Thread: Best and worst cars to work on...

Oil leak would be valve cover gasket as for whatever reason they basicly tried to lay that 4 cylinder engine on its back in the engine bay making everything on the front of the motor a piece of cake and everything on the back not so easy.

Yeah the only snap ring you have to remove is the one closest to the wheel, the one that sits in the notch in the carrier, its just hard to get pliers in there. All the ones ive done slid right out after removing it and ive done many of them.

I'll throw this out there... Lotus Elise is easiest car to do major work on. <3hrs to get clam off and then you have EASY access to EVERYTHING.

my buddies 91 4runner pisses me off with all it's stupid vacuume lines EVERYWHERE!
every FWD car i've worked on has been pretty easy....the 90's jetta being kinda lame but all the FWD nissans i've worked on are easy to work on and easy to mostly understand where everything is and how it all goes.....the b12 sentra and the pulsar nx was stupid easy....LOL

I love that car, but honestly this is just about the only reason I haven't bought one

I helped on a turbo project on a 2001 Audi S4 which involved removing/installing the entire engine and trans. I thought it was going to be a lot harder than it was. Car isn't easy to work on, but not hard either. You just need to make sure you have all the strange Euro sockets to get stuff off.

Hardest cars I've worked on/near are Hondas(99+).

-G

Speaking of hondas and ive worked on tons of civics doing basic stuff and I will say this, hondas have the absolute tightest Crank bolts i have ever ever encountered. When it takes more torque to break loose a crank bolt on a D series motor than it does on a 1 1/4" lug not on a Military vehicle, something is wrong. 110 ft-lbs my ass. Ive yet to run into one that came off easy. Normally I have to have the pulley holder tool wedged between the lower control arm, 1/2" extensions coming out to the side onto a jack stand to brace it, a 3 foot 1/2" breaker bar with a 6 foot pole on the end of it, start at the 12 oclock position with it and pull down and just before the pole is about to hit the ground.....BAM!!! It finally gives and sounds like a gunshot thinking the extension or breaker bar broke. Ive had to do it this way every single time, D series, F series, F20 out of an S2K, doesnt matter. Stupid hondas. I dont want to even guestimate how much torque was required for that bolt to finally give. Ive split impact sockets on them before. Not fun at all. Other than that bolt the timing belts and everything else on them is pretty easy to do and get to.


Oh I just remembered the worst job ive ever had to do and it was a Nissan. Sorry Nissan but the fwd KA24 motor has to go. Doing an intake manifold gasket on those cars 100% kicked my ass and pissed me off to absolutely no end. From impossible brackets to get to that are hidden, to impossible hoses to get to that are hidden that you have to remove to even get the runners off, basicly impossible to remove the runners without the plenum and to get both off just absolutely sucks. Im sorry but that one takes the cake of any job ive had to do. Bolts for it are in the worst place possible and why nissan decided they needed to use a paper gasket when every other nissan motor uses metal intake manifold gaskets beats me.

3000gt VR4, i hate it

BTW intake manifold gaskets are a very common problem on the KA24's If you have a crappy idle and hear a hissing sound, more than likely the gasket. Absolute a pain in the butt. Ive never been soo frustrated working on a car until that job.

Thats another good one. VR4's suck.

VR4 are so retarded to work on.

Cadillac Catera isa PITA, stupid supposed BMW killer.

90's GM FWD SUV and Minivans with the 3400,3800 series motors. Goodluck on a tune up with a Chevy Venture.