A Venting Thread!!!! FORD SUCKS!!!

[g15usmc]

So my sister ask me to look at her Escape as every now and then when she turns the key she gets nothing, but after repeated attempts it starts. Sooo, starter shopping we go. Found the starter and got it and the car home.

Start to pull the starter. Found it easy enough. Two bolts hold it in place, no problem, had the starter off the engine in about 20 minutes. Now the fun begins!!

In order to get it out, you have to pull the heater hoses loose, which of course requires draining the coolant down. So I get a bucket cleaned up so I can reuse the fluid, and go to drain the coolant. Well, after pulling all the stupid splash pans off the bottom of the car (I think they want it to look like an off road vehicle with skid plates......made of plastic....that I can bend with two fingers .... So much protection added here!!!) which adds another 30 minutes to the job. Only now I still have to look and feel to finally find the flippin drain....hidden behind the transmission coolant lines. So you can barely manipulate a pliers in to place to open the bloody drain. (yes by this time I am hatin on FORD!!!) Even then I can barely get a gallon to drain out. I know there is more in there, but it will not drain.

So I finally said F' the SOB, and pulled the coolant lines loose with a drain pan under the car. Coolant blows out the manifold line, and now I can finally move the lines and still battle to get the dang thing out around brake lines and transmission shift linkage cable. then have the fun of doing it all in reverse, and cycling the stupid engine over and over to refill the coolant through the overflow tank. It would be way to costly to put a bloody cap on the radiator of course!!

So, once again, a 30 minute job of getting the part removed and reinstalled becomes a 3-1/2 hour job to get the part out and back into place. And people wonder why I so enjoy working on these bikes instead!!

after you pull the drain plug you open the reservoir by undoing the cap and all the fluids drain out quick...i only know this because of doing this myself...of course you could have something blocking the drain too but i've never had a problem with it on any of my friends...then again it is FORD so theres always the possibility of something screwed up...

[webbcraft2150]

Thats why I like my 35 year old, gas swilling, rough riding, small block Dodge Power Wagon. No computers, no check engine light, no ride quality, no mileage, no payments. Hell, the high beams are activated by a switch on the floor. The headlight and wiper switches are in the dash. Yearly inspection is a song and were both so old, insurance is cheap. You can actually smack a shopping cart with it and not have to be towed off.

[Kronk]

Funny story about them Fords...

I leased an 08 F-150 in Nov. of 07 at 18 years old.... Long story short, after the 4th new transmission, and a half dozen power steering pumps, I bought an 09 titan last summer after power steering pump #7 went. Nissan payed me out 9 grande to buy out of the lease, and I figured since it was payed untill Nov. '10, I would park the truck at home incase something happened to the Nissan, and keep the ford till lease end.

I parked it with the drivers door about 6'' from the fence in the backyard. Got out the passenger door, locked it, and left it for a year and a bit...

Last month, I decided it was time to let go of my first truck, and get it back to the dealer with a few weeks to spare. So I grab the keys, and go to stick them in the passenger side key hole... NO HOLE?!?!

So now I think. Batteries are dead, so no chance of unlocking it, and gaining access. Hood is not popped, so no way to boost it. Closest Ford dealer is in Hinton (143 km south) and I need it to go to Grande Prairie (198km North) so calling Roadside assistance is out of the question.

I re-inflate the low front passenger side tire, and climb under hoping to hook a trickle charger up from underneath to the starter or the alternator to get enough juice to unlock it with the fob. 1/4'' cheap plastic skid plate (to protect the engine from... bugs?!?) with rock holes throughout it is blocking the whole engine compartment off... Manage to rip that out, and as I am getting more frustrated, say F&%@# it, and set the battery booster to boost. cut the back of my arm, and knuckles hooking up through the narrow channels to the starter. Touch ground to the frame, and WHAMM!!

Alarm goes off, and I smash my nose directly on the plug in the oil pan. Well I have power! Turned off alarm, and unlocked doors with the fob. Unhooked booster cables, and Nursed a bleeding nose...

Beer break!

Get in the truck, and pop the hood. Hooked up the boosters again, and the alarm goes off... again. Got that turned off with the fob, and got my heart rate back down...

Fired up the truck, inflated the rear tires, and pulled the truck out to the driveway, shut er down, and went to bed.

I wake up the next morning, drive it halfway to Grande Prairie, with my wife following me in the Titan, pulled over, and called Roadside. Said the power steering pump is shot, come take it away, and keep it...

Never again will Ford trick me into buying another Ford product. I'm just waiting for the bill for the lease return... The piece of plastic I pulled off is probably a $500 guard, and I'm sure they will install a new windshield worth fifty million dollars too!

grr

[stevestrom]

I believe it is more a matter of ignorance is bliss in action. Anymore, you have a "team" that designs the interior, a team for the exterior, a team for the aerodynamics, a team for the drive train, a team for the chassis, another team for the marketing that help guide the exterior.

All these separate teams often sit in separate buildings, or even separate states. Meet via teleconference once a month or so. And then when the car is due in two months to roll off the line, they start trying to BUILD it. Then, and only then, do all the pieces actually try to come together. And when something does not fit, one blames the other as to why. Then the other group get demanded to fix the other goups mistake so they do not care if it works right or not, as long as it will sell and outlive the warranty for 12 months. And thus we get the crap we buy. Instead of these people sitting five feet away where they know each other and care about each other and the over all product. Think of it like you building a house, the window mfg, could care less about the framing being twisted, and the brick guy could care less about either of them. Up to you to make them work together.

Sounds about the same as how a government is run!

[DGXSER]

I believe it is more a matter of ignorance is bliss in action. Anymore, you have a "team" that designs the interior, a team for the exterior, a team for the aerodynamics, a team for the drive train, a team for the chassis, another team for the marketing that help guide the exterior.

All these separate teams often sit in separate buildings, or even separate states. Meet via teleconference once a month or so. And then when the car is due in two months to roll off the line, they start trying to BUILD it. Then, and only then, do all the pieces actually try to come together. And when something does not fit, one blames the other as to why. Then the other group get demanded to fix the other goups mistake so they do not care if it works right or not, as long as it will sell and outlive the warranty for 12 months. And thus we get the crap we buy. Instead of these people sitting five feet away where they know each other and care about each other and the over all product. Think of it like you building a house, the window mfg, could care less about the framing being twisted, and the brick guy could care less about either of them. Up to you to make them work together.

[Larrym]

Chevys Ain't so Shiny Neither....

A Chevrolet Lumina had been abandoned in my front yard by the PO. Time went by and the door key ended up lost to known civilization.

At some point someone decided that they had to gain entry to the vehicle through the driver's side door. Result was that the window guides and lifting mechanism was mangled, the interior door panel was destructively pried off, and the door electricals were exposed to rain. The Battery had gone dead and the replacement battery they installed went dead the next day after installation because there was a drain on the battery due to the door electrical "short" circuit.

The years passed....

I diagnosed/corrected the problems and installed another battery. A lot of unnecessary damage ($$$) and work could have been avoided if only the PO had gained access another way:



It's knowing what NOT to do that makes repairs successful in some situations.

[Larrym]

Skinned Knuckles that Don't Bleed???

Managermike is spot on about "assembled vs serviceable".

Look at this:



Not picking on Furds, but this is the most automated vehicle assembly line in the world.

Kinda makes a human hand holding a wrench seem like trespassing on a robot's territory...

I do a lot of private service work: Armed with Mitchells On Demand as a guide. Still there's a lot of gaps as far as "How in the heck do I get that apart/back together?" I say those gaps are there purposely for the ordinary person to fall into and fail in their attempt to effect a repair.

[natemoen]

Just to chime in on this one.....I've been servicing cars/trucks for a living for a quarter centuryn now and have dicovered one truism, that appears valid across all makes and models, that explains why they are so maddeningly frustrating to reapair at times: they are designed and engineered to be ASSEMBLED, not serviced.

I never thought of it that way, makes total sense!

[Kronk]

Just to chime in on this one.....I've been servicing cars/trucks for a living for a quarter centuryn now and have dicovered one truism, that appears valid across all makes and models, that explains why they are so maddeningly frustrating to reapair at times: they are designed and engineered to be ASSEMBLED, not serviced.

we need a like button for comments like this

[ManagerMike]

Just to chime in on this one.....I've been servicing cars/trucks for a living for a quarter centuryn now and have dicovered one truism, that appears valid across all makes and models, that explains why they are so maddeningly frustrating to reapair at times: they are designed and engineered to be ASSEMBLED, not serviced.

[xs11jack]

I bought a 91 Dodge Spirit new. It had the v-6 and 4 spd tranny. The tranny quit just before the warranty went out. After that, no repairs until I sold it at 200K miles. At that time the valve stem seals were starting to leak a bit. I drove the car from St. Louis area to Mpls about 4 times a year, and one a year to New Orleans once a year. Thats why in 9 yrs it had the 200K on it. On the freeway it always averaged 33 mpg. Around town about 28 mpg. Now I have a 2000 toyota Camry with a v-6. Best mileage on the freeway is 30 mpg and 25 around town. Nine years newer and less gas mileage. And on TV chevy and other car companies are boasting 28 mpg. My, how technology has improved our lives!!! Biggist mistake I ever made was selling the Dodge. The Toyota needed a new thermostat. $10 at Autozone. About 20 minutes to coax the old one off, and 2 hrs to get it out.
Wonderful!
Ole Jack

[cywelchjr]

Yeah, changing the belt on my Camaro takes a 1/2 inch drive ratchet, and pretty much one other hand (the hard part is getting it routed right).

However, my 2003 Malibu requires removing one motor mount to change the belt. At least they actually made it easy to get the motor mount out for that. Now I haven't changed the plugs yet, I'm only 10k over when I was supposed to change them at 100k, but I think I have to disassemble a bunch of stuff to change the back 3 (the front 3 are pretty easy).

I did have the water pump go out and it was easy, but the spark plugs seem less than easy, although only needed every 100,000 miles.

[DGXSER]

On the brighter side of things, last night I changed the serpentine belt on my F150 witht he 5.4L V8. Entire process took less than 30 minutes. And a good deal of it was spent getting my daughter out to the garage, who is now driving it more than not, so she could push the ratchet to loosen the tensioner while I put the belt over the alternator pulley with both hands.

MY brother had a Dodge Dakota which had an inline 4 in it. Now that thing was worthless. Barely got out of its own way and even then, they still had one spark plug shoved in behind the AC compressor!!

[dpotter58]

And people scoff at my 68 F100 with 240 ci straight six. Top-loader 4 speed with granny low. It smokes and rattles a bit but still going strong and easy to work on. I can remove the starter from the top or bottom, either way works. I could probably remove it with the truck running.

I have always had ford 100/150/250 s forever. When I was young and felt like I needed POWER I had big block 390s or 460s. My best move was going to the straight 6 300s. My '03 has the v 6 and it sucks...

[Pat Kelly]

And people scoff at my 68 F100 with 240 ci straight six. Top-loader 4 speed with granny low. It smokes and rattles a bit but still going strong and easy to work on. I can remove the starter from the top or bottom, either way works. I could probably remove it with the truck running.