Does "4" mean 4.0 or 4 Cyl - the Language Barrier strikes again!
01-07-2007, 02:54 PM
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Does "4" mean 4.0 or 4 Cyl - the Language Barrier strikes again!
An American living in a foriegn country, a local whose english is not the greatest, a Ford Ranger, and a fixation on the number 4. A situation designed for comedy!
Before you say "hey this in a Mustang Forum! What is this doing here?", this story concerns a humorus problem my brother ran into. He lives in Germany and bought a Ford Ranger that has the same 4.0L engine as our cars do from a local. While completing his purchase, he asked the former owner what type of motor it had in it. The seller, whose English was not the best, did not understand the question. So my brother asked if it was a 4 or a 6, meaning a L4 or V6. The seller said "4". Seeing how gas in Germany is quite expensive ($5-$6 per gallon), a 4 cyl suited my brother's purposes quite well. So he bought it. Later he noticed that he had no heat. So he goes to replace the Thermostat, as we all would. So he orders a thermostat for his "4Cyl" Ranger. It comes in and he goes to install it and finds it does not fit. So he returns it for a replacement, and still no joy.
Now totally perplexed, he goes and pulls the thermostat from his truck and takes it with him to the parts store. Upon seeing it, they tell him it is for a 4.0L V6 not a 4 cyl. My brother knows his way around the engine bay, so he is suprised about this revelation especially since he has already changed the oil on this motor! He buys the NEW thermostat, and is suprised that it fits! The suprise is total, so he decides to look closer at the engine. He counts his cylinders - 1,2,3,4....5,6. Needless to say, he was quite suprised when he confirmed his count of 6 with the VIN. Then he made the mistake of telling me. My first thought was "How could you miss the front mounted intake?" and "Gee bro, I know that John Kerry thinks those of us in the service are dumb, but not that dumb. I mean how do you miss 2 whole cylinders?" Needless to say it will be years before he lives this one down. (Or until the next time I go to work on my motor!)
I hope you find this as humorous as I did.
Mark
Before you say "hey this in a Mustang Forum! What is this doing here?", this story concerns a humorus problem my brother ran into. He lives in Germany and bought a Ford Ranger that has the same 4.0L engine as our cars do from a local. While completing his purchase, he asked the former owner what type of motor it had in it. The seller, whose English was not the best, did not understand the question. So my brother asked if it was a 4 or a 6, meaning a L4 or V6. The seller said "4". Seeing how gas in Germany is quite expensive ($5-$6 per gallon), a 4 cyl suited my brother's purposes quite well. So he bought it. Later he noticed that he had no heat. So he goes to replace the Thermostat, as we all would. So he orders a thermostat for his "4Cyl" Ranger. It comes in and he goes to install it and finds it does not fit. So he returns it for a replacement, and still no joy.
Now totally perplexed, he goes and pulls the thermostat from his truck and takes it with him to the parts store. Upon seeing it, they tell him it is for a 4.0L V6 not a 4 cyl. My brother knows his way around the engine bay, so he is suprised about this revelation especially since he has already changed the oil on this motor! He buys the NEW thermostat, and is suprised that it fits! The suprise is total, so he decides to look closer at the engine. He counts his cylinders - 1,2,3,4....5,6. Needless to say, he was quite suprised when he confirmed his count of 6 with the VIN. Then he made the mistake of telling me. My first thought was "How could you miss the front mounted intake?" and "Gee bro, I know that John Kerry thinks those of us in the service are dumb, but not that dumb. I mean how do you miss 2 whole cylinders?" Needless to say it will be years before he lives this one down. (Or until the next time I go to work on my motor!)
I hope you find this as humorous as I did.
Mark
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