If and when ford builds the new F100 and or Bronco let's see if they can lo tech the thing a bit.

No I'm serious, because when I speak with folks about their autos the one thing I find to be true across the board is they are terrified of them breaking down and how much it's going to cost them to fix it even if it is on warranty they still have that fear.

Or they worry that as soon as it comes off warranty something major is going to break.

So yes I think it would be a very good idea for Ford to turn back time and go less high tech (expensive to repair, parts and labour).

Has anyone checked out the labour rates at their local dealership lately?

An example would be we had a rebuilt not new alternator installed onto a 1999 Mercury Mystique( others use a different name, Mystake) total cost before taxes $1,200 Canadian or 5% of the cost of the car new.

Now you ask why did I not change the Alternator myself? Good question I'm glad you asked.

Well in order to get the Alternator in and out of the car you need a hoist, that's right a hoist to change the Alternator.

Because the sub frame and exhaust have to be dropped to gain access to the Alternator.

And I find out the Alternator fails in the first place because it sits right beside the hot exhaust and there is no way to cool it.


My point in all this is Ford needs to make these vehicles cheaper and easier to work on or folks like myself will own and drive only old 70's and 80's stuff that we can fix ourselves and do it cheaply.


Sorry for the rant but the mood came over me so I thought I'd put it out there.

Rick.

 

I agree. Thats why I drive a 95 F150. I do not plan on ever buying a new one. If for some reason I need to replace my truck, I will find another 95. The parts are way too expensive. A friend of mine has an 01 F150 and I do alot of his repair work. Everything I have bought for his truck seems to cost 20 to 30 percent more than my parts do. I have seen the prices for some of the parts for the newer trucks and they are more than that. I find it to be rediculous. The sad truth is that they (Ford and other manufacturers) will not make the cars and trucks the way they used to. There isn't as much money in it for them and the emissions requirements etc probably won't permit them to do it either.

 

Yeup. Sad but true ... all we can do is dream. When I bought my '03 F150 SC and looked under the hood, I thought "please don't break because I can't fix you."

 

Rick, your a rebel rowser and I love it! The EPA is behind it all.

Tim

 

I'm just a quiet polite Canadian


Living in an Igloo eating my seal blubber sandwich and drinking my 50 proof beer while watching the Leafs play Hockey EH.

BTW, EH is never a question it's more of a statement.

There now you can speak Canadian


Rick.

 

Throughout my wonderful Coast Guard career, I've spent many, many days on both Canadian coasts. Never had a bad day in Canada and they got better once I got the recipe for moose milk.

Tim

 

High tech is here to stay. Alot of the stuff is goverment mandated through EPA and safty regs. There's no going back even if they wanted to, computers and sensors are now a way of life sorry to say. The young people take all this for granit and us older people are in shock and awe with the new vehicle fistication. We are getting future shocked just trying to change oil anymore, much less anything else. We still have the basic combustion engine buried underneith a mountain of fistacated crap. If we could dig through all the crap we would still find are same ole engines, "sorta". Were just afraid to dig through the crap and rightly so, it's scarey!!!!!!

 

So true. It's a universal thing too. Technology, like discussed in my econ class, is a double-edged sword. Yeah, it's all great and helps me, but at the same time, it is expensive and you are f***ed when it comes to repairs and upgrades.

 

I don't mean to be a dick, but that sounds to me like it is time that you sharpened your skills and learned about some of the new technology. I hear people talk about how it is "impossible" to do work on your own vehicles anymore because of that "new fangled fuel injection." In all reality, fuel injection makes things 100x easier IF you know what you are doing. Gotta keep up with the times...

 

I agree.
I'd much rather tap into the ECU, find the problematic sensor, and replace it. Every 100K miles or so. Rather than changing points and condensers every 20K miles.

We're never going back to the old days. It really is easy to work on the newer stuff than most people think. The systems are really pretty basic in function. They just depend on electrical components instead of mechanical componants.

Heck, If I can learn how to fix them, Anyone should be able to.

 

I probably have no business here as I hang out on the 48-60 forum but my 2 cents worth is the new technology is fine but could they not design things so you don't have to be a contoursionest to work on anything. I'm finding as I'm getting older I don't bend as easily as I did 20 years ago.

 

ie... my original story of needing a hoist to change the alternator because the subframe and exhaust had to be dropped in order to gain access to the alternator.

If some folks consider that an advancement in engineering I would have to strongly disagree.

As for the electronics part of the equation I would also have to respectfully disagree on that one as well.

The problem with the new high faluten electronics on automobiles is most of the components are analog and the engine computer is digital so there is always a communication problem and potential out of range or failure status.

Also the entire automobile industry should have undated the electronics to 32 or 48 volts 10 years ago with the huge demand on the electrical systems caused by any number of Nav or ABS or sound systems power this and dvd thats.

With updated higher voltage there would be a real weight and energy savings.


As for the current wiring harness it should have been updated to a CanBuss system, light years more advanced then what currently resides in even the most leading edge autos being built today.


Rick.

 

As long as you don't show anyone the Canadian secret hand shake, Ok maybe just Tim, he's like an honorary Canuk anyway


Rick.

 

Just that everything is jammed into a tiny space and if you want access to one thing you may have to remove many pieces of plastic covers and such to get to what you are trying to fix.



Rick.

 

Yeah I hear ya.

When I met My wife, She was driving a Corsica. She asked if I would change the oil for Her. Her Bro had been doing it. So I got to looking for the oil filter, found it. I stood there for a couple of seconds wondering how in the Hell I was going to get it out. It was about 1" from the fender liner. So I looked down near the tire and Her brother had cut a 4" hole with a hole saw, to get the filter out without removing the fender liner.

Sometimes it takes some backyard engineering to overcome the tall forehead type of engineering.