Simple Repairs made MORE Difficult

[roadrunner1]

My sons Mazda 6 ('11?) had to remove passenger wheel & wheel liner to get at light bulb. he explained this to me over the phone and I gave him a "come on man", but he came out and sure enough the only way to replace the bulb was through the wheel liner, as written in the owners manual.

Painfully complicated for an otherwise simple job, because the wheel well retainers were damaged from removal.

 

[NHGUY]

Chrysler 2.2 the only engine ever designed with serviceability in mind.Oil filter,distributor,waterpump,,alternator,fuel pump,temp sensor,oil pressure sensor,belt adjustment,spark plugs/plug wires,AC compressor...ALL up front and easy to get to.The slant 4 engine even tilts to the rear to give more frontal access.With the eventual demise of the "K Car engine",came less and less serviceability.

 

[Brybo86]

Originally Posted By: wirelessF
Toyota/Lexus UZ-Series engines, you have to remove the intake manifold to change the starter motor.


This one takes the cake.
Starter replacement involves removing airbox, throttle body, upper and lower intake manifold, fuel rail, fuel injectors, rear coolant bridge and the killer EGR valve piping.

 

[Wheel]

late 90's Chevy Venture
remove wiper cowling, fuse box and fender support to replace battery.

Got to do this in a parking lot at 10pm with 5 deg. temp and 30 mph wind adding to my joy. Only battery I've every had that died with an internal short. (so far)

 

[larryinnewyork]

Wow. All very interesting.

With all the labor & frustration, another good reason to buy OEM parts.
Figuring that OEM very well could last longer than after-market parts.
I'll never try and save $10.00 with (some) after-market parts only to do the job a second time.

 

[JHZR2]

I dont get the complaints. Cars have more interior volume pound for pound, then they used to, and are quieter, smoother, and more efficient to boot.

All of that means tighter packaging, more compact outer shells compared to the innards, etc.

Im sure that some would love to drive a model T or a 59 chevy to and from work each day, but I suspect that after a few weeks, this would get old, despite their simplicity and relative ease of maintenance...

 

[shDK]

A freind of mine just had the timing belt/pulleys changed at his FIAT bravo 2.0 HGT(I know that Probertly none of those ever came to the US)

Apparently the only way to do that is to pull out the engine. He called and asked at 5 dealers.

 

[Dave Sherman]

I was a little dismayed to find out that to do the spark plugs on the Traverse, the intake manifold has to come off. The front 3 coil packs won't clear the manifold.

Changing the front transfer case oil by the book calls for removing a section of the exhaust pipe, because it runs very close to the fill plug. Turns out it can be done with a flex head socket wrench, an Allen socket, and a mirror. It's tight though.

The battery doesn't look bad to change, but good luck finding it if you don't have the service manual or Google. It's not under the hood.

 

[typ901]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
I dont get the complaints. Cars have more interior volume pound for pound, then they used to, and are quieter, smoother, and more efficient to boot.

All of that means tighter packaging, more compact outer shells compared to the innards, etc.

Im sure that some would love to drive a model T or a 59 chevy to and from work each day, but I suspect that after a few weeks, this would get old, despite their simplicity and relative ease of maintenance...


The point for the headlight bulb replacement is that it is a safety issue to drive with one bulb, and also you can be ticketed for it. My 07' MB E350 is a tough one to get to the bulbs also. It takes time-and you need to figure out which way to bend your arms. My '01 MB E320 took 5 minutes of a leisurely pace. Granted the car was redesigned, but safety related items should be easy to fix(replace) Halogen bulbs are a consumable.

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: Dave Sherman

The battery doesn't look bad to change, but good luck finding it if you don't have the service manual or Google. It's not under the hood.

Yep, in the floor, behind one of the front seats, but I can't remember which.

 

[exranger06]

2010 GMC Terrain - To replace the battery, you need to remove plastic cladding all around the edges of the engine compartment and remove the engine's computer first. The computer is literally mounted right on top of the battery.

 

[Chris142]

I'm right in the middle of a valve adjustment on a 3vz Toyota. It uses shims instead of anything else that would make sense. All the exhaust valves are too tight. No thinner shims are available today so we are measuring the clearance and removing the cams then the shims and having them machined thinner as needed.

 

[Joel_MD]

Saab 9-5 Linear
2003
Alternator

I just finished replacing the alternator yesterday, so it's fresh in my mind. I spent probably six hours over the course of five days to fix it. This Saab has a transverse-mounted engine. The serpentine belts and pulleys are about 1/2" away from the passenger-side fender. Here is the process I used:

- Jack up front end and support on jack stands (easy)
- Remove right-front wheel (easy)
- Disconnect negative cable from battery (easy)
- Put jack under oil pan, cushion with a block of wood, and jack up to take the weight of the motor mounts (easy)
- Remove front yoke and motor mount, loosen rear motor mounts (easy)
- Remove plastic cover over serpentine belt (easy)
- Raise jack to lift/tilt engine which gives better access (easy)
- Use long ½” drive extension to retract belt tensioner and pin it in place with a hex key (easy)
- Remove serpentine belt (somewhat easy)
- Crawl under car on cold concrete to remove wires from alternator (somewhat easy)
- Remove bolts holding alternator to alternator bracket (moderately hard)
- Break alternator free from bracket (hard)
- Remove blind bolts holding alternator bracket to block, caked with grease due to an oil leak (hard)
- Remove alternator bracket, clean with WD-40, replace idler pulley (easy)
- Pushing engine with a pry bar to create additional clearance, remove alternator (hard)
- Remove pulley from old alternator and put on new one (easy)
- Push new alternator into that area of the engine (hard)
- Reinstall alternator bracket (moderately hard)
- Line up alternator with bracket and bolt into place (hard)
- Crawl under car and reinstall wires to alternator (somewhat easy)
- Install new belt tensioner, pinned to full retraction at factory (easy)
- Install new serpentine belt (moderately hard)
- Attempt to remove pin from tensioner (impossible)
- Remove serpentine belt (somewhat easy)
- Remove belt tensioner, pound out pin on bench (easy)
- Install tensioner in extended position (somewhat easy)
- Install serpentine belt while holding tension off of belt (hard)
- Lower jack to put engine back to normal position (easy)
- Reinstall motor mounts (easy)

 

[SwampSurvivor]

On the 3.0 Duratec Tauruses, to replace the alternator, you have to drop the subframe.

Which could get interesting here in the rustbelt.

My Cherokee has been relatively easy.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: typ901
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
I dont get the complaints. Cars have more interior volume pound for pound, then they used to, and are quieter, smoother, and more efficient to boot.

All of that means tighter packaging, more compact outer shells compared to the innards, etc.

Im sure that some would love to drive a model T or a 59 chevy to and from work each day, but I suspect that after a few weeks, this would get old, despite their simplicity and relative ease of maintenance...


The point for the headlight bulb replacement is that it is a safety issue to drive with one bulb, and also you can be ticketed for it. My 07' MB E350 is a tough one to get to the bulbs also. It takes time-and you need to figure out which way to bend your arms. My '01 MB E320 took 5 minutes of a leisurely pace. Granted the car was redesigned, but safety related items should be easy to fix(replace) Halogen bulbs are a consumable.


Yeah but engineering is always about balancing tradeoffs.

Your car is an interesting case, if we look at specs:

For example:

2001 E320 has 95 cu ft passenger space and 15 cu ft of cargo space. It weighs 3624 lb and is 189.4".

2007 E350 has 97 cu ft passenger space and 14 cu ft of cargo space. it weighs 3740 lb and is 191".

So from the surface, one would think that 2 cu ft of cargo space was surely made by lengthening, adding weight and cutting the trunk...

legroom:

2007: 41.9/35.6"
2001: 41.3/36.1

So they are roughly the same, but the thing that has changed is that the newer car is longer, has a bit more passenger space, and likely much better aerodynamics. So it looks to me as if the issue is primarily the way that the car's aerodynamics are manipulated, and what encroaches into the engine space.

 

[OneEyeJack]

All this points to the idea that today's vehicles are not meant to be owned beyond the factory warranty. All those details about common service procedures that would scare off a potential DIY owner never make the popular reviews. If you follow marketing you're supposed to buy a vehicle for almost any reason other than commuting back and forth to work.

The 2 vehicles I own as daily drivers, listed below, have so far never given me a maintenance problem and I've been able to accomplish all the usual stuff except for wheel alignments. I hope that continues but as I'm getting older I wonder how long I will insist on doing most of my own service.

 

[PandaBear]

Having to remove or disconnect 1 engine mount is pretty common on a lot of FWD car, even in the 90s.

Don't even tell me about those 3G/4G Taurus radiator that has to come from the bottom...

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Having to remove or disconnect 1 engine mount is pretty common on a lot of FWD car, even in the 90s.

Don't even tell me about those 3G/4G Taurus radiator that has to come from the bottom...
book time is 5.5 hrs on the taurus

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Having to remove or disconnect 1 engine mount is pretty common on a lot of FWD car, even in the 90s.

Don't even tell me about those 3G/4G Taurus radiator that has to come from the bottom...
book time is 5.5 hrs on the taurus



And I bet it's a lot more than that here in the rustbelt

 

[antiqueshell]

Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
All this points to the idea that today's vehicles are not meant to be owned beyond the factory warranty. All those details about common service procedures that would scare off a potential DIY owner never make the popular reviews. If you follow marketing you're supposed to buy a vehicle for almost any reason other than commuting back and forth to work.

The 2 vehicles I own as daily drivers, listed below, have so far never given me a maintenance problem and I've been able to accomplish all the usual stuff except for wheel alignments. I hope that continues but as I'm getting older I wonder how long I will insist on doing most of my own service.



Yes, it is a DELIBERATE and WILLFUL act on the part of the
manufacturers to make the planned obsolescence a finely
tuned science.