Ford to pay for cracking v-8 manifolds

On June 18 Blue Oval News announced that Ford settled the suits about
the plastic v-8 intake manifolds that crack and lose coolant. They will
pay owners about a third of a billion US$. You can find the article on
http://www.flamingfords.info

sounds good but ford fixed mine twice without it costing me anything

unless i can get some cash for "pain and suffering"...

=)

"Henry" > wrote in message
nk.net...
> On June 18 Blue Oval News announced that Ford settled the suits about
> the plastic v-8 intake manifolds that crack and lose coolant. They will
> pay owners about a third of a billion US$. You can find the article on
> http://www.flamingfords.info

On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 07:55:12 GMT, Henry >
wrote:

>On June 18 Blue Oval News announced that Ford settled the suits about
>the plastic v-8 intake manifolds that crack and lose coolant. They will
>pay owners about a third of a billion US$. You can find the article on
>http://www.flamingfords.info

At the time I said making plastic manifolds was a stupid idea.
The look of them on Mustang engines sickened me.
My concerns were dismissed by "knowledgible" people who extolled
the virtues of plastic in engines. Plastics, first and formost
are designed to CHEAPEN products, from car engines to cameras.
They are NEVER used when critical applications are involved and for
good reason. While there certainly ARE composites that can be used,
they tend to be more costly than the metal alternatives, thus you
rarely see them in mass-market applications. I hope this marks the
END of such experiments by Ford.

On Fri, 01 Jul 2005 15:51:13 -0400, RichA > wrote:

>On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 07:55:12 GMT, Henry >
>wrote:
>
>>On June 18 Blue Oval News announced that Ford settled the suits about
>>the plastic v-8 intake manifolds that crack and lose coolant. They will
>>pay owners about a third of a billion US$. You can find the article on
>>http://www.flamingfords.info
>
>At the time I said making plastic manifolds was a stupid idea.
>The look of them on Mustang engines sickened me.
>My concerns were dismissed by "knowledgible" people who extolled
>the virtues of plastic in engines. Plastics, first and formost
>are designed to CHEAPEN products, from car engines to cameras.
>They are NEVER used when critical applications are involved and for
>good reason. While there certainly ARE composites that can be used,
>they tend to be more costly than the metal alternatives, thus you
>rarely see them in mass-market applications. I hope this marks the
>END of such experiments by Ford.
>

lmfao
how many other engines by ford and others use them
lmfao
one problem
pretty good id say
h
u
r
c
a
s
t

On Fri, 01 Jul 2005 15:51:13 -0400, RichA > wrote:

>On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 07:55:12 GMT, Henry >
>wrote:
>
>>On June 18 Blue Oval News announced that Ford settled the suits about
>>the plastic v-8 intake manifolds that crack and lose coolant. They will
>>pay owners about a third of a billion US$. You can find the article on
>>http://www.flamingfords.info
>
>At the time I said making plastic manifolds was a stupid idea.
>The look of them on Mustang engines sickened me.
>My concerns were dismissed by "knowledgible" people who extolled
>the virtues of plastic in engines. Plastics, first and formost
>are designed to CHEAPEN products, from car engines to cameras.
>They are NEVER used when critical applications are involved and for
>good reason. While there certainly ARE composites that can be used,
>they tend to be more costly than the metal alternatives, thus you
>rarely see them in mass-market applications. I hope this marks the
>END of such experiments by Ford.
>

Really, there is nothing wrong with using plastic for the intake
manifold. The plastic is easily capable of taking the heat from the
engine, and the thermal properties of plastic are more favorable than
metal. Which I suppose is the reason ford used them in the first
place.

If the manifolds crack, then really it's not so much of the plastics
fault, but more of just a simple structural design flaw. Todays
engineering software allows for some awesome simulation, allowing you
to create a 3D model of your components, put them together, and
simulate anything from physical stresses, thermal, gas / liquid flow
analysis, etc. I love playing w/ that stuff =) But, this software is
only so good, and it is extremely difficult to really predict what
forces truly occur, how, when, and where and set up the simulations
accordingly. On top of that, it's relatively easily to simulate X
amount of stress and see where things might break. But it's a lot
harder to simulate the effects of the same stress over time...So
despite all this technology, design flaws can, do, and will still
happen.

And, I hope this does not mark the end of experiments because
experiments, as much as they may suck if things go bad, are the only
way to advance. And remember, they people that design this are humans
too, just like everyone else, they make mistakes.


--
Stephan
2001 Yamaha YZF-R6 <--- Stolen

"Stephan Rose" > wrote in message
...
> On Fri, 01 Jul 2005 15:51:13 -0400, RichA > wrote:
>
>>On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 07:55:12 GMT, Henry >
>>wrote:
>>
>>>On June 18 Blue Oval News announced that Ford settled the suits about
>>>the plastic v-8 intake manifolds that crack and lose coolant. They will
>>>pay owners about a third of a billion US$. You can find the article on
>>>http://www.flamingfords.info

Yeah, mine cracked a few years ago on a '97 GT convert. I had it towed to my
mechanic. When he found the crack, I called the Ford dealer and they came
and towed it to their dealership on a Fri. or Sat. afternoon (Can't remember
which). They asked for my first towing bill and called before noon on Monday
to say it was done - no charge. I think Ford reimbursed me for the first
tow, but I might have been my insurance company.

All in all, one of the more pleasant experiences I've ever had with ANY
dealership.

For those of you in Missouri, it was Machen Ford.

Just another data point.

>>At the time I said making plastic manifolds was a stupid idea.
>>The look of them on Mustang engines sickened me.
>>My concerns were dismissed by "knowledgible" people who extolled
>>the virtues of plastic in engines. Plastics, first and formost
>>are designed to CHEAPEN products, from car engines to cameras.
>>They are NEVER used when critical applications are involved and for
>>good reason. While there certainly ARE composites that can be used,
>>they tend to be more costly than the metal alternatives, thus you
>>rarely see them in mass-market applications. I hope this marks the
>>END of such experiments by Ford.
>>
>
> Really, there is nothing wrong with using plastic for the intake
> manifold. The plastic is easily capable of taking the heat from the
> engine, and the thermal properties of plastic are more favorable than
> metal. Which I suppose is the reason ford used them in the first
> place.
>
> If the manifolds crack, then really it's not so much of the plastics
> fault, but more of just a simple structural design flaw. Todays
> engineering software allows for some awesome simulation, allowing you
> to create a 3D model of your components, put them together, and
> simulate anything from physical stresses, thermal, gas / liquid flow
> analysis, etc. I love playing w/ that stuff =) But, this software is
> only so good, and it is extremely difficult to really predict what
> forces truly occur, how, when, and where and set up the simulations
> accordingly. On top of that, it's relatively easily to simulate X
> amount of stress and see where things might break. But it's a lot
> harder to simulate the effects of the same stress over time...So
> despite all this technology, design flaws can, do, and will still
> happen.
>
> And, I hope this does not mark the end of experiments because
> experiments, as much as they may suck if things go bad, are the only
> way to advance. And remember, they people that design this are humans
> too, just like everyone else, they make mistakes.
>
>
> --
> Stephan
> 2001 Yamaha YZF-R6 <--- Stolen