Thousands of engineers working on designs for production cars and you would think with all that talent the simple items would be just that - simple. But oh no. As I do more and more work on the various maintenance items with our ride it comes as no surprise that in fact minimal thought went in to numerous items. I know this isn't new news for the majority of the members on the board, but I mean really. Why can't common sense prevail at the start?
Idiodic location for a coolant sensor as the latest example. They just don't account for post maintenance efforts. Abysmal location stuck down below the wiring harness and in behind the drivers side cylinder head and the fire wall. On paper and in the 3D design software one might think a plastic 'C' clip holding in a sensor is quick and easy to maintain, but when you get in to the years and add in rust, that simple item quickly turns what should be a 5 minute excercise in to a maintenance/repair effort that surpasses a couple of hours and comes c/w bleeding knuckles..... The clip snaps, then the side arms of that clip can't be pulled put because they are integral with the surrounding steel after all the years. You don't want to snap off the steel housing that the sensor is seated in by being too 'forceful', so you carefully work in the tight confines as best to can. You then resign yourself to the fact that this isn't coming out in one piece and force will be required. You get out your Dremel and grind to releive some of the rust and remove the grind out the broken off plastic clips that are trapped in the steel housing. You then get out your small wood chisel and a hammer and start to chisel the remaims of the sensor out until it breaks free and can be removed with a long set of needle nose plyers. A couple of minutes of clean-up and you are ready to reassemble which takes all of 1 minute.
If it was a bolted/threaded sensor it would have been out in 5 minutes. Arg!
Reply With Quote
