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Why is the engineering department closed when the mechanics come to town?

PocoLoco

Aluminum
Joined
Oct 8, 2019
Having been in the mechanic business for something like 38 years, and having been to more than a few factory tours and seminars, why is the engineering department always closed when the mechanics come to town?
And why do we need a $40 smart switch, to control an $800 body control module, to turn on a dome light, when we have know from the days of Edison it only takes a switch ($3) and a few pieces of wire, to turn on a light bulb?
And why do we have aluminum assemblies held together with steel bolts, when soaked with salt brine for ten years become one unrepairable piece of corrosion?
Being this is a manufacturing forum, maybe someone can explain this to me.
 
Having been in the mechanic business for something like 38 years, and having been to more than a few factory tours and seminars, why is the engineering department always closed when the mechanics come to town?
And why do we need a $40 smart switch, to control an $800 body control module, to turn on a dome light, when we have know from the days of Edison it only takes a switch ($3) and a few pieces of wire, to turn on a light bulb?
And why do we have aluminum assemblies held together with steel bolts, when soaked with salt brine for ten years become one unrepairable piece of corrosion?
Being this is a manufacturing forum, maybe someone can explain this to me.

Likely to avoid answering your questions. It's no secret there is often a disconnect between engineering and application. The larger the company the larger the disconnect.....or so I've seen
 
Because customers want the lights to turn on automatically with remote start, turn off automatically and not run the battery down.

Maybe you want a user interface that looks like the cockpit of an old school 707, but most people don't.
 
I am a retired auto tech with 40 plus years in the shop. My take is that the engineering department is closed down to prevent medical costs from the azz whipping the techs would give the engineers.
I have come to understand , at least in the auto industry, that cars are engineered to produce not repair. Still if I ran the world, any engineer designing stuff would have to spend a year as a shop helper fixing the stuff he’ll end up designing.
That way maybe one wouldn’t have to take the windshield out of a Camaro to replace the heater core...
Joe
 
In the early 80's, due to a shortage of apprentices we conscripted some design engineers to read pressure gauges and manometers in power station steam turbine performance tests (a couple of years before we went completely over to transducers and data loggers). An infamous quote from a long serving design engineer was " I've been designing these turbines for 20 years and I never realised that they were SO LARGE".

Says it all really.
 
And the auto off saves $0.15 per month in the electric bill. It's green man, it's GREEN!



Because customers want the lights to turn on automatically with remote start, turn off automatically and not run the battery down.

Maybe you want a user interface that looks like the cockpit of an old school 707, but most people don't.
 
The old school 707 cockpit may sell pretty well, given the retro trend thats been going on a couple of decades now.
 
I am a retired auto tech with 40 plus years in the shop. My take is that the engineering department is closed down to prevent medical costs from the azz whipping the techs would give the engineers.
I have come to understand , at least in the auto industry, that cars are engineered to produce not repair. Still if I ran the world, any engineer designing stuff would have to spend a year as a shop helper fixing the stuff he’ll end up designing.
That way maybe one wouldn’t have to take the windshield out of a Camaro to replace the heater core...
Joe

Added emphasis to highlight this point. As an engineer in the automotive sector (working on mechanical design of electrical components) it boggled my mind just how much effort went into making the parts easier to put together. Not better, or cheaper per se, but like legos that can only go together one way. Sometimes that wasn't even enough, if something like a box cover had to be held with the other hand during the process. At times it felt like we were engineering fuse boxes to the point that if it were simply thrown in the general direction of an engine compartment, it would be properly assembled. Of course, all bets are off once the rest of the bits find a home...

As an engineer, it is also my opinion that only crummy engineers don't listen to technicians. Even if there is nothing that can be done about it per the above points regarding OEM stringent requirements for new assemblies, you'll know better for next time when there might just be something that CAN be done.
 
In the early 80's, due to a shortage of apprentices we conscripted some design engineers to read pressure gauges and manometers in power station steam turbine performance tests (a couple of years before we went completely over to transducers and data loggers). An infamous quote from a long serving design engineer was " I've been designing these turbines for 20 years and I never realised that they were SO LARGE".

Says it all really.

That is messed up. I can't imagine working that way. I was in the materials engineering divisions for a huge aerospace company. I had parts in my hands constantly. New designs, production issues, parts back from the field, etc. This was only a few years ago.
 
Heck the real question is why do those assholes build a car where you have to remove the
WINDSHIELD WASHER RESERVOIR to change a headlight bulb?

Or, why my car needs a bulb controller module to turn on the headlights and tail lights.
See "switch and wires" you mentioned above.
 
What about a mid 70's Oldsmobile or Cad where the published procedure was to cut a hole in the inner fender to replace a blower motor, and sheet metal and patch(tar...?) to close the wound?
How about a Mustang where you had to partially remove the motor to change spark plugs? 428CJ
How about a 60's Chrysler where you could break a hole in the tail shaft of the transmission, make the repair, and epoxy it back shut.

Oh the good old days.
 
It's not so much the "engineers", it's the bean counters that have tied their hands.

You really are not seeing what goes on.
 
Keep the rant going.... Have a 2017 GMC Arcadia that the windshield wiper washer fluid pump has gone out. Right after the 15K factory warranty went out. Imagine that? To replace the $40 part, you have to remove the passenger side front wheel, remove the firewall cover to access the pump. An all day job for the home mechanic. Cannot even imagine what the dealer would charge to replace it.

Back to the subject, I design things that are stuffed into a oilwell casing and are pushed down hole for up to two miles or more. It's all "hands on" from design stage to assembly to field run of the tools. Believe me, when the guys from the field call you up at 3 am, and say they have a problem, and a $15K/hour drilling/work over rig is idling, I am in the hot seat until the problem is resolved. When a customer comes into the door with a failed tool, we drop what we are doing and go check it out. Believe me, I've ruined many sets of "dress clothes" over the years getting my hands dirty. I lost my "virgin" ears many years ago, too!!!
Ken
 
Keep the rant going.... Have a 2017 GMC Arcadia that the windshield wiper washer fluid pump has gone out. Right after the 15K factory warranty went out. Imagine that? To replace the $40 part, you have to remove the passenger side front wheel, remove the firewall cover to access the pump. An all day job for the home mechanic. Cannot even imagine what the dealer would charge to replace it.

Back to the subject, I design things that are stuffed into a oilwell casing and are pushed down hole for up to two miles or more. It's all "hands on" from design stage to assembly to field run of the tools. Believe me, when the guys from the field call you up at 3 am, and say they have a problem, and a $15K/hour drilling/work over rig is idling, I am in the hot seat until the problem is resolved. When a customer comes into the door with a failed tool, we drop what we are doing and go check it out. Believe me, I've ruined many sets of "dress clothes" over the years getting my hands dirty. I lost my "virgin" ears many years ago, too!!!
Ken

I'll bet your shop has a windsock out back for a bell jetranger….ugh
 








 
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