking about that EcoBoost in the F150? Same HP and Torque that they provide out of their V8. Magazine reviews have been fantastic on it, but its relatively new.

 

Maybe we should start an "Occupy Detroit" movement. :biggrin:

 

I'd say more then slightly. I had a 1991 S-10. Door latch broken, cracked manifold, busted radiator, dashboard lights didn't work, parking brake didn't work, and went through a quart of oil every 3 days. That thing broke down ever other week all by 110,000 miles

I have a 1995 Nissan hardbody 4x4 186,000 and has never left me on the side of the road.

My 2000 maxima has 198,000 miles and still going strong. I replaced an ignition coil at 101,000 the mass airflow sensor at 140,000 and the a/c compressor at 180,000. (I also replaced the alternator at 180,000 because you have to remove the a/c compressor to do it.) that's it.

I don't think I'll ever own an "American" vehicle. Both my nissans were built in Smyrna TN. Built by Americans in America. So I wonder where the weak link is...

 

You're whole column went clunky or just the intermediate shaft??

 

Sorry, mild threadjack. Donald, go buy a Chevy and send that blue oval out to pasture, it'll store lots of bike parts, like a shed!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

The Nissan NV is uglier than the south end of a northbound baboon, but worthy of serious consideration for the simple fact that it wasn't designed by penny-pinchers in Detroit.

 

Looks like a Cube on steroids, still ugly as hell though.

 

Soft body armour required by Michigan Workers Compensation Board

 

Not exactly sure but suggest it was the intermediate shaft cause the part was only $200.00 and 1/2 hour labour to install. Apparently a common problem with just about all GM products of late. Not a safety issue, just annoying.

 

That thing is butt ugly and I f'ing hate those cubes

 

I know how to fix all the problems with the corporations. First- Have people answer the phone when people call. Second- Do not design or do anything that does not make sense. Third- Do not make critical engine parts with plastic. Air filter housing etc., OK. Fourth-Make items that need to be serviced easy to reach and sensible. Fifth- Ask mechanics and garages Including independent garages about design problems and parts that break all the time. Get a list and start fixing the problems. Sixth- If a part or particular model keeps breaking - fix it. Seven -ask the factory works what needs to be changed. Eight- Look at Japanese car parts and figure out how to improve them and learn what is better or worse than the competition. Nine- Always make the car to be easy to work on. It benefits your company and the public. Ten-Make parts interchangeable. If you have a fuel pump for instance, try to use it on as many cars as possible. Eleven- Move the OBDII scan port out from under the dash to a more convenient location. Like in the dash? Or just put a permanent scanner in the dash that can be read anytime..no plugging in. It could be an option at least. Make the workshop manual as good as the Renault R5 factory workshop manual. So many possibilities.

 

As a sculptor I agree. There is something about that design that bothers me.
The van they make with the tall roof looks better to me than the regular model.

Just need a minor change.

OK...I fixed the two big problems
Either the windshield has to be lowered 2 inches or the roof has to be raised 2 inches. Seemed like the roof was just cut off above the windshield.
The second thing is the side of the van should be smooth above the half way point and it needs a longitudenal step or bump to make a shadow down the side of the van.
Like this.

 

Toyota recalled a bunch of Tacoma's and T100's for a steering stem replacement, my T100 included. Seems they had a tendency to crack and leave you with no steering. Two trips to the dealer..first time they called at the end of the day after having my truck all day to let me know they didn't have the part in stock, please reschedule. WTF?

Maxima's? Google power steering hose blow outs, almost guaranteed before 80K on certain model years.

Now my HP plasma TV blew an internal LG board. HP was replacing them for free for a couple years, I was unaware but lucky and it went a few years past the extended warranty before it blew. Now I'm stuck with a $100 repair bill.

There's bad engineering everywhere you turn. :crazy:

 

What really annoys me is when something is redesigned that has worked flawlessly for years, and the "improved" version is an unreliable and problematic POS.

Anybody out there ever own a mid-nineties Ford Ranger? Rather than use the traditional door jamb switch to operate the interior light, there was an internal switch in each door that went to a GEM (Generic Electronic Module), which then controlled the dome light and part of a warning chime circuit. When that circuit became problematic, the interior light would stay on and the warning chime would go off as you were driving. The GEM was mounted behind the radio, which could only be removed with a special tool, and a new GEM was about $400. Oh, and the internal door switches were prone to failure when exposed to moisture, i.e. rain.

And let's not even talk about heater cores and removing the entire dash to access them...

 

vfrcapn,

The problem with my steering column had something to do with this being a slip collar or something like that. Or likely a universal type joint on the column. Over time, that slip joint gets to the point where there is a little play and thus the clunky sound. Again, not a safety issue, just annoying. Kinda like some of my posts and rants you know. You can either ignore it or fix it. I tend to get these little annoyances fixed. When I cut my lawn, the lines have to be straight too.

LG. I have never been a fan or Ford. My father and all my brothers are. I can't understand why cause they too seem to have lad a lot more trouble with their vehicles than I ever did with my GM products, but I guess that is kinda like comparing Jiffy Peanut Butter with Kraft. We had a fleet or Tauruses that at about 80,000 miles we started developing leaks in the cabin. Leaks = mould = health issues. Seems the firewall seams kept failing on these and of course they were off warranty and it cost us a fortune to fix these. Now we have Dodge Charger Police packages for our fleet. Nice cars even though I am only warm to Dodge. They are turning our to be very cost effective though.

 

See to me, that is quite unaaceptable, there is no reason to replace whole parts reguarly on a 75,000 mile vehicle. I have taken several cars to over 100,000 miles and a couple to near 200k and above and never replaced a single tie rod or control arm. If it is a one time deal, bad part whatever, that is OK, but regularly at every 75k for many/most owners? No, that, in this day and age, is poor design/engineering/assembly.

 

I'm a GM fan myself, mostly Chevrolet, although all my vehicles are Japanese at this time. I've owned two Fords and had silly problems with them both. But then again, my ex-wife had a 1994 Chevy Blazer which was a complete frikking nightmare. It was one thing after another, all of them just ridiculous.

I am convinced that the current crop of vehicle engineers and designers have had almost no practical experience with repairs. Even Toyota does some pretty stupid things, like putting the starter motor on some (if not all) of their V8's under the intake manifold.

 

I don't hve a starter motor. I used to get my son to get behind and push start me in my big assed truck. We moved him out yesterday so I guess I need to train my wife how to do that now.