This type of thing occurs with lots of large manufacturers. Caterpillar and John Deere will not allow their customers to repair their own units. When I was working for a very large company purchasing large amounts of equipment, I wrote the specification that stated the companies who wanted to bid must also provide the repair computers and codes or we would not accept their bids. They squealed but complied. The US Government is much larger than my company was, and can easily include language in the specifications that prevents a company from raping the tax payers for a $3 part.
You know those puzzle locks lug nuts that people buy to prevent theft of their fancy wheels? Caterpillar uses something similar so that only Caterpillar mechanics who have a special factory tool can remove the injectors. I know because my former boss had a 90 foot yacht with twin Cat V12 power.
It is unfortunate that people don't realize they have been screwed until they need to make repairs. Then the repairs will cost 4 times more than they should because they must go to the manufacturer.
This type of thing occurs with lots of large manufacturers. Caterpillar and John Deere will not allow their customers to repair their own units. When I was working for a very large company purchasing large amounts of equipment, I wrote the specification that stated the companies who wanted to bid must also provide the repair computers and codes or we would not accept their bids. They squealed but complied. The US Government is much larger than my company was, and can easily include language in the specifications that prevents a company from raping the tax payers for a $3 part.
You know those puzzle locks lug nuts that people buy to prevent theft of their fancy wheels? Caterpillar uses something similar so that only Caterpillar mechanics who have a special factory tool can remove the injectors. I know because my former boss had a 90 foot yacht with twin Cat V12 power.
It is unfortunate that people don't realize they have been screwed until they need to make repairs. Then the repairs will cost 4 times more than they should because they must go to the manufacturer.