Those #+%^ engineers!

[AntiqueIron]

Like the one who put a crossmember under the transmission oil pan on my Silverado, so changing the trans filter requires jacking up the back of the transmission.

Or the knucklehead at Kubota who put the oil filter behind a cosmetic panel with difficult to reach front bolts on the l3010.

Or the nimrods at Deere who put the engine oil dipstick behind various tubing and the like so it requires you to blindly feel around for the dipstick tube when reinserting.

Whoever decided that AC compressors could use a non serviceable clutch (ahem, Subaru) and mount the compressor on the main serpentine belt so an $800 compressor becomes a periodic service item.

Toyota requiring you to remove the intake manifold to change spark plugs on the 3.5 V6.

Ford putting the dipstick at the back of the engine on the newer 6.7 diesels so us vertically challenged folks need a stool to check the oil…

What are your “why in the world would they possibly do that?” Stories?

 

[mrmikey]

Like the one who put a crossmember under the transmission oil pan on my Silverado

That engineer left GM and went to work for Stellantis, Ram, Dodge Goat or whatever they're called now, my '19 Ram is the same way. I'll go you one better, they decided to make the transmission strainer part of the plastic oil pan so you have to replace the whole thing to change the $30 a liter gold infused fluid.

 

[tacticalturnip]

I would like to curse the first person to place batteries in insane places, justifying it with "jump points" to provide some convenience.

What a monster.

 

[IH3444]

Been there also brother.... believe me, I feel your pain!
I got to the hydraulic filter from the top by removing my floor pan on the CS2520. It wasn't easy but it wasn't too hard. I was trying to avoid removing the 60-inch mid mower. Kioti really put it into a very tight spot to begin too. The earlier CS models had a bolt on bottom frame reinforcing cross plate between frame rails that could be unbolted granting you easier access to the hydraulic filter. My 2023 model year this plate was welded to the frame, either for cost reduction or the bolted-on plate was flexing too much hence the engineers at Kioti decided to weld it to the frame. This makes it also impossible to get too from underneath. I actually called my dealer and asked to speak with one of their technicians and did. He said it was a bear to remove even with the tractor on a lift, but it was doable. Posters on the site, My Tractor Forum spoke of and offered procedures as to how to get to the filter from above. I first had to remove both my hydrostatic pedals. They unbolt. The I made a slice down to the brake pedal to remove the rubber mat. I removed the mat then. You will see the pan is then able to be unbolted and removed. You will the see the hydraulic filter between the frame rails. I used a band type filter wrench just slightly larger than the filter diameter and worked it onto the filter, and with great strength got the filter lose. It was a bit of a fight because the factory puts the filter on so tight. I recommend using a Kioti OEM filter. They are made in Japan by Hitachi I believe and are of very high quality. Eat your Wheaties for this job.

https://www.mytractorforum.com/threads/cs2520-hydrostatic-oil-filter-50-hour-service.1395534/

 

[CalG]

Like the one who put a crossmember under the transmission oil pan on my Silverado, so changing the trans filter requires jacking up the back of the transmission.

Or the knucklehead at Kubota who put the oil filter behind a cosmetic panel with difficult to reach front bolts on the l3010.

Or the nimrods at Deere who put the engine oil dipstick behind various tubing and the like so it requires you to blindly feel around for the dipstick tube when reinserting.

Whoever decided that AC compressors could use a non serviceable clutch (ahem, Subaru) and mount the compressor on the main serpentine belt so an $800 compressor becomes a periodic service item.

Toyota requiring you to remove the intake manifold to change spark plugs on the 3.5 V6.

Ford putting the dipstick at the back of the engine on the newer 6.7 diesels so us vertically challenged folks need a stool to check the oil…

What are your “why in the world would they possibly do that?” Stories?

The Toyota Tacoma does not require manifold removal to change plugs.
The 3.5L engin is used on several platforms however. I can not speak to others.

 

[Shawn T. W.]

My Kenworth T680 has a rather difficult to fill coolant reservoir ... They tucked it up against the firewall, behind the air filter, but below the cowl ...

This is the same cap, but it's not where you fill it, it's a "breather" you have to unscrew!

So to add coolant, you gotta get your hand into the purple arrow (I wear XL gloves!) and unscrew the cap, then you s l o w l y pour coolant in the yellow cap, which will over flow once it's to the "full line" on the reservoir! Then tighten the cap on the reservoir!

Would have been easier to just make a door/flap above it to fill it from the top side of the cowl!

----------------------------------------

My 2018 RAM 1500 looks like the exhaust will need to be removed to get the drain plug out of the 8 speed automatic, also to remove the pan to replace the molded in filter! Stupid set up!

They also placed the 5.7 engine oil spin on filter directly above the electric steering motor, rather difficult to reach, but easy to make a mess!

 

[dicktill]

I guess I have to apologize to everyone ...

I became a mechanical engineer because I liked to tinker with everything since I could crawl. By the end of Christmas Day, I had disassembled every one of my gifts that could be taken apart. Alas, sometimes I didn't get them all back together again. : )

I played with bicycles and then cars and then sports cars (eventually race cars and nowadays, tractors). I learned, often by trial and error, how to wrench, how to diagnose, how to modify, etc., etc. I was shocked when I got out of college to work with other so-called mechanical engineers that didn't know which end of a hammer or wrench to use, nor how things really worked; nor did they care. So, my apologizes for them. But I always say, "show me an engineer that says he/she never designed anything wrong, and I'll show you an engineer that never designed anything", and I have a long list of blunders I have made over the years; but I learned from every one of them! Doesn't seem like there are any/many Mozart's in engineering (for those that don't know, Mozart is said to have only written one score for every one of his masterpieces, with never a correction nor need for it).

Soon to be 80 (3 weeks), I still enjoy learning something new every day.

 

[bigtiller]

I am over it now, but I never could figure out why they put the battery under the back seat in a Buick LeSabre.

 

[deserteagle71]

Like the one who put a crossmember under the transmission oil pan on my Silverado, so changing the trans filter requires jacking up the back of the transmission.

That same brilliant engineer placed the DEF tank in GM Duramax-powered trucks right behind the passenger front tire and hung it down really low so that when you dropped the front tires into a washout, or drove over a tall rock, you crushed the tank. And of course to fill that DEF tank it was necessary to open the hood to get to the fill spout. Aftermarket companies made a lot of money selling bash plates for that DEF tank.

 

[deserteagle71]

That same engineer's brother works for Kubota. And he designed the fill port for engine oil where it cannot be seen if the front end loader is mounted on the tractor. The tractor's exhaust and the front end loader block access from the front and side; the cab is smack up against the loader support from the back side. It is possible, if the engine and exhaust are cold, to feel around back there and find the cap for the oil fill and remove it. Then I have to use a long funnel with a 3' hose on the end and thread that hose down into the fill port, by feel. FYI....it takes a long time to pour 3 gallons of oil into an engine through a skinny hose on a cold day!