So it was just going to be routine...

[asamek]

First I did the PCV valve on my wife's Regal. Piece of cake.

Then, air filter. One would think an air filter would be fairly simple - it's been my experience on other vehicles, anyway.

But not so on a supercharged 3.8L.

I got it done, but I'm here to tell ya, fellas, I'm thinking it would have been easier to do the rear spark plugs - and a whole lot more fulfilling.

 

[Popinski]

.. is it harder than to service a Chevy conversion van? GM engineers must be nuts. The lastest thing I heard is asamek's air filter change and changing the oil in a supercharged Cobalt.

I wonder if GM engineers and designers keep maintenance in mind when they're creating something.

 

[barlowc]

I know what you're saying. I had a 1998 Grand Prix GTP Coupe with the supercharged 3.8-liter. I used a K&N filter so I only had to deal with it twice. Once when I installed it, and a second time when I removed/cleaned/reinstalled it 50,000 miles later.

 

[LS2JSTS]

My HHR is a total PITA to change or check the air filter. There must be 15 different bolts/srews to remove/loosen.

 

[asamek]

I had a GMC conversion van 5.7L that was a breeze compared to what I just went through.

Honest to pete - there was just no room to move anything in order to be able to RE-move anything. And one of those little plastic cup thingies came off of the intake hose. Little piece of crud was pure joy to try and put back!

 

[Jakegday]

what year? if its the series 2, its 1000 times easier if you simply remove the hose that goes from the cleaner assembly to the throttle body. 1 hose clamp on the cleaner assembly and it just pulls off the throttle body

have you done the rear spark plugs? im not looking forward to those...

 

[asamek]

Jake - it's a '98. I did remove the hose from the cleaner assembly, but it did relatively no good as it wouldn't move far enough out of the way to enable the removal of the filter end of the airbox.

And the shame of it all was that the air filter that was in there wasn't all that dirty!

Far as the plugs - I had a shop do a tune up at 100k (4 years and 30,000 miles ago). That's the last time I know of that the air filter was changed. Had I done it before, I'd have remembered it!

 

[cchase]

Originally Posted By: asamek
Jake - it's a '98. I did remove the hose from the cleaner assembly, but it did relatively no good as it wouldn't move far enough out of the way to enable the removal of the filter end of the airbox.

And the shame of it all was that the air filter that was in there wasn't all that dirty!

Far as the plugs - I had a shop do a tune up at 100k (4 years and 30,000 miles ago). That's the last time I know of that the air filter was changed. Had I done it before, I'd have remembered it!


I've had similar woes on other cars too, with the piping not moving out of the way enough to get the box apart. 03 Accord is the same way.

 

[The Critic]

Here are some other cars where it's bad.

VW 2.0T FSI. You need to remove the engine cover to replace the air filter? Easy right? Not quite, as you have to remove a ton of clips to get to it. 20 min job.

Infiniti G35 '03-'06. Need a new cable tie each time you remove the air filter. You need to remove the airbox.

 

[andyd]

Intake and exhaust manifolds on a twin cam Honda CRV were terrible. Accessory belts require removing the LF wheel and a motor mount. Hitching up the wiring was easy, the harness is constructed to only reach to the proper plug.

 

[mechtech2]

asamek - So I take it there is not a wing nut to spin off on the air filter cover?
It used to be so simple!

 

[asamek]

mechtech2 - Oh, don't I wish!!

Honest to goodness - it's just amazing to me that they would design such a cluster frick as part of routine maintenance!

I left a lot of hand and finger skin under that hood yesterday!

 

[ls1mike]

I disagree...See sig.

Undo the hose turn up out of the way undo the two clips, pull out filter put new one in. 5 minutes.

 

[asamek]

Well, that's fine to disagree. And you know, that's exactly what I did. Except the hose didn't turn up out of the way due to a little plastic air chamber attached to the bottom of the hose. It would not rotate far enough to be out of the way of the filter cover held on by the two little clips.

Everything went smooth once I removed that. But trying to replace the chamber again was an exercise in futility because the clamp was non-adjustable. Had to go get a hose clamp, which was nothing but joy to tighten. Couldn't leave it off because it would have been sucking unfiltered air straight into the supercharger.

 

[Gary Allan]

My son's 96 Caravan has the air filter down by the lower radiator. It's not all that "difficult" as much as it is needlessly time consuming. There's a ample sized chamber right up top where it gets the hose to the throttle body. There was no reason NOT to locate it there. Instead, it's 8 minutes later.

I will drive my Wrangler til there is no fuel available for it.

 

[Texan4Life]

Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
My son's 96 Caravan has the air filter down by the lower radiator. It's not all that "difficult" as much as it is needlessly time consuming. There's a ample sized chamber right up top where it gets the hose to the throttle body. There was no reason NOT to locate it there.


+1 did an air filter on a 97 3.3L I was like [censored] why not just put it in the huge box on top!! lol

 

[labman]

Originally Posted By: Popinski


I wonder if GM engineers and designers keep maintenance in mind when they're creating something.


They got the cartridge right on the Ecotec. Easiest oil filter I ever remember. I leave the ramps on the shelf for oil changes.

The back spark plugs weren't bad on my 81 Phoenix.

 

[Benzadmiral]

I had the same issue with the non-supercharged 3.8 last year. Getting the filter out was okay, but clamping the box shut with the new one inside was a horror. I finally used locking pliers to hold the box shut while I screwed the bolts in.

 

[artificialist]

Originally Posted By: andyd
Intake and exhaust manifolds on a twin cam Honda CRV were terrible. Accessory belts require removing the LF wheel and a motor mount. Hitching up the wiring was easy, the harness is constructed to only reach to the proper plug.

What year?
Every CRV had twin cams.

My mom's 1999 CRV was a cinch to do work on. There was a ton of room to the front and back of the engine.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: andyd
Intake and exhaust manifolds on a twin cam Honda CRV were terrible. Accessory belts require removing the LF wheel and a motor mount. Hitching up the wiring was easy, the harness is constructed to only reach to the proper plug.

The doesn't sound too uncommon.

My mom's new Altima with the transversely-mounted VQ35DE looks like an absolute nightmare to work on. Everything appears to be packed into the engine compartment. There isn't even a space for me to stick hand anywhere!