[fabsroman]

Skeeter,

I am a Ford man, and I think one thing that has you skewed about your opinion is that you are talking about a lot of older Fords (e.g., Broncos, Lincoln Mark whatevers). I had a 1980 Ford Fairmont that went 235,000 miles and I could pretty much change things on that car with my eyes closed and it was a lot easier than working on cars today. I also own a 1989 Mustang and 1998 Taurus. Only thing I replaced on the Stang because it went bad were tires, prematurely from burnouts, and a rusted thermostat because I hadn't driven the car in a while. On the Taurus, I have 132,000 miles and the only thing I have had to replace is the speed sensor and that was less than a $20 part and it took all of 20 minutes to replace.

I ended up replacing the fuel pump on the Fairmont which was a mechanical one that bolted to the engine and worked off of the camshaft. That was simple. I also had to replace the fuel tank in that car and that wasn't too difficult. I haven't messed with the Stangs electronic fuel pump, but I cannot imagine that it is too tough.

The trouble I usually have is in diagnosing emission system problems (e.g., air sensor, O2 sensors, etc.). That stuff gives me a fit and I think that is where the backyard mechanic has most of the trouble.

Getting back to my point, you cannot compare Fords from 1980 to Fords from 2005. To survive in the industry against the Japanese manufacturers, the American car makers had to up their quality and I think they did. With that said, I have heard plenty of bad things about Chrysler cars and worked on a couple of them which was a pain in the rear. Haven't heard much bad about Dodge trucks though.

Last but not least, does it really matter where a fuel pump is located if it overheats? Wouldn't the gas caught on fire in the fuel line cause the gas tank to explode regardless?