My previous article that Ford had stupid designers because only an idiot would use plastic intake manifolds in cars, may have been in error as I now believe that Ford and others such as GM deliberately design parts of their cars to require very expensive repairs, in order to rip off the car owners. ...more

November 21, 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. ...more

November 14, 2008