[V8] Ford sans 4th gear

[dsaad at icehouse.net]

Apparently, my '93 explorer did better than average when the transmission
lasted all the way to 100k miles. $2k later it is as good as new.
While overall this has been a very reliable car, and this has been the only
real expense, it still irritates me that it could have been a great rig if ford
would have only made minor and cheap changes. eg:

- put on actual shocks that last more than one trip down the driveway
- design and layout so that all normal maintenance items can be reached without
removing the engine
- use electrical connectors that do not break when you remove them
- spend some time refining the engine control software

none of these items would have changed the cost of building the car, but it
would make ownership much more satisfying.

Since I do almost all the repairs on my cars, I really appriceate how things
are laid out on the V8. I can't say that about the explorer.

Dave


Quoting "Michael L. Riebs" <michael at 1stchoicegranite.com>:

> Wait....
> You are already Audi owners, right???
> Well, you should have known better than to buy American cheapo's then.
> Or
> Japanese rice boilers. There's such a thing as "planned obsoletion",
> which
> is what keeps Americans replacing their stuff every 2 - 5 years. If you
> want
> a quality, long-lasting product - buy German or Swedish (of course
> that's
> American too, now...)
>
> Michael Riebs
> Grand Rapids, MI
> '90 V8Q (#7)
> '98 A6Q Avant (#6)
> Only 6 & 7 remain.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Andrew Duane USG" <duane at hunch.zk3.dec.com>
> To: "Buchholz, Steven" <Steven.Buchholz at kla-tencor.com>
> Cc: <v8 at audifans.com>; "Quattro List" <quattro at audifans.com>;
> <200q20v at audifans.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2002 3:32 PM
> Subject: Re: [V8] RE: Bose recall
>
>
> > Hairy green toads from Mars made Buchholz, Steven say:
> >
> > > It seems like the government is already in the process of working
> out a
> > > recall with Audi.  I really wonder how many people here have shared
> their
> > > concerns with the NHTSA using the standard reporting method.  I
> suspect
> very
> > > few folks here actually have ... and if that is the case, who else
> cares
> > > about fixing a problem on an old Audi?
> >
> > Well, don't hold your breath.
> >
> > Recently, we bought a car for our daughter, who is 16.5, and just
> > getting her license. Actually, she made her first solo drive
> > yesterday!
> >
> > Anyway, based on the fact that it got good safety ratings, and is
> > about the most sold car in the world, we bought a recent Ford Taurus.
> > They've sold 25 million of these, they have to be decent, right???
> >
> > Well, it turns out that since 1992, the automatic trannies Ford
> > and Mercury has been putting into these cars and others like them
> > have suffered a 20% mortality rate! There is a TSB about them
> > losing 4th gear. Just disappears due to an internal fault that
> > Ford has known about for 8 years!
> >
> > Recall? Hardly! Help with the repair? Must be dreaming!
> >
> > $2100 for a new tranny in a 5 year old car :-(
> >
> > So, we're pursuing the last remedy we have, a class action lawsuit.
> >
> > Sorry, it's in the shop today getting the new tranny, and I had to
> vent.
> > This is the first Ford we've ever bought. Count on it being the last.
> >
> > --
> >
> > Andrew L. Duane (JOT-7) duane at zk3.dec.com
> > Compaq Computer Corporation (603)-884-1294
> > 110 Spit Brook Road
> > M/S ZKO3-3/U14
> > Nashua, NH    03062-2698
> >
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