Not as bad as others here, but had dealer replace front blinker bulb. $70! I knew when I looked at that I didn't want any part of it! Got impression from service person they didn't make much on their flat rate scale, had to partially remove inner fender to get it! 2012 Murano.
Lexus rx350 or even highlanders Drop complete engine/trans cradle to reseal timing cover. Very common leak. On Ram 1500s remove cab to replace cam. So many cars. So much crap........
Nissans stink to work on too. No thank you. I always turned them down. 1/4” between timing cover and passenger inner fender structure.
Subaru? Wifes 2014 Legacy is that way. Take inner fender loose, snake big Merican arm, twist cover off, to reveal headlight bulb, then use fat Merican fingers to try to undo snap holder for bulb. Then re-do snap ring AFTER you figure out correct clocking of bulb, use fat Merican fingers again to try & twist cover back on, then replace inner fender. All for a bulb. Kyle
Yeah Mazda CX-9 same. And with these $100 bulbs don’t miss install or you can burn up the assembly. Only $1500 plus labor... I fixed one w a pick tool. Was like a dentist to remove all the slag left behind from previous owner.
Wife's Peugeot 306. Utter dog to work on, with the exception of the crankshaft pulley. If the French sadists who designed it had but an extra 25.4 mm around the engine, life would be much easier. The reason it leaks oil is that I'm not game to pull the engine, drop the trans and do the rear main seal. Carpet on the garage floor will do.
Starter on a 65 Gran Sport. The guy wh0 invented the mini-starter must have been inspired when working on this.
Overall any job I've had to do on my kids Honda's have been pretty easy and theres lots of U Tube vids to show ya how its done. My new stuff goes to the shop. F250, Sprinter, wifes Fusion Hybrid. want no part of that.
There is a lot of stuff out there these days that looks challenging to work on. I saw that coming years ago, and got out of the repair business when I had the chance. I had an excellent union job with good pay and benefits, in a shop where with 7 years in, I was still one of the newest techs. Most guys had been there since the late 70's or early 80's.. This was in 2001... I was right, that shop full of old timers drained out like a colander, once the great jobs and work we used to have turned into a warrantee nitemare. And the product changed, unheard of jobs in that shop became commonplace. As to the topic, like I mentioned, lots of challenging stuff to work on.. but there is always an "out" .. move a component, drop a K member, that type of thing. I will tell you that you have not discovered the heights of frustration in automotive work, until you have done an engine R&R on a early 80's AMC Eagle.. which was a four wheel drive station wagon. 258 ci 6 cylinder that was nearly impossible to work on, for the simpliest of things. I knew it well, good customer of ours.. Car, regardless of how well he took care of it, was a POS the day it rolled off the assembly line. The engine exploded with about 60K on it.. and I was tasked to replace it. Access to bellhousing bolts?.. that thing was jammed so far into the firewall, there was an inset where the back of the engine was. Procedure to access several of those bolts included a hole-saw to drill thru the firewall.. I kid you not.. Every bolt was next to impossible to access. That was one of the cars that sealed the deal for me to leave my first job in the business. The shop was great, the owner was one of the nicest and smartest guys I ever met. But just could not deal with the work product anymore. JW
80’s Olds Cutlass Calais. Oil filter is mounted upright at back of engine against firewall. My brother had one. I changed oil for him once and only once. Didn’t think I was going to get my arm back out laying on my back. Good luck doing it without a lift. Who designed that? What a joke.
That with the 250ci Iron Duke 4 cylinder Dave?.. If so, then the answer to your question is simple.. that motor was designed to be longitudinally mounted, so the filter would be right in front of your face, were it installed that way.. When they turned it 90* for a transverse front drive deal, all kinds of issues came up like that. We were lucky with the Buick V-6, since he had a front mounted filter, that just became a "thru the wheelwell" removal. JW
What? Loved the ecotec 2.2, the screw oil filter on top was a great idea. Just take a little time to let the oil drain as you loosen and the have a rag handy to catch drips. Way better than the mess made when filters are under the vehicle.
No. These were in the late 90's early 200o's. Maybe not 2.2L though. Same premise as the Ecotec, only on the underside of the car. Olds Intrigue(3.5L) is a good example. Never could get those filters out cleanly or with them staying in the holder. Now the early 90's GM 4.3L 4x4 did have the filter on in inner drivers side fender. Not 2wd only the 4x4's. That was NICE!! Kyle
Early 2000s Ford Escape with V6 you had to remove the right lower control arm to remove the alternator. The frustrating part is that it could be unbolted and moved without removing the control arm, but you couldn't drop it out of the engine bay.
My '63 Thunderbird has a surprisingly awful engine compartment for a fairly large older car. Everything's in the way of everything and those great big suspension towers don't help.
Been there done that! Ever done a heater core on the same car? I'm no dummy but took me 15 hours! And the Coors Light bill was horrible!
