I could choke a GM engineer!

[Blue Ox]

Work on a Volvo or BMW. You'll never complain about GM again.

My first car was a Volvo.... It was also my last Volvo.

 

[Snoots]

I could choke a GM engineer!

There's a loooong line for that.

 

[SquareRoot]

I have a 2019 Volvo XC90. Yesterday, I had to drive to the dealer in Phoenix (closest dealer=180 miles) to get the d/s headlamp assembly replaced. It has LED lamps inside the plastic housing and the one bulb on the end that doubles as a running light took a **** a while back. The LEDs move side to side with the steering wheel. Cool....but complicated.

The car is under warranty...thank GOD!

The headlamp was $2,319.85 F**King dollars!

I will only lease a Volvo, its my 3rd, and I love them otherwise. Its got a 4-banger with both a blower AND a turbo spitting out 300+ hp at 25 MPG. That's cool, but I will NEVER work on one.

 

[Rusty Nail]

My first car was a Volvo.... It was also my last Volvo.

I spent some time (6 months) turning wrenches at a place called " Bob Dumont's Porsche Only " when I still did and fixin cars was allll downhill after that.

Boy I tell ya what.

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[Rusty Nail]

Aint the fix for that vortex heater hose ******** stupid simple? Mother **** puttin an "improved design" aka pot metal p.o.s. on it.

I thought it was somethin simple dumb LIKE the outside faucet thread of your house...but you just put a nipple in the intake that screws on a garden hose and put the hose on it with a worm gear clamp to make it old school cool. Did I miss that part or y'all aint that handy? Maybe it's the furst one you ever fixed and I FIFY
Comes out of lawn and garden. There's your "improved design".

I am shocked... SHOCKED I tell you,...

Rusty, you of all people?

FIFY

Hay. You wanna hear sumethin funny?

What you said dont make no sense to me eh? I gotta look it up.. I dont know what that meens...i'm readin these other replies....scratchin my head and ****....AND THEN it says "show ignored content" AND I clicked it. Wtf?

See - I was the first reply and when I clicked this thread because I saw the space for it but it didnt say nothin so I was all liek " cool thread bro" and I had no idea who I was talkin to much less what I was talking about....totally like normal right? nothing to see here. Just another day at the office.

Cuz it was blank right? The cover sheet.. You get it. I don't listen to that.. dude. lol you listen to him!

Yeah I got a copy of that memo...it's right here.
I understand the policy and everything.

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Thanks!

 

[ctandc]

When it comes to cars / trucks - it's not the engineers (mostly) you should be cussing. It's the bean counters AKA the Accounting department. Want to know why they used plastic instead of metal on a fitting that cost them .50 cents? Because bean counters (.50 X 100,000 production units). I was good friends with a guy who's dad was an engineer with GM then Ford in the 60's and early 70's. Some of the stories he'd tell us while having a drink were ridiculous - and unfortunately true.

 

[AuroraGirl]

If you wanna talk about gm engineers, give me a minute to show you my engine bay
I dont have a top down atm but I assure you there isnt much ground visible lol

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[CorvairGeek]

Sadly, I think these stupid heater hose connections were/are all about the fastest possible assembly as the powertrain is fitted into the body.
I had to replace one in our 3100 V6 when I had the upper intake off. I bought the replacement, but was positive I was going to end up in the same place as the OP as I tried to remove it. I was afraid the threads in the intake might even sacrifice themselves to save the cheap-ass fitting. Swapped the internal plastic and seal to avoid a lot of cussing.
I guess that is one advantage to be old and arthritic. Do I really want to put the effort and pain into this to take it apart?

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

I wanted to add some pictorial evidence for anyone who hasn’t come across this yet. Picture one is the broken junk, picture two is the fix. You can see it’s just enough hose clamped in there to join the steel cooling line with the fitting that goes into the head, and then I did the sealing tape to account for any minor thread damage I couldn’t see jammed in back there. The proper aftermarket replacement won’t break on removal, but it still uses the plastic tabs that engage the flared cooling pipe end. That gets brittle over time and either breaks or leaks with age or if you’re working around it and happen to damage it.

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[Burb restorer]

The quick disconnect heater hose connection on a LUE 4.3L Vortec mine was leaking and i went to replace it and the bastard broke off flush with the intake! It took me a hour of using a pin punch and a hammer to get it out not sure why in the hell they would use pot metal like material.

But it is fixed and it better not start leaking or i will modify it to where it will never leak again!

My 1994 Suburban did the same thing. I went to the local hardware store and bought a STEEL pipe nipple with barbs on it, it NEVER leaked again. I think the metal was zinc that the disconnect was made out of.

 

[trukman1]

A lot has to do with young engineers, in my experience.

A young man that married into my family was explaining to me how he'd been tasked with designing a part for a commercial airline engine. He wanted to show off his capabilities and designed (over designed) a piece that was incredibly complex. As a former maintenance manager with years of experience in the maintenance field I explained to him the KISS theory and why his design added unnecessary costs and complicated the part to the point it would make servicing difficult and more apt to fail. It wasn't until my BIL, who is also an engineer, backed me up that he decided to change his design to a very simple, easy to make and cheaper design and service part.

In his defense, he thought the head of the engineering department would be impressed with his abilities. When my BIL explained how he needed to present his ability to make the BEST "SIMPLE" design as his strong point that he grasped the concept.

That's why Honda had employee's do multiple jobs within their factory, even the engineers. The people that have to operate and maintain a piece of machinery know more than the engineers about what is needed and what will work. It proved to be a great plan in that Honda's became one of the most reliable vehicles on the road at that time. I'm sure they aren't perfect but they sure surged ahead of the Big Three in the '80's with that plan!

 

[vintovka]

Ok guys I am an OLD ENGINEER. Everything we designed was tested over and over again until perfected and in logical relationship to every other part or piece. and submitted to Management. Management Head (usually a Political Science Major or relative of Company owner) would always send it back saying "make it cheaper".

 

[MikeB]

Work on a Volvo or BMW. You'll never complain about GM again.

Or Lexus. On early LS V-8 engines the starter was under the intake manifold.

Heck, we're at the point on many cars where it takes 30 minutes to change the engine air filter. And forget about cabin filters unless you're a contortionist with small hands.

 

[MikeB]

Ok guys I am an OLD ENGINEER. Everything we designed was tested over and over again until perfected and in logical relationship to every other part or piece. and submitted to Management. Management Head (usually a Political Science Major or relative of Company owner) would always send it back saying "make it cheaper".

Yep, that's why they use pot metal.

 

[rt66paul]

Or have some yo yo in accounting think that converting fractional dims over the decimal dims(for parts designed for WWII through the 70s would work). The way the tolerance worked ended up with a 5/8" + or - 1/16" having to be an over/under callout (.6125/.6375). There is a tolerance difference between fractional dims and decimal dims - also when decimal dims are in 2 places to decimal dims at 3 places - 4 places is for rocket science. So we had to update all the old drawings to show 4 place decimal over and under tolerances to comply with federal standards.