Apparently not since shop labor is $150/hr. Don't want to waste time cleaning threads and reusing a perfectly good plug with thread sealer when you can slap in a new one with pre-installed thread sealant. And in the meantime, the shop comes to a screaching hault on powertrain service because plugs are not available. It's a rediculous catch-22.Since when do mechanics clean and reuse stuff?
Since when do mechanics clean and reuse stuff?
I clean all bolts on a wire wheel before reinstalling.Define 'clean'...
Since when are drain plugs perishable items? Ford's lost it. Or they decided to create a new market sector.Since when do mechanics clean and reuse stuff?
Yeah it strikes me as weird. Maybe they identified a real problem, and rather than change the stamping/molding/whatever, thread locker was the cheapest/fastest/most acceptable solution. On the drawing board end of things, at least. One pandemic later and clearly that seems to have been the wrong choice. Not that I would have deemed it a great solution in the first place, but I get it, sometimes one just kicks a cost down the line (R&D cost versus extra cost to the consumer).Since when are drain plugs perishable items? Ford's lost it. Or they decided to create a new market sector.
I looked at the 2016 Mustang shop manual and they say to re-use the drain and fill plugs. So wondering what's changed today for them to say to not re-use them for this vehicle. Are they made out of plastic and can only take a one time use or something?
The matched set varies by AWD system. I have owned AWD vehicles for 25 years and honestly never had an issue of matched tires. I change out set but they get rotated. There is slightly more maintenance involved though although none of it was expensive to change $40 fluid with a remove bolt/drain/refill affair.But he is 100% correct in his criticism of 4WD. The having to have a matching set of tires at all times is enough for me to want to avoid 4WD vehicles.
Delicate balance of customer returns/frustration salvaging parts vs replacing them for slightly more. I have a very competent mechanic who salvaged the breather oil lines on my wife’s old 2005 Subaru Legacy turbo and they still leaked and the thing smoked/dripped at 240k. She moved on.Being an actual competent Mechanic went by the wayside when code-reading, parts-changer 'Techs' arrived on the scene.
One of the things I've noticed about BITOG is that people here often change various fluids early, and get an unusually good service life from their vehicles. The fluid change is the only way to remove certain contaminates from the engine/transmission/transfer case/differential/brake system/cooling system.
If the OP has not already done so, I suggest changing the fluid.
No front wheel drive version of this vehicle will ever have this problem.The matched set varies by AWD system. I have owned AWD vehicles for 25 years and honestly never had an issue of matched tires. I change out set but they get rotated. There is slightly more maintenance involved though although none of it was expensive to change $40 fluid with a remove bolt/drain/refill affair.
They used pipe threads on the drain and fill plugs. Manufacturers have used pipe threads on diff and trans plugs since... forever.Looks like to me that Ford shaved as much metal off that plug and skipped on a crush washer, all to save a few cents. Easy to have the plug manufacturer put on sealant, I guess the bean counters figured this was cheaper.
Correct and if your use case fits use FWD. I require AWD mainly due to a hobby of skiing in powder. In short I drive with conditions are so poor and travel is difficult due to unplowed roads usually up steeper inclines.No front wheel drive version of this vehicle will ever have this problem.
Yep, manual transmission and differential fill and drain plugs have been a pipe thread forever.They used pipe threads on the drain and fill plugs. Manufacturers have used pipe threads on diff and trans plugs since... forever.
I don't understand Ford's requirement that the drain plug be replaced, and I don't understand what is so special about the thread sealant that requires the plug's replacement.