Reliability, or the lack of it in the systems we use.

ChrisJ

DJD775 said:

ChrisJ said:

DJD775 said:

EBEBRATT-Ed said:

It has a sealed differential with no way to add or change fluid. How stupid.

I wonder how they got the fluid in there when it was built. Fill it before the axles are installed?

I always hate when car manufacturers state that some of the fluids/lubricants are "Lifetime". BS! I want my vehicle to last more than their definition of lifetime.
That being said even the worst cars today a very reliable.

Under normal conditions with a proper design manual transmission and differential oil essentially is "life time". It doesn't get diluted with fuel or full of carbon and moisture typically isn't an issue. So unless it's leaking, it should be fine.

Refrigerator and air conditioners etc all also have "life time lubricants". I don't exactly see anyone running around changing them.

Maybe if you could you would have refrigerators that last more than 8-10 years

Currently running in my kitchen is one that's 89 years old and another that's 87 years old. Both have the original mineral oil in them. Next to me at work is one that's 87 years old, also original oil.

The oil in them is fine.


There's more important things to worry about.
Now, automatic transmissions that you can't service, that could be something to be annoyed about.

delcrossv

ChrisJ said:

delcrossv said:

All mine are GM (Chevrolet). K2500 Suburban, 2500 Express van, Trailblazer.

But your 99 I'm sure had some work done to it.  Specifically intake manifold gasket etc depending on the engine.




Bingo! and machining the heads for flatness. All better now.

DJD775

ChrisJ said:

There's more important things to worry about.
Now, automatic transmissions that you can't service, that could be something to be annoyed about.

I don't really worry about it but fluids are easy enough to change that it's worth my time and I enjoy my time in the garage.
My wife's Jeep had a CVT transmission in it that Jeep claimed had lifetime fluid. My friend who is a Jeep service manger said if you want the lifetime to be <150,000 miles don't change it. Otherwise change at 100,000 miles tops. Worst thing about a CVT is that they are pretty much throw away items once they are shot.

ChrisJ

DJD775 said:

ChrisJ said:

There's more important things to worry about.
Now, automatic transmissions that you can't service, that could be something to be annoyed about.

I don't really worry about it but fluids are easy enough to change that it's worth my time and I enjoy my time in the garage.
My wife's Jeep had a CVT transmission in it that Jeep claimed had lifetime fluid. My friend who is a Jeep service manger said if you want the lifetime to be

Jeep and CVT in the same sentence.
Oh boy.................

DJD775

It came with my wife. Package deal.

mattmia2

A refrigeration system is sealed,or at least it is supposed to be. A transmission or differential pulls in some amount of dirt and moisture from the environment and works a lot harder than a refrigeration compressor. When the refrigerant leaks out through defective tubing is when modern refrigeration systems fail.

ChrisJ

mattmia2 said:

A refrigeration system is sealed,or at least it is supposed to be. A transmission or differential pulls in some amount of dirt and moisture from the environment and works a lot harder than a refrigeration compressor. When the refrigerant leaks out through defective tubing is when modern refrigeration systems fail.

There's some truth there, but I used to change manual transmission oil and then I stopped.
I was tired of draining new looking oil out.

DJD775

The appearance of oil gives you little to no information on how the oil is holding up. Without proper chemical and microscopic analysis it's a shot in the dark.

ChrisJ

DJD775 said:

The appearance of oil gives you little to no information on how the oil is holding up. Without proper chemical and microscopic analysis it's a shot in the dark.

I've done oil analysis on motor oil.

I see no reason to do it on gear oil.

DJD775

I don't expect to have a catastrophic failure if the gear oil is not changed but for ~$40 every 50,000 miles the cost is minimal to keep potential wear metals in solution down to a minimum. Personal preference I guess.

Solid_Fuel_Man

Ah yes the Ford power transfer unit (PTU). The oil in them gets cooked by the catalytic converter which is a whopping inch away from it. It has a fill plug, but they neglected to put a drain plug it it. Only service you can do is finangle a hose in it and such out as much fluid as you can. All with that whipping inch of clearance.....

Funny the manual transmission which I sourced from a 1978 mustang for my 1959 Galaxie also didn't have a drain plug, fill plug only. The boss was there in the iron casting but never drilled and tapped. Well you know what happened when I got my grubby hands on it. 

ChrisJ