STUPID designs....

[Wombat]

Ok, rant begins....
The mother-in-law turned up driving her little 1987 Ford Laser...it was ****ing water out from up behind the water pump somewhere, so I said "No problem, Deb (my wife) will take you down town and you can buy the parts you'll need. I'll have a look at the car and start pulling the water pump out...simple." ...I should have know not to trust a Ford (actually a Mazda with a Ford badge...)

After about an hour stuffing around with the cramped conditions on the front end of the motor where it is jammed against the inside wheel arch, I started to wonder how I was going to get the water pump out...what with the engine mounts and air conditioner and stuff, it wasn't going to be easy, and when the wife turned up with the replacement, I took one look and said "there's no damn way that is going to fit in there!".

My brother-in-law worked on it today while I was called in to work, and he had to do the following...remove the timing belt cover, remove the bottom pulley on the crank, remove the timing belt, remove the cam pulley,then to clear the air conditioner, he had to undo the engine mounts on the front of the motor, and jack it up from underneath on that side so the engine tilted back enough to [i]just[/] have enough clearance to get the damn pump out! Then it was another hour of contortions to try and force the new one back in...

What a clever design, but I imagine it might be common on a lot of front-drivers...just I wonder if you have to dismantle half the engine just to get the water pump out, especially removing the timing belt and pulleys...

[MoSkA]

It's a F**D, you'll get a bit of sympathy from me because I work a lot on the family 87' Falcon Station wagon.
I can tell ya it's not just because it's small, getting anything out of the F**D is a pain, no matter how big or small or where it is, you will always have to mess around to get it out.
Welcome to F**D designs can I interest you in a new F**D Mug which is incapsulated inside a solid steel box which is then hardened and tempered so you can never open it?
It's great for... well... nothing actually.

[DavidPartay]

We used to have an old 4.1L Fairlane or something (I've forgotten) but I do remember that one of the reasons dad sold it was because it was impossible to work on...

[.]

I own a 1963 Compact Fairlane. To remove 4 of the spark plugs I sometimes feel it would be easier to remove the whole damn engine. I dread it, if it takes 3hours to change your v8 Plugs.....you really need to wonder about the car.

[Wombat]

...you ought to try owning an English car...then you will know the true meaning of Hell on Earth when it comes to repair time.....

[Harts_94VR]

I used to own a front wheel drive Celica (oh the shame - I'm not even a hairdresser) and my god, nothing could be removed without having to remove something else first. I somehow managed to do the clutch with the engine still in the car - it took two days to get the gearbox out! Everything that could possibly be in the way, seemed to have been deliberately put in the way.

I love my Dunnydore!!!

[.]

English Car? no thanks I'm having enough trouble with this Canadian POS

[TrickTheFlame]

I own a little 3 cyl charade and had the exact same problem when I replaced my water pump...

I guess thats why theres so many mechanics out there making good money.

I think they do it that way, so people can make money of the work that people find too hard.

[westieVXS02]

You want a stupid design - how about anything Mitsu****ty - specifically lancers.

Those things are rooted from birth.

On the flip side, the first car I ever worked on - VC Commo' 202 - that thing was a piece of **** to work on, could do a full service in no time, and it would seem like a brand new engine everytime (even after 20-odd years).