Some of you may not like what i have to say, some of you will agree.Not less then 5 minuets ago i read about a tranny problem some one has had in the trans/trans case section and now i am sick.This poor man had drained his tranny fluid on accident and had to have a dealer put it back in because you have to take out a sensor to do it.WHY???????? would they make such a horrible thing and then put it in a so called "truck" ( A.K.A big car ) I do not know how many of you are but me i think i would like to be able to check and replace my fluid on my own with out the hassel of taking the whole tranny apart.Why spend 20,30,40 thousand dollars on something that you have to take some where like a little kid would take a jar of peanut butter and ask your dad to open it for you. I want to know what happen to FORD tough farm and work trucks of the 70's and even the 80's.Theses were still trucks now a days you have heated seats and in dash navigation.WHY you can not figure out where you planted corn !?! Please give the trucks back and if you have to have all this go and buy a mini van or one of those cross breed car like truck things. The way things look i am going to have to rebuild what was real trucks till the day i die.

So am i right or wrong let me know if i am the only one sick of not seeing real trucks do what they were meant to ....Thanks


liberate,carburate.......soccer moms I hate

 

i agree all the way ,one problem though with what he did he tried to service one of fords transmissions that do not need fluid changes this method is becoming very popular with auto makers today.

 

i will also work on real trucks till the day i die

 

Thats dumb, i guess the car companys are trying to disurage people to work on their cars by puting on things that need special tools just to do a simple task. A while back i was talking to someone i know and he said he read an article in a magazine (dont know which one) about a Volvo (i think) that you need to take in to the dealership just to open the hood. I dont know if they are making it or if it is just a consept but i couldnt beleve my ears. Does anyone know what i am talking about?

 

They are sealing some systems in order to keep out contamination. They figured out that just checking the tranny or PS fluid caused more damage than just leaving it alone and fixing it if there was a leak. I still like the old trucks. It pays to check the owners or service manuals b4 you do some things...

 

My thoughts on the subject.

I too, like to tinker with my cars/trucks. Being able to check fluid levels, change belts, hoses, plugs etc. and having the tools to do so is all part of ownership IMO. Doing more major work requires certain skills that comes with experience.

I think the advancement in automotive technology, which isn't a bad thing when you think about it, is part of the problem with auto manufactures reluctance in allowing the average Joe to tinker with his own. Auto technology nowdays requires special lubricants and coolents for engines, transmissions and ABS. Engine performance and smog components that are controlled and monitored by on board computer that will tell you if anything is wrong. Someone putting in the wrong oil, tranny fluid or brake fluid not specified by the manufacture may void the warranty. Our new Saturn owners manual states this several times.

Is auto shop still taught in high school? It use to be that most guys took auto shop to learn about basic mechanical skills such as tools, shop safty and basic auto technology. There would always be a project car in the shop belonging to a student. Another part of the problem could be, if less is being taught in schools about basic auto maintenance the less there is to pass down to the next generation. I use to watch my dad grease the wheel bearings and do a brake job on his '65' Country Squire. This was at a time when, if a person got 100,000 miles out of a car and it still ran good, it was a gold medal moment. And he did. He taught me how to change the plugs, oil, check the brake fluid, etc. When I turned 16 and got my drivers license he bought me a tool set to go along with my first car, a '60' Falcon. Anybody here teach their kids? Knowing that todays new generation of car buyers may be mechanically inept may add to auto manufactures reluctance to make them user friendly under the hood.

Along those lines, the engineering on some of the new vehicles just plain sucks! Like putting an oil filter on sideways so when it's removed, oil spills down the side of the block and all over the hoses, wires, you and the floor. On front wheel drive vehicles getting to the back spark plugs can be very difficult. I use to have to jack up my mini van, crawl underneath, attatch three socket extensions and a univisal joint to the plug socket just to change the back three plugs. Changing the water pump, which was driven by the cam timing belt, required unbolting the engine mount in front of the pump and rigging a engine support while working in a very tight place. Serpentine belts can be another difficult task on a FWD. Anybody ever own an older V.W.? They were made for the average Joe to do his own maintenence from bumber to bumber. But I guess with technology comes a price. Creature comforts and mostly maintenance free driving requires the average Joe to take it in for an oil change or tune up when the check engine light comes on. Major work by comparison, like water pumps, fuel pumps, brakes, wheel bearings, etc., forget about it.

Most shade tree mechanics could probably do these things without too much trouble as they probably learned to work on vehicles and aquired experience before they became the mechanical nightmare they are today. People who own older vehicles usually do their own maintenance and have aquired these skills or had them passed down to them. But for the average Joe who owns a new vehicle and who hasn't done much wrench turning, some of the simplest tasks seems too difficult and it's easier to pay someone else to do it. And as such the next generation doesn't get the learning experience of watching dad fix the car.

 

In answer to the auto shop class, yes it is still offered in the vocational schools. They call it "Auto Tech", and upon completion you are ASE certified. (Right out of high school!) That scares me a little.

 

Time marches on! Time was, when I needed a valve job, brake job or a clutch, I just waited for a sunny weekend. I still have some of those wooden clutch aleignment tools, harmonic bal. pullers and brake spring tools that I will never use again. Thanks to assist from my friends in the Ranger forum, I was able to get my speedo working again with a VSS change recently - felt good to actually fix something again.
Dono

 

> Anybody here teach their kids?

Yes, my wife and neighborhood kids too.

As for not having a dipstick, the real reason they will not say what drives it is because it saves the OEM $2+ a car by not having a dipstick, a tube, and the tooling needed to make an extra hole in the housing. Plus, they do not have to design placement for it under the hood and that saves money all around.

It is purely deflection.

If they said they did it to save $2+ a car then you would curse them for it and not buy the vehicle. If they did it offically with it on paper, then sooner or later it would come out in a released memo. So, you decide in the bathroom to do it without any memos being passed around when you realize the cost of it and then say "wink wink" it is because of the superior technology when you are asked about it.

Meanwhile everyone from the president to the $300,000+ a year engineer with a 15 year NDA keep the same story line "because it is not needed" when the real reason was it was designed out to save the cost of installation vs. the chance the part will fail under warranty. The fact that it will fail after warranty and cause $2000+ worth of damage for lack of $3 worth of lube is not their problem anymore.

What I can not wait to see is when a seal or housing becomes defective because of a bad batch and they have to reinstall 500,000+ tranmissions for lack of a dip stick. Sort of like the 3.8s with the bad head bolts, but worse.

 

well i found something interesting on the internet for hondas in the next few years will not have oil dipsticks or oil drain plugs they are going to seal the engine so it will never need a oil change.lets see how long they last

 

Never need an oil change !?!?!?! i have heard some good pollock jobs in my time ( being i am one and all ) but that has to be the best i have heard yet -----

 

certified right out of hs...i dont think so. i looked into going into a technical school for automotive technology. you need two years of experience first. now going to school will get u one year of hands on exp, but the other you need to earn in the field, then you can take the test, and provided u pass can become ase certified in the particular section that u tested in. example, brakes, suspension, electrical...etc. you have to pass all sections (i cant remember how many) to become ase master certified.
With todays technology, i don't think any hs could accomidate the tools and equipment needed for todays vehicles....would be nice though

 

Again, they have figured out that a sealed component will have a greater chance of making it thru the warranty period without problems than having dipsticks etc. They can care less what happens after the warranty is up.

Your only choice is don't buy the vehicle if it has sealed components and tell the dealer why. Unfortunately they will probably just figure that it is better to let you walk than hear the screams later when you can't change your oil. Or when someone drills a hole in the pan and cover, puts in 5w30 Pennzoil, then screams bloody murder when the engine blows and there is no warranty.

But you must remember that there used to be grease zerks on front end fittings and U-joints. They sealed those up and guess what, -they lasted longer and while there were complaints they have largely been ignored or overlooked.

Personally I wish they used sealed bearings for wheel bearings. I hate greasing wheel bearings. There are many things that can go wrong when packing bearings. I would much prefer to replace a sealed bearing.

 

"I want to know what happen to FORD tough farm and work trucks of the 70's and even the 80's.Theses were still trucks now a days you have heated seats and in dash navigation.WHY you can not figure out where you planted corn !?! Please give the trucks back and if you have to have all this go and buy a mini van or one of those cross breed car like truck things. The way things look i am going to have to rebuild what was real trucks till the day i die.

So am i right or wrong let me know if i am the only one sick of not seeing real trucks do what they were meant to ....Thanks "




The problem here is that the target customer has changed. What's left of us "Good ol Boys" aint the only ones lookin to buy trucks anymore. The person who is capable and willing to turn a wrench on a vehicle and the person who can and will WORK a truck are far becoming the minority. Frankly, I dont count the guys who tow a boat or jetski once is a while as a person who works a truck. I'm talking about those of us who haul brush, rocks, dirt, tractors, septic systems, laddars, tools, generators, welders, fencing supplies, ect.
Our "breed" (if you will) is being over run by folks who buy a truck because they want to feel safer, be able to see more traffic, look cool, ect. Which is perfictly fine, but since there are so many of those kinds of buyers out now the industry is gearing more twards them.
What bothers me the most is how the "heavy duty trucks" are becoming so wimpy. Push button 4x4 and IFS is a 3/4 or 1 ton truck??? What the heck is that!?!? What kind of person seriously needs a 3/4 or 1 ton truck that actually expects it to ride like a car, or cares too much about power seats with lumbar. Or weather or not it has powered mirrors.
To me a truck is suppose to be tuff, hard working, durrable, and simple and easy to work on should it brake down. Not made of plastic and fiberglass.

Just the thoughts and opinions of a nobody counrty boy.

 

i heard a hummer oil change is three hundred, but i think maybe it costs that much for trans servive?