Cars are really hard to work on anymore

[CliffordK]

My Ford Ranger had 8 spark plugs, and 4 cylinders.
One set was easy to get to, the other wasn't.
It took me a long time to get both sets replaced.

A neighbor had some kind of SUV, and was replacing spark plugs through the wheel wells.

 

[BigE_]

My Ford Ranger had 8 spark plugs, and 4 cylinders.
One set was easy to get to, the other wasn't.
It took me a long time to get both sets replaced.

A neighbor had some kind of SUV, and was replacing spark plugs through the wheel wells.

My 99 Blazer requires the removal of the front tires to replace the rear plugs. Took me forever to figure that one out.

 

[Bird]

My 99 Blazer requires the removal of the front tires to replace the rear plugs. Took me forever to figure that one out.

It took me awhile to figure out the best to way to change the plugs in my 1968 Plymouth Road Runner with the 383 cu. in. engine. It wasn't too bad after I figured out that you change 7 of them from the top, but get under the car to change the rear plug on the right bank from underneath.

 

[Alan L.]

My father in law says he went to check the transmission fluid in his 2012 Town and Country and the dipstick hole was plugged and has a tag that says the level should be checked at x number of miles by the dealer.

 

[CliffordK]

One of the other things that some manufactures do is put in a bizarre mix of standard and Metric parts. Anymore one has to have a set of standard and a set of metric wrenches to work on a car. At least it seems that way.

On my old Renault Encore, one end of the brake lines was metric, one end was standard, and impossible to find a replacement. The battery was located in the cowl, right over the brake lines, and main wiring harness (not the best place for a leaky battery). I now know that I could have probably made my own flange, but I wasn't able to do that 25 years ago, so it took me quite a while to get a clean junk brake line. On the Encore, they also did a mid-year standard/metric change in oil filters, so I would always ask for an 83 Alliance oil filter, rather than an 84 Encore filter.

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Note, I was having troubles with the brakes fitting on my Blazer. Blamed it on the wrong threads, but it must just not have been going together smoothly as it seems to fit now

 

[Loadstar]

My Ford Ranger had 8 spark plugs, and 4 cylinders.
One set was easy to get to, the other wasn't.
It took me a long time to get both sets replaced.

A neighbor had some kind of SUV, and was replacing spark plugs through the wheel wells.

Love the 2.3l engines. Bullet proof rock solid 4 banger. I still have two. Love the DIS ignition!

 

[3930dave]

My father in law says he went to check the transmission fluid in his 2012 Town and Country and the dipstick hole was plugged and has a tag that says the level should be checked at x number of miles by the dealer.

For many cars now, the procedure is to pull the inspection plug on the side of the trani, and fill (top tube, or fill hole) with ATF until it runs out the inspection hole. PITA, even with a lift, and 2 guys. Forgot to mention, this is with the car running on a lift.

At my buddy's shop, a customer brought in a car that was driving funny. Turns out, the Dealership had put about 2x the amount of trani fluid into it. When my buddy pulled the inspection plug (car running on a lift), the ATF was shooting all the way across the shop - about 25'.

I've never been a big fan of automatics.... this type of nonsense isn't changing my mind.

Rgds, D.

 

[whistlepig]

It took me awhile to figure out the best to way to change the plugs in my 1968 Plymouth Road Runner with the 383 cu. in. engine. It wasn't too bad after I figured out that you change 7 of them from the top, but get under the car to change the rear plug on the right bank from underneath.

Bird,
I owned a 1968 Plymouth Roadrunner with a 383 and changed that one plug from underneath also. I thought about this when I changed this same plug om my '07 Z-71. It was a no go because of the aluminum skid plates they put under the motors on the Z-71's.

 

[dmccarty]

...

I've never been a big fan of automatics.... this type of nonsense isn't changing my mind.

Rgds, D.

I don't really like auto tranny's either. I had to look all over the place to fine my F350 with a manual. I have heard that the Ford does not offer a manual in their pickup trucks anymore...

Later,
Dan

 

[Fordman1981]

I don't really like auto tranny's either. I had to look all over the place to fine my F350 with a manual. I have heard that the Ford does not offer a manual in their pickup trucks anymore...

Later,
Dan

No Ford or Chevy don't the only way to get a manual trans is buy a ram and it has to be a diesel.