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Highlands Today

Most Stupid Person

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Collin McClellan

Published: November 14, 2008

The most idiotic nonsense design by any automobile manufacturer was made by Ford and probably others was to change the material of the intake manifold, I think it's called, and which I refer to as the water jacket on top of the engine, next to and under the injectors, to plastic. This water jacket replacement recently cost me over $1,000 to replace in my Crown Victoria because plastic cannot be welded good enough to withstand the high temperatures from the engine that the liquid carries. Metal can be welded.
Ford, in their stupidity, had changed this important engine part from metal, which lasts over 20 years, to a short-life plastic. When this liquid jacket-manifold burst on my 1,500-mile trip on a Saturday, my trip was completely ruined as no one works on weekends in the Carolinas and no banks are open, and no small independent mechanics that you might find will accept credit cards.
This $55 plastic piece of junk takes over five hours to install and costs over $500 in labor. It's obvious that plastic cannot withstand high engine heat for very long and ends up splitting.
My advice to new vehicle purchasers is to check that no engine parts except removable covers are plastic and no transmission parts are plastic. If any engine parts are plastic, buy the vehicle elsewhere. Note: They can disguise the use of plastic by calling it carbon something or ceramic, etc.
Collin McClellan
Lake Placid

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