I haven’t had to do it myself, but anything related to the transmission on the big Transit vans, that requires taking the big K member underneath the transmission off, has to qualify as a nightmare. I really don’t think Ford ever thought anyone would have to take out the transmission on one, for any reason!
Worse repair ever?
- Thread starter 92saturnsl2
- Start date
Hi.
Oil cooler seals on the Mercedes OM642.
Mercedes decided it would be a hoot to fit the oil cooler at the base of the V of the V6. Then to amuse themselves even more they decided to make the seals out of crappy material which ensured they would fail.
I have been told that changing the blend doors on a Jeep WJ can be a character building experience.
Oil cooler seals on the Mercedes OM642.
Mercedes decided it would be a hoot to fit the oil cooler at the base of the V of the V6. Then to amuse themselves even more they decided to make the seals out of crappy material which ensured they would fail.
I have been told that changing the blend doors on a Jeep WJ can be a character building experience.
Common Volvo problem going back decades and several models.
I swear, they needlessly designed it overly complex on purpose.
The blower motor setup on the 740/760 was a far better design (the 240/260 successor).
JHZR2
Staff member
The worst jobs to me are those where you’re dealing with hard lines and seals, working on your back, under the car. Oil cooler lines on my diesels are a bit challenging because they go in funny and hit on a lot of things, but the job of a turbo drain pipe and gasket really is a lousy one. Not that any one part is really that hard, but when you can’t see if gasket surfaces are clean, and have to contort your arms to get someplace is just lousy.
Jobs where you hurt your arms trying to get to something are some of the worst. Can’t take the radiator shroud off of my 240D, so if you don’t have the right ratchet to turn the engine over from the crank, your arm gets chewed up when adjusting valves. Same for my Cummins With the barring tool. My Cummins fuel filter is also a lousy job unless you remove the brake MC.. its too high up to get from the ground, the truck is too high to get over the engine from up top, so you essentially need a platform to be higher than the truck, lay on the engine, and bend your bones to get the angle. Not fun. Not hard, just annoying...
Anything under the dash is just painful because of the height and way you have to lay.
Jobs where you hurt your arms trying to get to something are some of the worst. Can’t take the radiator shroud off of my 240D, so if you don’t have the right ratchet to turn the engine over from the crank, your arm gets chewed up when adjusting valves. Same for my Cummins With the barring tool. My Cummins fuel filter is also a lousy job unless you remove the brake MC.. its too high up to get from the ground, the truck is too high to get over the engine from up top, so you essentially need a platform to be higher than the truck, lay on the engine, and bend your bones to get the angle. Not fun. Not hard, just annoying...
Anything under the dash is just painful because of the height and way you have to lay.
What sucked about it was all the unnecessary items to remove just to get the intake off.
My 2000 Volkswagen GTI, the VR6 barely fits in the darn car so everything you do turns into a nightmare. For example to change the alternator you start by removing both front wheels, front bumper, inner wheel well pass side, remove or put radiator into the service position, then you have to remove motor mounts and jack the engine up on one side just to get to a position to even attempt to remove the alternator. Then doing the timing chain is even more fun being it’s between the engine and tranny. Total nightmare to do anything to that car.
MK4 VR6 is very much a fat guy in a little coat.
I had an ‘00 Jetta GLX w/ VR6 back in the day. I remember your struggles well. Absolutely loved the engine, but not working on it. Fortunately underneath the hood was pretty solid, it was the interior that kept me plenty busy, like windows falling into doors at random.
Did you have it long enough for the AC to start blowing foam?
I've had quite a few PITA jobs over the years, some harder than others. Heater cores can be a problem. I laugh now but cursed Ford and the mechanic the prior owner of my 93 Aerostar who changed the spark plugs. He decided he couldn't do the right side and left side rear spark plugs. They were tough no doubt, but not tough enough to change only 4 out of 6 spark plugs. Morons like shouldn't be in business. I know it was professionally done too because the prior owner had the receipt for the "tune up." I took out 4 Autolite plugs and 2 Motorcraft plugs when I tuned it up.
Clutch in a V6 Fiero is easily the worst.
Steering rack in a C4 Corvette is not picnic either IIRC.
Steering rack in a C4 Corvette is not picnic either IIRC.
Yes that’s a great way to describe it. I absolutely loved the car and after I went through all the trouble of all of the major repairs timing chain, clutch, all the plastic coolant pipes that go with it I still ended up selling it. It was bulletproof and I could absolutely fly down the highway with it but just didn’t want to do anymore big jobs to replace one tiny part. Lol I absolutely fell in love with everything about the vr6. One stout motor.
I will have to say Ford did improve access to the heater core on my 1990 Ranger Took little over half an hour. They screwed up badly on the valve cover gasket and the intake manifold gaskets though. That took lots of time.
Around 20 years ago, my wife's friend's husband
had a no-start on their Aerostar with the 3.0. He was sure it was the fuel filter, and had bought a new one. Of course this was in the winter, and a fair bit of snow had drifted under the van, and the fuel filter was underneath. At least the clearance was pretty good. So I changed the filter, but the van still wouldn't start.
So, on to troubleshooting. The spark was very weak. There was this little hatch near the bottom of the centre console that gave limited access to the distributor from inside. I changed a very worn rotor. Can't remember for sure if we changed the cap too, but I think so.
Then it was on to the plugs. With some difficulty, I changed the two front ones.
With two new plugs, the van started fine.
Conversation back at home was something like this:
Me: Got it going. Changed the two extremely difficult spark plugs. Didn't change the other four.
Her: Why did you change the two extremely difficult ones?
Me: Because the other four are impossible!
A couple of months later, I changed the other four from underneath. It was tricky, but not impossible.
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2014
- Messages
- 2,847
Power steering racks on early 2000’s GM passenger cars. Good god I hate those.
Replacing suspension parts on an independent rear suspension.
Rear struts on early 2000’s Ford Taurus’s.
Trying to line up the EGR ports on Dodge Intrepids intakes.
So many more I’ve kind of lost track.
Replacing suspension parts on an independent rear suspension.
Rear struts on early 2000’s Ford Taurus’s.
Trying to line up the EGR ports on Dodge Intrepids intakes.
So many more I’ve kind of lost track.
LOL it was tricky but not impossible. That's spot on! What I don't understand is why some "professional mechanics" with a lift and tools that most mortal DIY backyard mechanics only dream to have would do such a half a$$ job. It makes me wonder what would happen with a real challenging project if they were tasked with it.
jagdriver727
Site Donor 2021
Absolutely miserable job doing it by the manual. Most of that stuff doesn’t really have to come out; I have it down to about an hour and a half. I should make a video the next time I pull one apart... it’s either 11 or 15 screws to remove the dash.
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
My mom had an 03' Buick Rendezvous. Couldn't get to the rear spark plugs, I pulled the front motor mounts and pulled the engine forward and still couldn't get to them. Tried 3 times over the years and gave up.
I like the Jet Ranger series . Knowing that repair is hard it is a good thing I couldn't afford to buy one.
Similar threads
