Industrial Design

The starter motor for my ford 300six lasts only 2-3 years . The 1979 van has over 200,000 miles on it. Why can't the starter keep up? It seems to me the bushing should be changed to a roller bearing. I can't take this annoyance anymore. I will now start doing preventative rebuilds myself. Can anyone educate me about quality bushings and where to get them? Are motorcraft starters better than aftermarket? Parts dealers and rebuilders refuse to give me any details. Any help will be gladly received.

I have to disagree that any automotive OEM parts are made deliberately to last less than the planned lifetime of the automobile, with the exception of wear items like tires and brakes that depend on friction to do their jobs, and filters, which are considered disposable items.

Having worked as an engineer for a Tier 1 automotive parts supplier, and working on development of new products with the OEM engineers at the Big Three in Detroit, I can tell you that, yes, mistakes are made, and designs do not always turn out to be what was hoped for, but it is not a deliberate conspiracy to require you to buy replacement parts. That would be self-defeating, since the goal of car makers is to get you to buy their product over others. Why would they deliberatlely downgrade the quality of their product to earn a few more dollars on parts, but lose millions when dissatisfied customers turn to competitors for their next purchase? That makes no sense. Yes, the dealers love it, when people have to buy more parts from them, and make more money off the manufacturer with warranty work, but even they recognize the danger of trying to sell vehicles with poor "frequency of repair" records.

In a perfect world, all cars would be made so that all parts lasted the lifetime of the car, but given the realities of the product development cycle and competition to be the first in the market with new models, it is a wonder that engineers get it right as often as they do! That is why I NEVER buy a new model the first or even second year of its production. Too many bugs to work out! Even some of the most highly touted models had real problems early in their production. The original Mazda RX-7 sports car came out in 1979 as a 1980 model, but had problems with the seals in the rotory engine giving out or leaking excessively, burning oil and losing compresion. I bought mine in late 1981 (an '82 model) and put well over 100,000 miles on it with no engine problems before trading it in for a car with 4 seats in 1990!

Those are interesting examples.... The problem with answering the question is that you can usually find a particular brand of a product that is obvious garbage and will never last beyond it's first use. Likewise there seems always that "old reliable" brand who's company name is synonymous with quality. Such as...

#1 Smith & Wesson

#2 Chip & Dales

#3 The Rits Carlton

#4 Marlboro

#4 puzzles me , can you clarify.

I've heard it said that the incandecent light bulb is deliberatly kept to a short life-span (but may not qualify if they are phased out for 'green' reasons).

Kris #4 is a well though out design for a drug delivery system. Tobacco products (cigarettes) have their own unique blend of tobacco and nontobacco chemicals and additives. Their is a chemical in cigarettes that keep the tobacco lit even when you put it down. Its a certain length so you can get your "hit" fast and not worry about time spent smoking. Virginia Slims (womens target market) were manufactured for women so as not to be seen "smoking mens cigarettes" There is just enough nicotene in "your" brand to keep you coming back for more! That sounds like a well designed product! James

Thanks James , I knew that Marlboro were cigarettes but hadn't made it clear that my confusion was about if a drug really fits the list . Sure , a cigarette is a great delivery system ,but creating an addicted market is more 'social' engineering (?). If they were only available without filters so that people had to buy those push on plastic filters (and probably loose them / not want to clean them ) I'd say they (or at least plastic filters) merited a place.

Certainly in our grandparents house we had a carbon filament bulb in the bathroom which was working there to my knowledge between 1945 and 1976.

We also have a large 150watt bulb in the garage mounted horizontally here that was in this ouse when we bought it in 1976.

The new compact flourescents are much lighter than the previous designs and seem to have better colour and instant starting if you buy the correct make and hopefully are less liable to have the electronics burn out welding themselves to the socket! They have also dropped considerably in price - Chinese

The light output, efficiency, lifetime, etc. are a function of the voltage. For example, you could design a light bulb to last a very long time, but it would be less efficient. The design is a tradeoff. For efficiency sake, the lifetime is limited.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incandescent_light_bulb#Voltage.2C_light_output.2C_and_lifetime

Then too, it's probably not good business practice to make your product last forever.

Here in the States, our voltage in our homes are 115/230 volts. Industrial sites are usually 120/240 volts on the low voltage and 277/480 Wye or 240/480 Delta on the higher voltage. In the UK, you guys run 240 volts throughout your homes. The trick here in the States is to use a 130 volt incandescent bulb, because the extra volt rating allows the lamp to run at an under voltage situation. E x I = W (voltage times amperage equals power/watts). As the voltage or push of the electricity goes down the wattage of the lamp also goes down, so that the filament is burning at a reduced rate and it will therefore last longer. Over in the UK, you are probably limited to the type of voltage range on your lamps, you get what you got...

Thanks for pointing that out , I d been puzzled over the longevity of US light bulbs. I think we could have followed you since it was Edison who gave us this world changing invention .

Mr.James & group,

I do not know if all products you listed can be called as industrial Designs ...So lets discuss it later...coming to your request, I remember of a story ( well I do not know if it is real) of how toothpaste tube opening was made little larger to dispense more paste every purge to make us loose toothpaste quickly ...and make you buy it often ...

Guruprasad.K Rao (Mumbai-India)

Most consumer electronics, especically mobile phone nowadays are delibreately ill-designed. If you compare the durability of the mobile phones 7-8 yrs ago, they generaly last longer. Unlike the phone these days, whereby they get spoilt a yr or 2 later after the warranty period expires.

which is why the manufacturers can come up with sooo many models each yr and at the same time maintain their sales levels.

-wh00dy

The propelling pencil has , arguably , left its wooden jacketed predecessor redundant. A statistics fan may like to work out the annual felling of trees and cost for old fashioned pencils . The pencil sharpener could be said to have no point .I like Guruprasads idea best so far - Engineered wastage ! I've heard it said that hair shampoos that recommend 2 applications are misleading (ie it's not necessary ) but I guess that is more an advertising con.

hi every buddy,

ther is also engineering in cigarette.

like pressure drop, ventilation, nicotine percentage, TAR content.

if u see in market different type of cigarette are available like LIGHTS, REGULAR each having its own design. how much smoke u can draw in one puff is also matter.

cigarette not just tobacco inside rod.

always smoke filtered cigarette.............for those who smokes

SMOKING IS INJURIES TO HELTH