Any Ford Techs out there?

[RobPStroker81]

i was wondering how you got started with ford did you take the asset program or ford FACT? i just did a 2 year program in diesel technology and was wondering how hard it would be to get into a dealer without any certain ford credentials?

[mschn99]

my uncle worked for a dealer...i have been workin on cars since i was too young to remember (or at least helping work on them).....got my foot in the door and here i am....no formal training beforehand and no apprenticship......Marc

[jtomasik]

Although I now own an F-250, I have to admit that Ford has some of the strangest approaches at mechanical design.

I grew up as a motorhead...building cars and doing some bracket racing. I owned Mopars (raced a '71 440 6-pack Demon), helped my friends build their Chevy's ('70 Chevelle with a 396 anchor in it, a Nova with a 400 small block...and others), and owned a '70 Mach 1 with a 351 Cleveland. I also worked on off-road equipment (mainly Cat...was a journeyman diesel mechanic for them, but also Case, IH, Pettibone, and a ton of others), but I also worked on over-the-road tractors (Pete, Int'l, KW's, Volvo's, Fords).

Ford engineering practice is just flat out strange. My Mach 1 had the weirdest stamped accessory brackets and braces which required removal to access the engine.

I worked on some Ford (9000's, I believe) that had Cat motors in them. Ford would tilt the engine (axially along the crank) about 10 degrees off vertical. It made for great access for the fuel pump (which, relatively speaking, required little maintenance). But, it buried the water pump against the frame rails, which required replacement every 100,000 miles. To get at the water pump, you had to lift the engine. To do that, you had to remove a top brace to the radiator (to tilt it out of the way of the fan blade). That brace not only held the radiator, it also held the wiring harness to the front of the engine. So, you had to disconnect the harness, undo the supports for the hood, remove the brace, tilt the radiator, undo the motor mounts, lift the engine...just to get at the water pump! It turned a one hour job into over a day's work.

I'm now a mechanical engineer, and I know how tough it is to please everyone from marketing through repair/maintenance...but those are some strange designs....

[mschn99]

did i hear someone say enganeer.........boy....you might want:uzi:

[jtomasik]

Originally Posted by mschn99

did i hear someone say enganeer.........boy....you might want:uzi:

Hey, without 'em, you'd be walking.

[mschn99]

Originally Posted by jtomasik

Hey, without 'em, you'd be walking.

yea, but i swear you guys go designing this stuff so the techs at the dealers have to just buy more tools and make it tougher to work on when there had to have been a simpler way

[jtomasik]

I hear ya. But, designing is extremely difficult. We have to appease many departments, meet many objectives, satisfy numerous requirements, design for cost, performance, manufacturability, longevity...the list seems almost endless. Honestly, you'd have to try it sometime to understand. It's a LOT tougher than some people think.

[mschn99]

i know.....but i gotta whine....it seems we (as techs) just get things tougher and tougher to work on...........Marc

[WD40]

Originally Posted by mschn99

did I hear someone say enganeer.........boy....you might want:uzi:

He is a mechanical engineer. Don't you know that the people who sale Snap-On, Craftsman Tools, Mack Tools along with many other brands of tools pay there's, mechanical engineer big money to design things that will need new tools. That's what makes the world go round.
Work and make money buy and spend all of your hard earned money so you can work and spend all of your hard earned money.

[jtomasik]

I honestly can't speak for automotive engineers. But, I worked for Cat, and I've since been in the hi-tech side of products (printers/RFID programmer/verifiers).

I'd doubt that Snap-On (hey, I know those prices...I have a toolbox from back in the day, and I'd bet it has $12K + of my tooling money in it)/Mac/etc. pay the big four a dime to design things that require special tooling. My guess is that some of that special tooling requirements come from a desire to keep the average owner from messing with that area of the motor, some comes from a designer backing himself into a corner where he can't get a conventional tool to fit, some might come from costs of using a standard tool fastener as opposed to a custom fastener, etc.

I do know for sure that all of my designs are done with the intention of using standard tools for assembly/repair, and also making as many parts as common as possible. The necessity for the last part depends on whether we're assembling here or in the far east.