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Hardest engines to work on?
Topic Started: Aug 15 2014, 08:54 PM (1,866 Views)
MechaGodzilla
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My wife had a Chevy Monza with a V8. Change the spark plugs? No thanks, let's sell it instead.
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perfesser
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Elite Member - Former Metro owner

I worked my way through engineering school twisting wrenches at a VW/Renault dealership. The car I hated the most was the Renault R5 LeCar. The engine was installed backwards, with the transmission in front and the pulleys making love to the firewall. You had to pull the engine to change the timing belt.

The Renault Gordini was just as bad. You had to remove the alternator to change the battery, and even then a working knowledge of French profanity was very helpful!!
Edited by perfesser, Aug 19 2014, 10:37 AM.
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perfesser
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Elite Member - Former Metro owner

MechaGodzilla
Aug 19 2014, 08:21 AM
My wife had a Chevy Monza with a V8. Change the spark plugs? No thanks, let's sell it instead.
The FSM had a fix for that problem. It started with cutting a hole in the firewall by the master cylinder for access. The other side was the same thing if it had AC. You had to go through the glove box to get the rear plug.
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Hotrodray1
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Over Educated parts guy

Perfessor those were not the hard plugs to get the 3rd one on driver side was the hard one the steering shaft was in way. Passenger side was easy rear driver side was easy from under side. I have had 6 of these cars Love them.
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MechaGodzilla
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perfesser
Aug 19 2014, 10:35 AM
MechaGodzilla
Aug 19 2014, 08:21 AM
My wife had a Chevy Monza with a V8. Change the spark plugs? No thanks, let's sell it instead.
The FSM had a fix for that problem. It started with cutting a hole in the firewall by the master cylinder for access. The other side was the same thing if it had AC. You had to go through the glove box to get the rear plug.
I remember getting an insane quote for a tuneup on that car at a time when I didn't have the time/tools/patience to tackle the job. It was an insane beast; lightweight V8.
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Hotrodray1
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Over Educated parts guy

Yea I loved mine but it had a transplanted 400 small block with bow tie heads in it and Headers.
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TimmyD
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A Metro Driver

2003 Ford Fucus 2.0 Zetec.
To replace the alternator you have to remove the front engine mounts and shift the engine forward by about 8" in order to get the alternator out of the engine bay.

...I'm good at it since I've had to replace the damn thing 4x now. :banghead

My signature on the Ford Focus forum states:


-->The more I work on this Ford, the more I like my Metro! <--
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charliekuney
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Cubey
Aug 18 2014, 01:16 AM
charliekuney
Aug 18 2014, 01:14 AM
Before my Metro I had a 6.0L V12 Mercedes-Benz.
From 12cyl to 3cyl? :lol

Potter
Aug 18 2014, 01:51 AM
what the hell happened?

Cubey
Aug 18 2014, 02:29 AM
He came to his senses, it sounds like. :lol

thresher shark
Aug 18 2014, 03:25 AM
Oh, please, you can't stop there. Inquiring minds (and a few busybodies) want to know!!!! In my case, I went from a built-to-the-nuts rat motor in a '73 Chevy short-bed 4x4 (with a full race th400 and 4.56 gears) to progressively less cop-noticing vehicles. I had a little too much fun in the old Chevy and the cops were looking for any excuse to put me away, so I had to sell it.


V12 to I3, 408hp to 47hp...$130k car to a $6k car (new in 1992). Reliability. I was having fuel issues with the twelve and I needed a car fast and there was a one-owner, low-mileage XFi so I snatched it!
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charliekuney
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TurboEF
Aug 18 2014, 06:05 AM
Anything that isn't inline with a front wheel drive transmission. I.E V6 FWD Luminas, V8 FWD Cadillacs, etc. I cannot stand transverse mounted V-motors. Just makes so much of the motor impossible to work on due to the firewall!
This should have been my answer! I had front-wheel-drive cars with more than four cylinders, period.
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geopat


2000Firefly1.3L
Aug 15 2014, 11:08 PM
Maybe subaru engines
exact opposite. They are great motor to work on.
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t3ragtop
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Turbo3 and Twincam Tweaker

woody, i had one of those rootes group pieces of crap! the only thing good about it was the ford 260 v8. the brits even managed to dick that up with a effed up distributor. :P

on a side note and just for the sake of some automotive history trivia, pat moss and her girl friend raced a tiger in the big european road races. it kept spitting out axles. it was during those rac rallyes that eric "on the roof" carlson when he met pat and later married her. the last time i spoke with them they were living in england where pat tended to her horses.

eric carlson was saab's racer dude won back to back to back european championships in a big tank of a saab gt with a 3 cylinder 2 stroke engine.

for me, the worst engine to deal with was the italian 24 valve twincam in some old volvos. man was that a piece o' poop. ;)

it took me a long time to embrace the saab 900 model car from 84 to 92. they also had the front of the engine up against the firewall. the transaxle was directly under the engine with the top of the transmission serving as the oil pan for the engine.

maybe the worst brain fart from a design engineer is the mini cooper with the engine and transmission sharing the same oil. it sort of came in handy though. when the transmission exploded it took out the engine as well so you just hauled out the old lump and lowered in a new lump. ;)

i don't imagine there are many guys out there that have kept a french citoren pallais running. if that don't cure you, nothin' will. :P french engineering is like voodoo.

edit - and hell no! a subaru boxer engine in an outback was so traumatic that i blocked it from my memory! the damned piston liners crack on the top side of the engine. i had one crack and leak pressure into the coolant system. it would blow all the coolant out in 5 minutes at about 200 psi. :P $2800 later it ate ignitors and coils like popcorn. after i dropped another grand on the electrical system it puked the viscous clutches in the all wheel drive. i'm not a huge sooby fan. :shake
Edited by t3ragtop, Aug 20 2014, 10:42 PM.
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Cubey
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I had to help a (crappy) mechanic do spark plugs on another customer's Ford minivan once. My forearms are like pipe cleaners so I spoke up saying "let's see if I can do it". I was able to reach in back and get the old ones out and put the new ones in. It was a tight fit even for me, but I was able to do it. He was just shaking his head like "how are you even reaching in there?!" as I was doing it. He would have had to unhook a mess of stuff and rotate the engine to get at them himself. I'm too nice at times. :lol
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Good bye


It only took me 2 hours to change the two belts and tensioners on the 6.4 Saturday. I have all the proper tools and a 25000 lb hoist. I think it went up and down half a dozen times, and I didn't bleed. It was a good day!
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Old Man


Woodie
Aug 18 2014, 06:32 AM
Try a Sunbeam Tiger. It's a little English car like an MG with a Ford V8 stuffed in it. You had to pull back the carpet and remove floor panels to change the spark plugs.
Yeah but the 6 months between plug changes were hell on wheels. If you could keep the axles intact. Drove one for a year and a half. If I could have bought axles by the gross I would have.
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68custom


at least the sunbeam was a two seat vert with a small V8 and a 4 speed!
:nfs :nfs :nfs :nfs :nfs :nfs :nfs :nfs :nfs :nfs :nfs :nfs :nfs :nfs
Edited by 68custom, Aug 21 2014, 10:23 AM.
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