Adding oil to the engine

[Weetabix]

That reminds me of an adventure, Windy. I had to replace the door window motor on an 86 Bronco. I could not figure out how to get to one of the bolts. So, as a last resort, I decided it was time to RTFM. Turns out you had to drill a hole on a dimple they had thoughtfully provided on the door metal. The rest of the door metal looked like Swiss cheese with all the holes. Why didn't they just include that hole?

[308Mike]

The rest of the door metal looked like Swiss cheese with all the holes. Why didn't they just include that hole?

Because they wanted you to take it to the dealer.

[Netpackrat]

That reminds me of an adventure, Windy. I had to replace the door window motor on an 86 Bronco. I could not figure out how to get to one of the bolts. So, as a last resort, I decided it was time to RTFM. Turns out you had to drill a hole on a dimple they had thoughtfully provided on the door metal. The rest of the door metal looked like Swiss cheese with all the holes. Why didn't they just include that hole?

Because including the dimple on the die that stamps the panel is a one time cost, which fades to insignificance over the life of the die. Drilling the hole is an extra operation that adds cost to every vehicle, many of which will never need to have that hole there, because the motor didn't die before the end of the vehicle's life. Which is a pretty safe bet as far as a Bronco goes.

[Weetabix]

You sound like me. Someone will ask an outraged question about something they think is stupid, and I'll tell them the rational reason behind it. Then they slump a bit and say, "... oh."

[Windy Wilson]

But manufacturers can carry this cost-effectiveness analysis too far. Ford got in trouble with the Pinto because after analysis they concluded an extra piece of sheet metal separating the gas tank from the passengers was not cost effective. The memo explaining this analyzed the number of expected rear-end crashes for the population of Pintos, over the expected lifetime of the model. It estimated how many of these would cause fires that would burn the passengers, which was still acceptable. It then went on to analyze how many of these fires would result in law suits against Ford, and what proportion Ford would lose, and what the total cost of all those losses would be. That cost was compared with the cost of the extra sheet metal.

This comparison was a little too mercenary for a jury, who came up with the 100 million punitive damage award against Ford in that famous lawsuit in the late 70's

[PawPaw]

One example that comes streakingly to mind, was Chrysler's brain-fart, the PT Cruiser. A single-lady friend of ours had one, and she came over one afternoon, and the POS died in the driveway. I listened to her problem and the symptoms the vehicle exhibited, and diagnosed a dead battery, which had been in the car since she bought it four or five years earlier. So, we popped the hood and I couldn't find the friggin' battery. Went inside and did some Googling. Some engineer at Dodge decided that the place to put it was under the left-front wheelwell. You had to jack up the car, remove the wheel, unsnap the wheelwell, and there the battery was. If you poke around on the intertubes, you'll find that the Dodge Stratus suffered from the same affliction.

What idiot came up with that plan? Luckily, I had the tools, the jacks, the wherewithall to help her with her problem, but it would have been a hell of a lot easier if they'd have put the battery where it could be easily serviced.

[Termite]

How the heck was one supposed to do a jump-start? Did it have a battery boost plug-in port?

[PawPaw]

How the heck was one supposed to do a jump-start? Did it have a battery boost plug-in port?

There were two terminals atop the engine for jump-starting. One marked Battery, one marked Ground. That's what led me astray, I figured that the battery would be accessible from that point. Bad assumption. Horrible assumption.

[kapikui]

One example that comes streakingly to mind, was Chrysler's brain-fart, the PT Cruiser. A single-lady friend of ours had one, and she came over one afternoon, and the POS died in the driveway. I listened to her problem and the symptoms the vehicle exhibited, and diagnosed a dead battery, which had been in the car since she bought it four or five years earlier. So, we popped the hood and I couldn't find the friggin' battery. Went inside and did some Googling. Some engineer at Dodge decided that the place to put it was under the left-front wheelwell. You had to jack up the car, remove the wheel, unsnap the wheelwell, and there the battery was. If you poke around on the intertubes, you'll find that the Dodge Stratus suffered from the same affliction.

What idiot came up with that plan? Luckily, I had the tools, the jacks, the wherewithall to help her with her problem, but it would have been a hell of a lot easier if they'd have put the battery where it could be easily serviced.

Seems to be a dodge thing, at least at one time. My parents had an 00 Intrepid, and I had an 01 stratus, and both had the same moronic placement of the battery. I remember an episode of MythBusters, I don't remember the myth, but I remember they were trying to get a dodge intrepid going. Jaimie had a complete meltdown over that one.

[kapikui]

How the heck was one supposed to do a jump-start? Did it have a battery boost plug-in port?

Yep. They have special extended terminals. One wonders what you were supposed to do if the actual terminals got corroded, but hey it probably solved some other minor problem and generated revenue for the dealers who get to charge $500 to change a battery.