Reliability issue

[Josh B]

One of the neatest, most reliable cars I ever owned was a 1966 Plymouth Valiant Hardtop with the 225 ci Slant 6. Bought it used when I was in the service, and traveled across the US with it, and it never failed.
Those slant 6 engines were unbeatable.
Grumpaw

That's what made me put that in there Grumpaw. I had one in a Dodge Dart in the mid 70s that my father and I rebuilt with it still sitting in the cradle, my father was a great early mechanic, even in the Air Corp during WW2 he started out as an aircraft mechanic and then a pilot trainer on B17 and 24s

 

[Grumpaw]

That's what made me put that in there Grumpaw. I had one in a Dodge Dart in the mid 70s that my father and I rebuilt with it still sitting in the cradle, my father was a great early mechanic, even in the Air Corp during WW2 he started out as an aircraft mechanic and then a pilot trainer on B17 and 24s

Funny coincidence Josh...my dad was an Army Air Corp mechanic also. Worked on B-17's and B-24's in England during WW II.
I don't ever remember him taking any of his cars in for repair when I was growing up. Always did his own repairs, on everything.
Taught me a lot...was able to take apart and re-assemble a lawn mower engine when I was 10....used to help him with the maintenance on our cars.
Used a lot of Lava soap back then.
Grumpaw

 

[4.0blue98]

Still rather drive the new stuff if I need to get somewhere but would definitely enjoy the ride better driving the old stuff.

Ruggedness does not equate to reliability.

 

[Grumpaw]

Still rather drive the new stuff if I need to get somewhere but would definitely enjoy the ride better driving the old stuff.

Ruggedness does not equate to reliability.

No, it dosen't, and, aside from the glitches we have now cause of all the electronics, today's vehicles are much more reliable and comfortable than the oldies.
But, I still enjoy the old stuff, cause their just plain fun to drive and maintain.
While my Ranger is not an oldie, it is plain, and I enjoy driving it more than my Subi Crosstrek or wife's Outback,
But, I still wish I had kept some of my past cars and trucks.
Grumpaw

 

[Josh B]

The 73 Ford 300 I had was as reliable as the 93 4.0(which had been extremely well maintained), and in many cases still true today, and as in all vehicles, someone will walk away with a lemon and someone else will drive away with a pearl.

I recall an early study into auto manufacturing arriving at the conclusion cars/trucks built on Wednesday & into Thursday were the best bet, not so much Tuesday or Friday, and under no circumstance you wanted one off the line on a Monday

My main deciding factor is based on ease of maintenance, a point in which there is no real comparison in my mind

And no matter how reliable a vehicle may be, maintenance will be coming due, and a very big part of ownership

I also recall a Motor Trend(or some such primary auto magazine) article in the 70s. They two writers to investigate the quality of repair shops and dealerships across the country. Coast to coast and border to border they logged over 400 of them. As they'd be approaching another town they'd unplug a plug wire or a vacuum line or something, and sometimes nothing at all, then stop somewhere to have it checked out.

Of the entire bunch they found only 1 or 2 of the whole bunch who came back with "it was only a loose plug wire/ vacuum line" or whatever. In the by far greatest majority of cases though it was anything from needed a tune-up to some Major repair "needed"

I know there are an army of qualified and honest mechanics out there, but when you're on the road or whatever they can be very hard to find

I'll take one that is easily maintained any day, and even the 96 Explorer I'm driving now is giving me fits on the transmission, and I cannot possibly afford to just go buy a new one :/
I did try a rebuilt one on the Ranger, and got trashed.
I'll take ease of maintenance any day

 

[Josh B]

I had to go back and look again, even the OP had his done to the tune of $1800.
Lucky him he had a good mechanic and the money to do it

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Still rather drive the new stuff if I need to get somewhere but would definitely enjoy the ride better driving the old stuff.

Ruggedness does not equate to reliability.

Ruggedness equates to "eh screw it its fine" though.

Take for instance...king pins vs ball joints. You can run king pins forever without a catastrophic failure. Ball joints...not so much.

Fuel injection? Everything has to be spot on or youll have stupid issues that make no sense. A carb? Eh screw it its a lil rich its fine.

In the day it was "eh its just a wheel bearing ill just repack it and squeeze another1500 miles from it", now its "oh shit my wheelbearing is shot, my abs is doing funny stuff, better go pay 300 bucks for a new one".

See where im going with this?

 

[4.0blue98]

Ruggedness equates to "eh screw it its fine" though.

I totally agree with you here!

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Must be a truck thing then? I just changed the oil in the wife's 08 Sienna. We bought it new and now a little over 277k. All I've had to do is change the oil every 4-5k (dino) and the plugs twice. I did replace the rear shocks and springs (front struts are original). Doubt you'd get that out of an old timey vehicle.

Don't get me wrong, I love the old stuff but they were not made to last. I believe they were made as good as possible at the time but they weren't made to last by today's standards.

Sienna... That smells like Hyundai...

We are no longer friends.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Also. There's a third option... I've upgraded my 1988 to a laptop and smartphone controlled, water injected, electric everything except the engine restromod.

The old tech is a good base. New tech requires ungodly level of tooling to highly modify. Old tech needs hand tools and a decent mill.

Just add tech to good old stuff.

Old stuff had engineered ruggedness. New stuff has engineered obsolescence. Not all was good, so look for good designs and correctable fatal flaw types old stuff (Ford 300, Dodge slant 6, Ford Cologne, basically every Lancia, etc.) and use it as the starting point. Toss the obsolete stuff like interior, audio, outdated ROM style efi, accessory drive stuff that's been replaced by more efficient electronics, etc. Replace with which ever manufacturer has stuff you want.

The vehicle you get out of this process is one that has evolved. Youre literally trimming it's genetics and splicing in the evolutionary advantages later generations gained. This creates a vehicle that's the best parts of everything.

Installed an auxiliary electric coolant pump out of a BMW 7 series. It's purpose in BMW?

Allows coolant to be circulated through the engine if the heater is on while the engine is off so that the cabin still has heat when the vehicle is off.

Volia. Now I have heat without idiling, and have an emergency way to mitigate an overheat situatuon even if the radiator falls off the truck. Whole second cooling system, complete with second backup water pump.

Evolution.

 

[4.0blue98]

Sienna... That smells like Hyundai...

We are no longer friends.

Smells like a Hyundai but spelled Toyota.

We were friends?

 

[1990RangerinSK]

Funny coincidence Josh...my dad was an Army Air Corp mechanic also. Worked on B-17's and B-24's in England during WW II.
I don't ever remember him taking any of his cars in for repair when I was growing up. Always did his own repairs, on everything.
Taught me a lot...was able to take apart and re-assemble a lawn mower engine when I was 10....used to help him with the maintenance on our cars.
Used a lot of Lava soap back then.
Grumpaw

Wow, Grumpy! My grandfather served as an air plane mechanic for the air force (RAF). He served in England and Africa. In England, he was stationed near Leeds.

 

[1990RangerinSK]

Ruggedness equates to "eh screw it its fine" though.

Take for instance...king pins vs ball joints. You can run king pins forever without a catastrophic failure. Ball joints...not so much.

Fuel injection? Everything has to be spot on or youll have stupid issues that make no sense. A carb? Eh screw it its a lil rich its fine.

In the day it was "eh its just a wheel bearing ill just repack it and squeeze another1500 miles from it", now its "oh shit my wheelbearing is shot, my abs is doing funny stuff, better go pay 300 bucks for a new one".

See where im going with this?

I've seen you bragging about other crap that you refused to fix, even though it made your vehicle DANGEROUS. Do us all a favour, and get that heap of scrap OFF THE ROAD before you KILL somebody!!!!

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Wow, Grumpy! My grandfather served as an air plane mechanic for the air force (RAF). He served in England and Africa. In England, he was stationed near Leeds.

So how did you wind up banished to Saskatchewan?

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

I've seen you bragging about other crap that you refused to fix, even though it made your vehicle DANGEROUS. Do us all a favour, and get that heap of scrap OFF THE ROAD before you KILL somebody!!!!

You have a 3.0. Your point originates from deep introspection.