[Jesda]

Sometimes I open the bay of my wonderfully low-tech 525 and stare at all the open space. If I was a midget I could probably climb inside with a wrench and a hardhat.

Contrast with the 300ZX:

Of course, the 300ZX produces a lot more power with two turbos. The Maxima is pretty easy too. The VG30E, even mounted transversely, is ridiculously easy to get into. The oil filter is right on top and nothing is in the way of the plugs. Its a wide car so getting to accessories isnt as difficult as other FWD cars.

The worst, I've heard, is the Chrysler Sebring convertible (96-00), where dealers quote $500-$800 for plug replacement by the book. [You can of course do it in two hours by yourself.] Also the Porsche 944, which requires transmission removal for a few things, and the Q45 just for being too damn crowded (but logically arranged).

 

[Stoneage_Caddy]

wasnt much easier to work on then a mid 70s chevy pickup with an inline 6 .....a close second was the ford , but i hated the carb on those ....

i changed a cylander head on a 88 MR2 once ....wasnt much fun ....

but i havent had the unique displeasure of dealing with a Porche Boxter yet ....i hear plug changes are a adventure that jules verne should have written .....

 

[Night Wolf]

By far one of the easiest engines to do nearly any work on... I'll even go on a limb and say its more easy then the 425 in the '79..... EVERY spark plug is in direct sight and super easy to get to (not so on the 425... anyone that knows that #7 cylinder knows that I mean) and stuff like changing the water pump is just about as easy, if not more easy.... only downside would be something like swapping out the cam, on the Olds, the enigne would have to be pulled. In all the work I did on this... which is basically any and all engine work short of removing valve covers/manifolds.... the most difficult thing was changing the PCV valve, just from the position of the rubber grommet.... a dream to work on.

The 4.9 is a PITA to work on... it really is... even something as simple as spark plugs, are just a PITA... I swear I hate working on that car because there is no room.... I am not looking forward to putting plugs in it tomorrow, it is all done by feel and I don't even remember where the freakin holes are... it really sucks.

Honda/Toyota are typically tought to do any decent work on just because everything is cramped in...

VW has to be the worst.... replacing a freakin water pump on a '94 Jetta 2.0... it was hell... EVERY engine accessory had to come off, the wheel fender thing, air intake, washer fluid thing, THEN the kicker... the freakin timing belt and pully! my gosh I told myself I'll never own a VW for that reason.... well, that and parts are so freakin expensive....

atleast I know that I wont be getting a vehicle more difficult to work on in the futre... the Jeep and 4.0 I6 are pretty stright forward, decent amount of rooom... and, well, the I6 is a nice design in that stuff like plugs and wires are easy to get to... longitudinal mounted so accessories are easy to get to etc...

 

[Night Wolf]

wasnt much easier to work on then a mid 70s chevy pickup with an inline 6 .....a close second was the ford , but i hated the carb on those ....

i changed a cylander head on a 88 MR2 once ....wasnt much fun ....

but i havent had the unique displeasure of dealing with a Porche Boxter yet ....i hear plug changes are a adventure that jules verne should have written .....

Dosn't the engine have to be removed on those to change the plugs?

I could imagine Subarus must be interesting too.... I personally really like H-O engines, but in some applications they can be a PITA to work on... like small cars.

 

[Stoneage_Caddy]

subarus are very easy to work on ....turbos are a little more difficault ....in fact i think outside a VW bug pulling the engine out is prolly easier then any car ever made , easy acess to all bellhouseing bolts ...and there is provisions ot get the plugs out ....

 

[Vesicant]

Catera's engine is hard to work on. Everythings in torx for the most part, and a majority of the problems require taking off the upper intake manifold - the white part or taking off the windsheild wiper cowling around it.

My Integra Id say is fairly easy. Our 98 Silverado K1500's not bad with its big engine bay. Most Chevy trucks are easy.

We had an 89 Isuzu Trooper 4cyl, and that had atleast 30 vacuum hoses going to the manifold, it was a real arse.

 

[Stoneage_Caddy]

ill take torx over phillips any day

 

[Night Wolf]

subarus are very easy to work on ....turbos are a little more difficault ....in fact i think outside a VW bug pulling the engine out is prolly easier then any car ever made , easy acess to all bellhouseing bolts ...and there is provisions ot get the plugs out ....

ah ok... I was just thinking back to the horizontally-opposed Lycomings and Contenentials used in A/C and how we kind ahae it easy because the cowling comes off the expose the whole engine... then picturing that in a car and how the sides of the engine bay are right there where the heads are.. spark plugs may be a pain...

I have personally always liked Subaru... dunno why... but I just do. They HAVE mastered the AWD thing... but I kinda have a thing for H-O engines... I think a NA Subaru 5spd in a car would be a nice little car to get around in as a DD..... only thing is, the AWD isn't needed in FL and it just adds weight/less MPG etc... ah well...

Before I got the Olds, the winter car I REALLY wanted, and came close to buying... was a late 80's Subaru Loyale wagon.... 5spd and 4WD. The one I almost bought wasn't 4WD (only FWD) and it needed some work... but if it was in fact 4WD, I would have bought it (since it was going to be a winter car) Thinking back... I am kinda neutral on the feeling... I mean, I didn't get that, but i got the Oldsmobile, which is one of the best cars I could have asked for... but still, that little Subaru was just pretty cool, neat interior, it was a 5spd which I really wanted, and want even more now... and 4WD, which from stories I have heard, those 4WD wagons were nearly unstopable. The fuel-injected Boxer-4 engine was bullet proof... it was a really cool little car.

 

[danbuc]

This is one of the easiest cars I've ever worked on. It's the 289c.i. V8 that was in the '66 Mustang I had.

Of course, this would be the L37 N* in my STS. One of the hardest cars I've had the pleasure of working on.

I would have to say thoguh, that the hardest car I've worked on to date, would be my friends 1976 Triumph TR6. The dual carb setup is nightmare to tune. All of the electronics were designed by the Prince of Darkenss (Lucas). Overall, it's just not that much fun to work on.


Hehe, You know your working on an old british car when......the voltage regulator on the back of the alternator bursts into flames while trying to charge the battery. That was fun.:helpless:

 

[Night Wolf]

Catera's engine is hard to work on. Everythings in torx for the most part, and a majority of the problems require taking off the upper intake manifold - the white part or taking off the windsheild wiper cowling around it.

My Integra Id say is fairly easy. Our 98 Silverado K1500's not bad with its big engine bay. Most Chevy trucks are easy.

We had an 89 Isuzu Trooper 4cyl, and that had atleast 30 vacuum hoses going to the manifold, it was a real arse.

whats that huge hose/air inleft in front of the radiator?

I too like Torx... very positive grip... the only bad thing is when I get lazy and don't have the proper size, or its a metric screw but all I have is SAE and I say to hell with it and use the closest size I have... it tends to strip the screw.. and then its really a PITA... not fun anymore...

 

[Night Wolf]

This is one of the easiest cars I've ever worked on. It's the 289c.i. V8 that was in the '66 Mustang I had.

Of course, this would be the L37 N* in my STS. One of the hardest cars I've had the pleasure of working on.

I would have to say thoguh, that the hardest car I've worked on to date, would be my friends 1976 Triumph TR6. The dual carb setup is nightmare to tune. All of the electronics were designed by the Prince of Darkenss (Lucas). Overall, it's just not that much fun to work on.


Hehe, You know your working on an old british car when......the voltage regulator on the back of the alternator bursts into flames while trying to charge the battery. That was fun.

POSITIVE ground!!!!

 

[danbuc]

Not on this car.....it used a negative ground. It just had serious problems...like all old british cars. MG's used a positive ground in a lot of there older cars. I really never understood why......I probably never will either.

 

[Night Wolf]

I know Jag used them... and still does... and I have heard some interesting stories from unknowing people that tried to jump a Jag with their Chevy/Ford/Toyota etc...

 

[danbuc]

Haha...yeah, I would imagine it would be kinda interesting.

 

[Kev]

The easiest to work on for me would have to be my old Chevy pickup with the 327. There was almost enough room to climb into the engine compartment and stand to either side of it! I love changing the points and condenser, it was a snap to set the dwell with a meter and the right allen wrench. Plugs couldn't have been easier to swap out, so much room! The Carter AFB never needed adjustment, it was like the Eveready Bunny!

 

[I~LUV~Caddys8792]

The 4.9 is a PITA like Rick said. You can't even see the spark plug wires on the back four cylinders. And it's incredibly difficult to reach even the front four.

 

[Krashed989]

I would have to say that the easiest car to work on has to be an early 90's honda civic. That's how I first got started on learning how cars work, by having to completely disect one. I can truely say that I knew how to fix cars before I knew how to drive them.

The car that I've had the most difficulty with fixing so far is my own 94 eldorado. HAHA, Right now I'm ignoring a LOT of problems with it, LOL.

 

[noahsdad]

They don't come any easier than the old Chrysler slant-6. My buddies and I once did a valve job on one of these in high school auto shop in less than two hours start to finish. Great old engines too.

This one struck fear into the hearts of every Chevrolet mechanic in the mid-70s: The Monza with a 305 V-8. At the factory, they installed the engine before they put on the front end sheet metal.

Without air, you had to remove one motor mount and the tranny mount, then jack up the engine to get to one bank of plugs. With air, the engine had to come out of the car to get the compressor off! It was a six hour job just getting the engine out.

 

[mccombie_5]

We had an 89 Isuzu Trooper 4cyl, and that had atleast 30 vacuum hoses going to the manifold, it was a real arse.

Dad won't touch our 95.

 

[gothicaleigh]

whats that huge hose/air inleft in front of the radiator?

That's part of the Multi Ram Air Induction System and is controlled by the engine throttle. The dual piping is to control resonance. It's the same system found on both the 3.0L Catera and 3.2L CTS.

Both cars come stock with a ram air system. The "TonyA" mod you see many CTS owners bragging about is simply opening this system to fresher air further from the engine compartment and lessening restrictions in the air box and stock filter.