I wouldn’t say it’s a sinister conspiracy against shadetree mechanics. The manufacturers do what they do for reasons of their cost or convenience, and simply don’t care about the consequences for the customer.
The Ford V6 water pump you mention is one case. When Ford puts that engine in a rear drive car, like a Mustang, they put an external water pump on it. But, when they put that same engine in a transverse, front drive, installation, like an Explorer, they use the internal water pump. Clearly a packaging advantage for Ford. They don’t care about the out-of-warranty consequences for the customer.
Same thing with Subaru using RTV sealer, instead of gaskets, in their engines. A lot of manufacturers use sealer, instead of gaskets now. When the sealer dries out and starts to leak, it’s not a huge job to remove the oil pan, timing chain cover, and valve cover, and replace the dried sealer. But when a Sube starts to leak, because of the way their engines are designed, it’s a huge “engine out” job, with price tag running about $3,000. But it’s out of warranty by then, so Sube doesn’t care.
Even on conventional engines, any sort of service that requires the removal of the oil pan, timing chain cover, or valve cover, can get expensive, because some OEMs, like VW, make those parts out of plastic now. The parts need to be peeled off, because they are glued in place by the RTV sealer. When peeled off, they invariably bend, so they will never seal again, so replacement is required. But the OEM doesn’t care about the cost to the customer. The car is out of warranty by then, and they saved a few $$$ by using plastic, instead of cast aluminum.
Seems clear to me that cars are designed to be leased these days. The OEMs do not care about the ownership experience when the car is 8-10 years old.
Here is another teardown video of yet another Ford V6 with a failed, internal, water pump.
If I had not already been cynical, I would have learned cynicism from watching the decision process of “JCs”.
Steve