Engineers are REALLY soopid!

[ACORN]

I’m thinking the synthetic ATF dovetails in with the sealed transmission. You can’t add or change the fluid so they spec. synthetic due to its longer life.
$9 to a dealer for a headlight install is a steal!
My sisters 2014 Fusion need front wheel hubs. Thankfully under her extended warranty.
While they were under there they called and told her she needed front pads. Understandable. Being they had to remove the calipers, pads, and rotors, they said all she had to do was pay for the brakes and there would be no additional labor. The cost for the brake pads from them was $300!!
I sell auto parts and even at full list price for our best brake pad I doubt it would cost 1/3 of that.
Needless to say she declined the offer.

 

[BigBoy99]

It isn't a case of the engineers and beancounters being in cahoots though. It is a case of the beancounters dictating to the engineers that they have to cut costs/keep costs below a certain price point. 99% of all engineers I've ever met will over-engineer almost anything they design if they are given free reign - but the cost of that over-engineering is prohibited by the beancouters. If deleting the dipstick and dipstick tube and the machined hole for it to fit into saves $10 per car, the beancounters will over-rule the engineers and delete it from the design.

Its just the way it works in the modern world.

Having spent my career as an engineer, BC38 is absolutely correct. The bean counters over-rule any engineer. The dollar is the most important item. Also most of the managers have no touch with reality. They will come up with some hair brain idea and will want it produced. Engineers MUST obey the Laws of Physics while most managers do have a clue about Physics! I've had many managers tell me they saw something on TV or in a movie and they want one just like it. I try to explain that it is not possible to do that. They just say, if they saw it on TV or in a movie, it has to be real!

 

[Truckman]

Open the hood looking for the dipstick to check it. No joy, so I look on the Interwebs, and apparently you need to put the car up on a lift just to CHECK the fluid level!!

Nothing new here...With every manual transmission I ever owned or worked on, I had to check the level from under the truck...Same with the differential oil......Ben

 

[johngalt]

Engineers also have to design around regulatory issues. They are required to include all kinds of (heavy) safety equipment, while at the same time meeting fuel efficiency and emissions requirements. Extensive computer controlled drivetrains (which are typically not able to be repaired at home) are a result.

Fuel efficiency requirements also have resulted in priority being put on streamlined shapes. Packaging all these compromises takes priority over repairability by the user.

User accessibility has been a problem since the birth of front wheel drive. Lots of stuff packaged under the hood in a tight space.

Given all of this, it is not surprising a dipstick has gone away. The sensors will give you the same information anyway.

 

[Fessor]

I had a '66 Vette Stingray that in order to change the battery, the left front wheel had to be removed and an access panel unbolted. Of course, the engine was crammed into the engine bay so I understood and it was a minor inconvenience.

 

[Bekeart]

Proud of Breakaway and his SMALL FEE

When someone asks me why I charge them a small fee to replace their windshield wiper blades on many modern vehicles, I hand them the directions that come with the blades. After a couple of minutes they gladly pay, and sometimes tip..

Proud of you and the "small fee".

"How much can we get out of this sucker today" is too common.

Bekeart

 

[tops]

I have a 2018 BMW M2, and it too lacks a dipstick. To check the oil, you park the car on a level surface and select that function on the menu. The center display then shows you the oil level.

Things are getting too complicated for this old man. Technology has outrun my feeble mind. I can read a dipstick but I don't know how select the menu or a function. Larry

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

I read a story that when William Lear had his engineers design the Learjet, he would build one to their exact specifications. Then he would tell them to put on coveralls and work on it. Any too tight spaces, too sharp edges, anything that required major disassembly to work on-they went back to the drawing board.

 

[SMSgt]

Hardly a day goes by that I don't cuss the engineers who designed the 2014 Silverado.

 

[mtgianni]

I haven't been able to check tranny fluid in any of my Chevys for quite a few years. I believe pretty much all the GM cars are like that. There is an idiot light, though that tells you when the level is low. There's a plug on the side of the motor tranny thing that they pull off and stick their finger in to check level, I think. I try not to keep a car long enough to worry about that stuff. Not sure, but I think there may be a dip stick in the '10 Subaru for the transmission; can't remember. Daughter drives that one. I remember in the old days the brake fluid and power steering fluid came in the same type bottle. Amazing how that rubber thing inside the brake reservoir lid will swell up if you put power steering fluid in accidentally!
I looked under the hood at my wife's '22 Trailblazer because I wanted to see what the 3-cylinder engine looks like. I'm still wondering!

My 74 Chev had a plug to check transfer case fluid levels. I cannot see why it would be harder to crawl under and check transmission fluid as well.

 

[16thVACav]

I had a '66 Vette Stingray that in order to change the battery, the left front wheel had to be removed and an access panel unbolted. Of course, the engine was crammed into the engine bay so I understood and it was a minor inconvenience.

Equipped with air conditioning?

 

[tinkerer]

Change fluids at recommended intervals.
Any puddles on the ground - Get it checked out and repaired.

I'm from the time points, condensers and rotor buttons lasted maybe 3000 miles. Plugs sometime longer - If the engine didn't burn too much oil.
6 volt batteries.
Carburetors with manual chokes.
Steel exhaust components that had to be replaced or patched frequently.
Bias ply tires that lasted 10000 to 20000 miles if you were lucky.
Drum brake shoes that might go that long.
If a car lasted 100000 miles, you had a great one.
Turned many a wrench in that time. Now they just hang on the wall and look pretty. I like it that way.
YMMV.

 

[kenjen]

My 2002 GMC 1500 had the easiest way to change the head lamps, you just pulled out a pin and swing the unit like opening a door, change bad bulb, close it and put the pin back in, done…

 

[gregintenn]

I discovered long ago that as long as my transmission wasn’t leaking, I never needed to add fluid. Same for the differential, radiator, etc.

If they are leaking, I’m prone to repairing the offending leak.

What was the last vehicle you owned that had grease fittings? Sealed joints last as long and probably longer than the grease or fittings of days gone by.

Cars are nearly maintenance free anymore. I am glad for this.

 

[Fessor]

Equipped with air conditioning?

Yep. It was in Houston. Had to have A/C.

 

[GypsmJim]

First of all, I resemble that remark. As an Engineer myself, my lifetime goal was to build things that ran smoothly, efficiently, at reasonable cost and environmentally friendly. The problem was (is) there is always an *&^% MBA or Vice President in the mix.

I was always involved in the design phase of a project, beforehand. But that's where I left off. When it was finally built it was my job to bump the motors, get it running, optimize it and train the operators. Sometimes, what made it to the field was cornfusing to me. Like seeing a news story in person and then reading about it tin the paper.

Case in point...One year while on a plant startup, I was charged to tour a Design Engineer who ultimately was the one that drew the prints and communicated with the construction company during its build. After the tour was over, and after I showed him what was wrong, he thanked me, saying: "I'm so happy to be here...I really never saw one of these things!"

The very next project, a VP and a bean counter proclaimed that we were to cut the budget by $X million, and that component XYZ was to be left out. They said: "live to work without it". A good corollary was building a car without the engine. We put it in anyway. As retribution, The Engineer in Charge was given a month off with no pay and got no raise that year.

My point is that I'm sure there are a lot of stoopid Engineers, but the really stoopid ones are leading the company.

 

[Rafterman]

If I remember correctly back in the 70's the Chevy (Monza)? in order to get to one (or two)? spark plug(s) one engine mount had to be unbolted. Then jack up the engine to gain enough clearance. Some other cars had to be jacked up, remove the wheel and fender skirt to gain access to the spark plugs. What's old is new again.

 

[GypsmJim]

If I remember correctly back in the 70's the Chevy (Monza)? in order to get to one (or two)? spark plug(s) one engine mount had to be unbolted. Then jack up the engine to gain enough clearance. Some other cars had to be jacked up, remove the wheel and fender skirt to gain access to the spark plugs. What's old is new again.

Now you hit a real thorn with me.

A friend of mine in Grad School was the Engineer in charge of the Monza Engine project. They were still testing / optimizing when GM management announced the introduction of the car. My buddy said we needed to wait because they had not completed the design work.

The day the car was introduced to the public 3 of the 4 test engines blew up on the test stands.

GM sold them as-is anyway.

 

[Greyman50]

Have couple of friends that have a good auto repair business in JAX. When I have Md appointment in JAX I usually stop and have lunch with them and look at whats in their shop. Today I helped one with a gas tank on some 90’ s Chevy P/U truck. There were so many hoses coming and going it looked like an octopus. Glad I didnt keep working on vehicles and switched to machine tools is all I can say….

 

[steelslaver]

I had the tranny in my 97 Powerstroke replaced ad 168,000. Tranny shop owner explained that the way the studs were welded on original torque converters caused front clutch to go early. Got up dater converter and tranny. Almost 270,000 miles now and although I check it from time to time I have not had to add a dingle quart of fluid to it after over 100,000 miles, towing hauling, 4x4 in hills, stuck, etc etc. Tranny dip stick just gives me else something to check besides coolant, brake fluid and wiper fluid when I change the oil

I go under once every couple years and pull the plugs to check differentials, but if no oil is showing they are not leaking.

Truck is a heavy beast, Changed out a going bad no grease front axle U joint and all 4 ball joints at 250,000, 2 of them were getting a bit sloppy. None of the drive line no zert U joints have ever been changed that I know of and they all seamed fine.