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Automotive technology you miss.


8thTon

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Nobody's mentioned vinyl tops or opera windows yet.

Maybe there are some things we're better off without.....
 


adsm08

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That reminds me of... torque converter drains. They made things so much nicer. Haven't seen one in a very long time.

I hate that trans pans have no drains either, but they really never have except some transaxle cars I've worked on. I'm not a mechanic like @adsm08 but I work on stuff when I feel like it. One of my pet peeves, if you ask me to change a transmission filter, you're paying me to weld in a bung on the pan. Mainly cause I'm not spilling fluid on myself, I poke a hole, let it drain and then remove it and weld the bung on the hole. But it also gives me a chance to do partial fluid changes on the few customers I have that come back to me.
The 5R55W/S was one of the best designs Ford had for checking and filling the fluid.

If you had no idea what you were doing you'd never figure it out, it made it much easier to get the fluid level correct, took a lot of the error of reading a dipstick that goes into the same hole the fluid is filled through, and it put a drain in the pan.
 

sgtsandman

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That reminds me of... torque converter drains. They made things so much nicer. Haven't seen one in a very long time.

I hate that trans pans have no drains either, but they really never have except some transaxle cars I've worked on. I'm not a mechanic like @adsm08 but I work on stuff when I feel like it. One of my pet peeves, if you ask me to change a transmission filter, you're paying me to weld in a bung on the pan. Mainly cause I'm not spilling fluid on myself, I poke a hole, let it drain and then remove it and weld the bung on the hole. But it also gives me a chance to do partial fluid changes on the few customers I have that come back to me.
You are SO right! I absolutely HATE that they refuse to put a drain in automatic transmission drain pans. I've learned how to not make a mess but come on! Those things can't cost that much to add to a drain pan.
 

sgtsandman

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Nobody's mentioned vinyl tops or opera windows yet.

Maybe there are some things we're better off without.....
I never cared for either, plus I've seen the rust under vinyl tops when they are removed because the old one needed replaced. As far as opera windows, if those are what I think they are, they were next to useless.
 

ericbphoto

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NYC hauls half their raw sewage out to international waters in tankers and just dumps it. :icon_rofl:
Where it then washes ashore in New Jersey to fill in the swamps.
 

Gozi

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I just want to see a little less plastic, well a lot less plastic.
 

1990RangerinSK

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That reminds me of... torque converter drains. They made things so much nicer. Haven't seen one in a very long time.

I hate that trans pans have no drains either, but they really never have except some transaxle cars I've worked on. I'm not a mechanic like @adsm08 but I work on stuff when I feel like it. One of my pet peeves, if you ask me to change a transmission filter, you're paying me to weld in a bung on the pan. Mainly cause I'm not spilling fluid on myself, I poke a hole, let it drain and then remove it and weld the bung on the hole. But it also gives me a chance to do partial fluid changes on the few customers I have that come back to me.
Gee, Dirtman, I wonder why you only have a few..... Frankly, if you did that to my vehicle, I'd be demanding that you replace the pan at your expense, and then I'd never take my car to you again.
 

1990RangerinSK

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I never cared for either, plus I've seen the rust under vinyl tops when they are removed because the old one needed replaced. As far as opera windows, if those are what I think they are, they were next to useless.
Since you asked,

32604


That is an opera window.
 

sgtsandman

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That is what I thought they were. Thanks for the confirmation.
 

91stranger

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Gee, Dirtman, I wonder why you only have a few..... Frankly, if you did that to my vehicle, I'd be demanding that you replace the pan at your expense, and then I'd never take my car to you again.
I was thinking the same thing... Maybe there's a reason why they don't come back. I'd be pissed if someone did that on mine too. My 8 year old could drill a hole and let the fluid drain.... A PAID mechanic should do it the right way.... Geez I really hope he was joking. When filling the oil do you just fill it till it comes out the top too? HAHA
 

snoranger

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Gee, Dirtman, I wonder why you only have a few..... Frankly, if you did that to my vehicle, I'd be demanding that you replace the pan at your expense, and then I'd never take my car to you again.
I was thinking the same thing... Maybe there's a reason why they don't come back. I'd be pissed if someone did that on mine too. My 8 year old could drill a hole and let the fluid drain.... A PAID mechanic should do it the right way.... Geez I really hope he was joking. When filling the oil do you just fill it till it comes out the top too? HAHA

Wait a minute... You guys are actually against having a drain plug in the pan on an auto?!!!?
 

alwaysFlOoReD

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Wait a minute... You guys are actually against having a drain plug in the pan on an auto?!!!?
I agree, adding a drain plug is a good thing. It makes it easier to everyone that follows.
 

Dirtman

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If you think having a drain plug in your transmission pan is a bad thing I wouldn't work on your car anyway...

Eh maybe I would but your bill would look like this.

hqp9s9qqj3521.png
:icon_rofl:
 

PetroleumJunkie412

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If you think having a drain plug in your transmission pan is a bad thing I wouldn't work on your car anyway...

Eh maybe I would but your bill would look like this.

View attachment 32636:icon_rofl:
Hey! That looks like a repair bill for my truck!
 

85_Ranger4x4

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Gee, Dirtman, I wonder why you only have a few..... Frankly, if you did that to my vehicle, I'd be demanding that you replace the pan at your expense, and then I'd never take my car to you again.
Yeah, not everybody loves ATF showers, I wish mine had drain plugs. Not supposed to drop the pan anymore so much though, they wanted it flushed.

Portal windows are kinda cool though:

 

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