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I am a retired electronics engineer with over 50 years experience in critical military, aerospace, and industrial systems. Most of my career was spent designing and manufacturing major process control systems for multi-billion dollar manufacturing plants all around the world. You can see my Patent List here.

In all these examples, great care was taken to do a rigorous failure analysis to determine what parts were most likely to fail, and redesign them to reduce or eliminate the problem. We used many different techniques, such as redundancy, derating, isolation, and many other methods to make the systems as reliable as possible.

It is only in the commercial world that we can see the opposite - where systems are deliberately designed to fail. Presumably this is intended to force customers to buy new products. However, it often affects those who are least likely to be able to afford to buy new products, and it unfairly discriminates against these helpless victims. The following is only one example.

Designed To Fail

The Ford Taurus with the 3.0 liter DOHC V6 Duratec engine was an extremely popular car, and many were sold. Unfortunately, Ford engineers rewarded their customers with two special features that are designed to ensure the destruction of the engine and force them to buy new cars.

The problem is by the time these features were activated, the car would be older and probably have been traded, and these cars would be worth much less on the used car market. The new owners would probably be at a lower income level and dependent on the car to get to work. When the car dies unexpectedly, they would be unprepared for the cost to repair the damage, and unable to afford a new car.

It is obvious the plan will fail. It only affects those who are least able to buy a new Ford, it harms Ford's reputation for reliability and integrity, and it inflicts special harm to a certain group of people.

Consider a young single mother with hungry mouths to feed, hurrying to get to work. The car fails, probably in traffic or on the freeway. She soon finds it is unrepairable. How will she feed her kids?

Ford engineers certainly knew this might happen. How could they do this to someone?

The next question is, what have they done to newer models to ensure early failure?

Loss Of Coolant Failure Analysis

[01] Small Hose to Overflow Tank The symptoms are the engine is losing coolant, but there doesn't seem to be any leaks. The leak is not internal since the oil level does not rise, and the oil is not contaminated with water. I had just bought the car and drove it several hundred miles. There was never any warning light on the dash, but I found the problem while checking the water level in the coolant tank. It kept dropping. Eventually, the problem was traced to a small hose that goes to the overflow tank. This is a common problem reported on forums such as 2carpros.com. Click on photos for a larger image
[02] Location Of Leak The leak occurs here, but only after the engine has been running long enough to get hot. The reason is the leak is on the outlet side of the thermostat, and there is no flow of water until the thermostat opens. When the thermostat opens, you are probably several kilometers down the road. The coolant falls down the side of the engine, which blocks it from reaching the hot exhaust pipes. This means there will be no white cloud of water vapor behind the car to alert you that something is wrong. When the water level is low, the temperature gauge on the dashboard may fail to show the overheating. This leak is cleverly designed to prevent you from noticing the problem until the coolant is gone and the engine has seized.
[03] The Hose Connection Is Loose If you wiggle the hose, you find it is loose and will bend. This does not seem to be a problem - you might be convinced it is rubber and should bend. This helps to hide the problem until the damage is done.
[04] Hose Is Held On By Small Tab Looking more carefully, we find the hose is held on by a small tab. This is strange. Why would they do that?
[05] Cutting The Tab We decide to cut the tab and see what is underneath.
[06] End Of Pipe Is Recessed We find the connection is not rubber as assumed earlier. Instead, there is a metal pipe inside, but the connection is recessed.
[07] Main Hose Shows Pipe Protruding The main hose has a similar pipe, but the end is protruding. It now becomes clear. The pipe is hidden inside the rubber housing, but it is exposed to allow it to rust. Eventually it will break, but the small tab holds the pipe in place so you will not notice anything is wrong. When the engine warms up enough to open the thermostat, the water will flow out the pipe. By then, you are miles down the road and may not realize there is a problem. In my case, there was no indication on the dashboard lights. I believe the temperature gauge showed the engine was still cold. The engine will overheat. This can tulip the valves and warp the block. The repair cost may be more than the car is worth.
[08] Old Fridge Leveler Bolt Plugs Hole We need to plug the hole so we can go and find parts to fix the problem. The pipe is an odd diameter. None of the standard bolts will fit, but an old fridge leveler bolt happens to work perfectly. We leave the cap on the coolant tank loose so it will not pressurize the system. Armed with plenty of bottles of water, we get the parts needed to fix the problem.
[09] Main Hose Broke Now we find the second trap in their fiendish design. While working on the hose, the main pipe suddenly breaks.
[10] Fractured Inner Hose Connection There is a fiber liner inside the hose. This has degraded and fails as soon as the main hose is moved. The fibre liner is used at this location because it is on the outlet side of the thermostat. This means the pipe can break in your driveway, but there won't be a puddle under the car to alert you to the problem. The water won't flow until the thermostat opens, which will only occur when you are driving down the road. It will dump the water quickly, and you may not even notice that anything is wrong, until the engine seizes.
[11] Just Squeezing Fractures It More I have been fixing cars all around the world since 1957. I have never seen any material like this used anywhere. It is clearly intended to degrade with time and eventually break. Other people have contacted me and said they found the same thing in their cars. May 19, 2011: I just found a YouTube video by a mechanic who found the same problem while fixing a 2001 Taurus coolant leak. He was as surprised as I was when the pipe broke. It is obvious he has also never seen this happen before. However, the warning light he points out on the dashboard is for the gas cap. It is shown on Page 5 of the owner's manual. He has since posted a note indicating he now understands what it actually means, but it is a bit funny the way he presents it. His solution was to use iron water pipe and weld the thread area to prevent leaks. I had considered using a water pipe also, but didn't want the rust and electrolytic corrosion problems, particularly when joining iron and brass. For more information, see the Corrosion Doctors Galvanic Series. Also, the iron pipe is heavy and I felt the road vibration would put too much stress on the old hose and cause it to fail.
[12] Fragments Of Pipe Liner The photos illustrate my astonishment at finding this material in the cooling system. None of the other hoses in the car have this type of fiber liner. They are all metal. There is no legitimate reason to use this material anywhere in a car cooling system. The only purpose is the main hose is intended to fail. When this happens, it will quickly dump all the coolant on the road. If you are on the freeway or stuck in traffic, the engine will probably seize before you even realize something is wrong. This now turns into a major problem. The Ford dealer wants $213CAD for the new hose assembly, plus two hours to install and check for leaks. The cost could be over $500 plus tax. There are no aftermarket sources for this hose that I could find in Canada. It is only available from Ford. A new hose assembly will have the same problems and could fail again. Bummer.
[13] Here Is What We Need To Fix The Problem 1. Brass pipe 1.25 inches in diameter, 4.5 inches long 2. 1/8 inch 45 degree brass male nipple 3. Two 3/8 inch X 26 tpi knurled brass nuts 4. 5/16 inch brass hose barb 5. 5/16 or 3/8 inch fuel line hose, 1 foot long 6. Two hose clamps for 1.25 inch pipe 7. Two hose clamps for 3/8 inch pipe NOTE: it is extremely important to ensure that the parts are all brass or copper. Do not mix brass and steel. Steel will rust, and mixing steel and copper will cause electrolytic corrosion and the pipe will fail.
[14] We Want The Two Knurled Nuts The 26 tpi thread on the brass nipple is non-standard. You will not find any SAE or metric brass nuts in any hardware store that will work. There is one place you can find these nuts. The Lighting Accessories section in Home Depot has a small package of nuts used to repair lamps. The thread is the same as the NPT thread on the brass nipple. (NPT - National Pipe Thread.) We want the two knurled brass nuts in this package!
[15] Kitchen Drain Pipe The next problem is to find a 1.25 inch diameter copper or brass pipe. We may find there are no sources available anywhere. But again Home Depot comes to the rescue. In the kitchen sink department, we find a brass drain pipe 1.25 inches in diameter. It is chrome plated, which is even better. It will help protect the pipe against road salt that would certainly corrode it rapidly.
[16] Checking Thickness Of Pipe Wall The pipe wall measures 0.031 inches thick. That is plenty for this application. The pipe is more than strong enough to support the water pressure and road vibration. One person in a forum was concerned the sharp edge on the pipe would cut the hose. This is not a problem since the hose assembly is in a confined space. It is too short to flex, so there is no cutting action. Similarly, there is no need for a raised portion on the end of the pipe to keep the hose clamped on the pipe. The available space is too small for the hose to separate, and after a short while, the hose will bond to the pipe so it can't move anyway. It has been installed for about a year, and I inspect it regularly whenever I open the hood. It is in excellent condition, and I only needed to tighten the clamps once.
[17] Fitting New Pipe For Length We check to see how long the pipe needs to be. It looks like 4.5 inches will work fine. Note the old overflow hose connection has been cut off. Do this right at the joint so there will be plenty of length for the new pipe.
[18] Cut And Drill New Pipe Cut a piece 4.5 inches long and drill a 3/8 inch hole 1.5 inches from the end. You may need a bimetal hacksaw blade to cut through the chrome plating. Use fine aluminum oxide sandpaper to remove the chrome plate around the hole so it can be soldered.
[19] Use Magnet To Install Threaded Nut We need to flatten the section of pipe around the hole to make a tight joint for the knurled nuts. Get a 3/8 inch bolt or threaded rod and put nuts on both sides of the hole. The inside thread is hard to reach. I had to use a magnetic rod to hold a steel nut on the end while turning the threaded bolt.
[20] Use Front Wheel Axle From Bicycle To Flatten Pipe I happened to use a bicycle wheel axle for this task. The wheel nut happens to be perfect to ensure the brass pipe flattens properly. Notice the pipe bends slightly to accommodate the flattened portion.
[21] Mount Threaded Nut On Nipple
[22] Apply Rosin Flux I strongly recommend to use rosin flux instead of acid flux. Rosin flux works much better on brass, and we do not want any acid flux inside the engine.
[23] Check Alignment Before Soldering
[24] We Need Plenty Of Heat Copper is an excellent heat conductor. We need a propane torch to heat the joint for soldering. NOTE: Silver solder might be preferred, but I used ordinary 50/50 tin/lead solder available at any hardware store. It is much stronger than 60/40, and is plenty strong enough for this application.
[25] Check Knurled Nut Has A Good Solder Joint The fillet should be smooth and shiny all the way around.
[26] Check Outside Solder Joints You can remove the flux with a wire brush.
[27] New Pipe Installed And Ready To Go Add 50/50 antifreeze and check for leaks. I use ordinary green antifreeze. It needs to be replaced sooner than the gold stuff, but the gold stuff is more expensive. And at this stage in the game, how long do you plan on keeping the car? My mechanic at the Ford distributor has exactly the same car. He has clocked over 450,000 kilometers and is still going strong. It's a good car, and the transmission on this model is much more reliable than the older versions. He says all it needs is regular oil changes and proper maintenance, and it will last forever. The gas mileage is not great, but it is not as bad as most SUV's. Is it worth getting a more expensive car just to save on gas? How long will it take to recover the cost of the new car? In my case the car is running fine, and I'll wait until the new 330 mpg cars from Volkswagen are available. Might take a while, but we can dream, yes?