NotDSM stupidity in engineering

[Justin DuBois]

In this weeks episode of, WTF is wrong with this car (2019 Prius Prime) One of the TWO coolant reservoir was found dry after a CEL and steam seen lofting around after parking. There are a pair of coolant lines that go to a heat exchanger in the cat. The Cat is an integrated component to the exhaust header ($450 part) This thing can leak coolant into the exhaust - and is now being replaced. There is a service bulletin on it. This is the dumbest thing I’ve seen yet - next to DEF (diesel exhaust fluid)

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10166037-9999.pdf

 

[TerminalTalon]

I know exactly what you’re talking about. I just want to know the chain of management and uppers that ok the final design on some of this crap.
Ex. Camaro HVAC box/door broken job. There’s 1 bolt in the dead center of the dash that you have to remove the windshield to get to it. No joke.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

In the 90's, you could buy a lifetime warranty on certain components, especially Hondas. For example, my '93 Prelude had lifetime exhaust components and lifetime interior components. All I've heard about such a thing now is with Kia and some Hyundai drivetrains. It's because everything was not only simple but solid back then. Now everything has corners cut and pot metal parts. I won't rant too long about that, but it's the world we live in. Outside of that shit, the emissions standards are far more strict than they used to be. So combine strict emissions with garbage parts/materials, and nothing but problems will come. And there's been a saying for years: an engineer is a technicians worst enemy. We're just so far past the days of things making sense or being simple. Everything will become a nightmare soon.

Toyota has met or greatly exceeded industry standards for many decades, but they seem to be hopping on the bandwagon of making production as cheap as possible, and they've been producing things for years that "require" a service by dealer.

We'll get through it though. One inconvenient service at a time, and one man's paycheck at a time. I never forget why I switched from being an automotive mechanic to being an equipment mechanic. They're still garbage (the new ones), but I'm not pulling hair to fix most of them.

 

[Justin DuBois]

One of the reasons I like Toyota is their reliability - but when your dealer service double stacks the gasket on an oil filter - melting down the motor after getting MILES away using the EV mode - it kinda kills the sweetness of the car.

 

[BLACK'98DSM]

I just helped my neighbor the other day with installing a new engine in his 2001 Toyota Tundra. The truck is 90% original with 368k miles. The only reason the engine failed is because we literally drove into a lake and sucked water through the intake. I really wish every vehicle was built to the quality and standards of those. Good luck getting 368k miles out of a new Toyota, with only replacing tires belts and fluids. And I bet that engine had 400k or more in it before the piston rings wore thin or some other natural failure. The truck's been through a tornado and a few snow storms, but the cab itself could probably still see a million miles. There's just too much plastic, pot metal, and electronic BS these days.

 

[RamenPride]

"Wet" timing and/or oil pump belts come to mind. Pretty sure every automotive belt I've ever seen (at least in the past) has had some warning about not exposing it to oil, so let's put the belt(s) inside the front cover where its constantly soaked/bathed in oil...... Also Ford putting the water pump for certain engines inside the front cover. Pump gets old and starts to leak coolant right into the oil, but you probably don't notice until it's too late.

 

[jesse12345]

Those ford water pumps usually leak externally. You'll see antifreeze drip off of the ac compressor. I've seen it a dozen times over. I've never actually seen one leak into the oil, yet anyways. There a 12 hour job but you can easily get it done in half that time.

There's been some pretty horrendous jobs I've done that have made zero sense but I just keep trucking through. Sealing the upper oil pan on a toyota was one of the worst. I remember being able to drop it just enough to put silicone on it. The crossmembers are literally welded in so it wouldn't fit past that. That one made no sense. Another was a blend door actuator on a jeep, one of the torx screws you physically can't see and the frame of the dash is in the way. I do have a toyota 4runner that I love it's been super reliable.

 

[stealthee]

As someone that has worked with varying types of engineers over most of his adult life I will say I am not surprised.

If they take a Myers-Briggs personality test 99% of engineers are the same type. All they care about is if it works in their head and if it works on paper. They don't care about the end user. They don't care about the maintenance aspect.

One of the engineers that I work with now tried to implement a change to one of our processes, simply because he doesn't like how our team currently does it. My lead and I tried to explain how his change had zero chance of working for our sakes, simply due to system limitations as well as process control. He still argued with us basically saying another company he used to work for does it that way (he forgot that I also worked for said company and I told him exactly why it works for them and it wouldn't for us) and he basically tried to tell us it was going to happen..... until our manager shut him down, by telling him EXACTLY what we told him.

Back to the original subject, I think the biggest issue is there are too many different engineering teams working on the different aspects and they don't work together. All they care about it is if fits in the space provided.

 

[CrackedDSM]

As someone that has worked with varying types of engineers over most of his adult life I will say I am not surprised.

If they take a Myers-Briggs personality test 99% of engineers are the same type. All they care about is if it works in their head and if it works on paper. They don't care about the end user. They don't care about the maintenance aspect.

One of the engineers that I work with now tried to implement a change to one of our processes, simply because he doesn't like how our team currently does it. My lead and I tried to explain how his change had zero chance of working for our sakes, simply due to system limitations as well as process control. He still argued with us basically saying another company he used to work for does it that way (he forgot that I also worked for said company and I told him exactly why it works for them and it wouldn't for us) and he basically tried to tell us it was going to happen..... until our manager shut him down, by telling him EXACTLY what we told him.

Back to the original subject, I think the biggest issue is there are too many different engineering teams working on the different aspects and they don't work together. All they care about it is if fits in the space provided.

You got me curious, as I haven't heard too many people mention the MBTI type test. What type are they?

What type are you? I'm an INFJ.

 

[stealthee]

You got me curious, as I haven't heard too many people mention the MBTI type test. What type are they?

What type are you? I'm an INFJ.

This was on 3SGTO years ago. When I took it I came up as ISFP. The engineers were all INTJ

 

[TerminalTalon]

Assuming we are all “techs”
Do you also see people that only come in when they need thousands of dollars in repairs to include maintenance table items?
I continually see cars that need tons of work and just want to hear your views.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

My son is the only mechanic besides the owner of the shop he works for and says this shit ALL THE TIME. Stupid engineering...they should be required to DISASSEMBLE what they created.