Cars or jobs you hate working on

[New POD]

It seems to be pretty much the way things are done now.

 

1. Clutch fails

2. Shrug shoulders because this is an FWD car and all FWD cars are like Mk1 Golfs obviously. Drive shafts off, unbolt bell housing, remove gearbox (probably with your hands) swap the clutch over, slap it back together. Doddle.

3. With No2 in mind open factory workshop database/pdf manual. Scan down list of jobs which is probably about 8 steps long. Sorted.

4. Venture out to workshop and lie under car pondering what you are going to do for the rest of the day once this is done.

5. Slowly absorb that there are some important bits in the way of the gearbox. In fact you can barely see the gearbox.

6. Go back to the two pages you printed off.

7. Take in the full meaning of "Prepare car as per sections 34, 35, 36 and 37"

8 Pop back to the PC and take a look at the aforementioned sections. This might take a while because Tolstoy would think that they "go on a bit".

9. Pick heart off floor.

10. Dismantle car from around the clutch.

 

It's not commonplace but clutches do wear. Surely there is a better way of designing these things such that you do not need to dismantle the entire front suspension to replace it.

 

Oh and Honda Accord/Rover 600. Dismantle the front suspension to change the discs. Bravo!

I provided a garage with the clutch for a cavalier and they tried to charge me 2 hours labour.

I think we ended up at 3/4 of an hour but I never went back...anyone that tries it on...you are on my black list. Even 3/4 of an hour is longer than the job takes.

[Sir Snipes]

TBH I'd be rounding it up to an hour myself.

[Tamworthbay]

I'm the same. To be honest, i go under most things, but my disco 1 is the first thing i've owned i refuse to go under on anything but its own 4 wheels. The added weight over a normal car + it's general crumbliness = a large dose of "fuck that".

 

 

 

True story, i did vehicle engineering at college and we did spring compression. The lecturer then said he had to leave the room when we were doing it because that's the job that made him gave up working in a garage after watching his mate getting fatally wounded when a compressor failed.

 

That was confidence inspiring.

i had one fail when I was building a kit car- the claw broke. Thankfully it was a relatively small spring and pointing away from me. It landed about 50yds away in the park. The noise it made was quite brown trouser inducing. Never liked using them since that day but will if have to but tend to tie them up with string rope as well as a bit of a backup.

[sierraman]

I provided a garage with the clutch for a cavalier and they tried to charge me 2 hours labour.

I think we ended up at 3/4 of an hour but I never went back...anyone that tries it on...you are on my black list. Even 3/4 of an hour is longer than the job takes.

The thing is he won’t be working bollock flat out to get it done in shortest possible time.

 

It was on here recently about someone using tie wraps to hold a spring compressed. Crazy!

[Zelandeth]

Good call on the Metro downpipe to manifold joint. I'd forgotten that (self defence mechanism?) since I last had to do it.

 

On the brown one I had I never did get the sod to seal right, so always had to drive with a window open so it didn't gas me. Being honest though, that was the least of the troubles that car had. I've never heard a diff make those noises before or since...

[derskine]

Anything to do with doors or springs.

[LoftyvRS]

I'd love to meet the sadistic bastard who designed the window regulator "carriers" on Mk4 Golfs/Skoda Fabias etc, why the need to have some person in a factory who i'm conviced sits there and sharpens all the edges to razor sharpness before selling them in huge numbers.

 

The jobs tricky enough without blood pouring down your forearms.....

[twosmoke300]

Kia v6's with random lean misfires

[Bradders59]

Always hate working on proper Minis. Either bent double in agony, or on my knees banging my head on the bonnet catch every time I move my head more than an inch.

Always nervous of cambelt change on my V6 Omegas, due to the damage incurred if I get it wrong, but its always turned out fine.

I seem to have lost the love of working on cars altogether over the last 12- 18 months. Havent done much more than stuff that really needed doing.

Im hoping this is a temporary condition and the love will return after the coming winter.

Started doing a little light restoration work yesterday on my recently acquired Honda 90. Hoping this will rejuvenate me.

[dozeydustman]

Drum brakes, anything that doesn't use a hex-head bolt, or requires special tool No. xxxx that you can only buy a decent version of if you're in the trade.