Auto Woes

[brino]

@RJSakowski ,

That looks like a PITA to have to go away do research, find and print a chart, then make and store your ad-hoc dipstick, and having to use a thermocouple!

I would prefer marks for cold-add, cold-full, hot-add, hot-full like many power-steering systems have in the reservoir.

Brian

 

[brino]

One more issue with new new vehicles occurred to me this morning......

If the designers make something so complex, and therefore so expensive, why are they so easy to steal?

A cynic could think it's just so they can sell you (or your insurance company) a new one when you go out to your driveway and it's not there!
Thus using up that immovable inventory of over-priced stock.

Good thing I'm not a cynic.
Brian

 

[projectnut]

I laughed earlier at all of the FCA complaining when it's GM and Ford facing class-actions on both engine and transmission failures.

To answer to some of the posts.

Volvo--- depends on which transmission. Yes, they all have a fill and a check port.

Ford 10R80 (and GM 10L90 same unit) has a dipstick. No, it is not easily accessible under the hood. There is no need. Transmissions no longer need fluid top-ups. Further, when there is an easy way to add fluid, people do that when the trans is acting up. Even when it's full. The extra fluid then blows out of the vent, hits that catalytic and poof, toasty F150 in the junkyard. Ask Ford.

And no, there is no fluid level sensor in any transmission. No fluid color sensor either though people insist on judging fluid condition that way.


Edit: And the 10R80 / 10L90 is very serviceable. It's a fairly easy unit to rebuild.

After a little research it appears the Expedition does have a dipstick for the transmission. Rather than the extended tube style that's accessible from the engine compartment it has a short plug that fits in the original dipstick tube hole with about a 3" plastic probe. You have to either crawl under the vehicle or lift it on a hoist to access it. In any case it's obviously not intended to be used in a similar manner by the consumer as the older style was.

 

[RJSakowski]

After a little research it appears the Expedition does have a dipstick for the transmission. Rather than the extended tube style that's accessible from the engine compartment it has a short plug that fits in the original dipstick tube hole with about a 3" plastic probe. You have to either crawl under the vehicle or lift it on a hoist to access it. In any case it's obviously not intended to be used in a similar manner by the consumer as the older style was.

We really need a "thumbs down" emoji for the like button.

 

[WobblyHand]

We really need a "thumbs down" emoji for the like button.

Yes, @projectnut 's example is the epitome of consumer unfriendly design. There should be a hall of shame photo of this - with the designer's accompanying photo. When I was working, I'd be publicly rebuked in a design review, if I proposed anything like that. Now it seems people are being rewarded by companies for awful design.

 

[455dan]

Yes, @projectnut 's example is the epitome of consumer unfriendly design. There should be a hall of shame photo of this - with the designer's accompanying photo. When I was working, I'd be publicly rebuked in a design review, if I proposed anything like that. Now it seems people are being rewarded by companies for awful design.

I heard it before but, again If engineers had to also do a stint as mechanics for a month or two a whole bunch of bad design for servicing would be straightened out. Easy serviceability should be part of design and engineering.

Those dip-stickless lifetime fluid transmissions have been around for a long time VW did it on the 1998+ auto trans bugs as did Cadillac on some models, others likely as well. Have to wait until the temp has reached a window and then pull a center pin out of a stand tube while running for just a small drip, to be at correct level.
These lifetime claims go out the window once a couple hundred thousand miles have rolled up for an owner of a functional but high mile vehicle. If those engineers saw the the condition of the ATF that was dumped at over 200K miles, when the pan was removed they would rethink the word 'lifetime' fluid. At least in many cases pan gaskets and replacement filters are available. RAM has started doing this on the engines oil dipstick now. Stupid. Wonder what that sensor will cost to replace versus pulling out a dipstick? Or if it goes gunny sack how many engines will be killed by low oil levels.

The New Engine In The Ram 1500 Pickup Doesn't Have A Dipstick And That Just Bothers Me - The Autopian

Maybe I’ve become an old man. Maybe I’m no longer “with it” like all these youthful Tiktokers raised by the internet. I say this because when I think about the 2025 Ram 1500 not offering a dipstick on its 3.0-liter “Hurricane” inline-six engine, it makes me want to yell at a cloud and talk about […]

www.theautopian.com

 

[RJSakowski]

It was bad enough that in order to change the transmission fluid, you had to remove the oil pan rather than just unscrewing a drain plug.

Actually, planned obsolescence and inability to make DIY repairs seem to be design goals. In bygone days, customers could change to a different brand if this occurred but when all the manufacturers do it, they just have to bear with it.

 

[coolidge]

I hear Ram has real inventory problems because they priced themselves way to high. One large dealer had over 3000 unsold new work trucks alone, and in a lawsuit to turn them back to Stellantis.

Those fools at Ram brought this on themselves. Typically their trucks sell for $9k to $12k less than Ford/GM in my area. For good reason, they are 2nd tier in comparison. Covid hit and they jacked the prices to full boat MSRP plus $5k to $10k ADM (additional dealer markup) price gouging. Now they can't give them away, Karma.

 

[RandyWilson]

Wow. If this was the 1940's, y'all would be a-*****in' about those newfangled centrifugal ignition advances... they took the control away from the driver... put it back on the steering column where it belongs.

Why are you so obsessed with the ease of changing the fluid? It's a once a 100K miles (or more) thing. Transmission dipsticks started being removed in the 1990s. They are not needed, get in the way of packaging, and frankly were one of the bigger leak points on old GMs.
My Model A has a dipstick on the diff. My MGs have a dipstick on the manual trans. My wife's 15 year old X3 doesn't have a single dipstick. Not even the engine. Tis fine. They are not missed.

RJ's dipstick issue. The factory tool is just a ruler on a wire. In millimeters, even. No thermocouple, you check the temp with you scanner. This was a company wide change many years ago. While the chart for your 62TE (based on the 1988 A604 design) is fairly linear, other units are not. The NAG1 in particular is a dry sump design, storing the fluid in the triangular wells either side of the geartrain barrel. Not only is that design decidedly not linear to temp, the unit is sensitive to overfilling due to the limited storage area.

 

[RJSakowski]

I am not concerned about changing the transmission fluid. I all likelihood, I won't live long enough to see 100K on the transmission. What I am concerned about is a minor and possibly unseen leak which might create a detrimental low fluid situation over time. The only way to determine a change in fluid level is to measure it.