starting to dis-like serpentine drive belts (grumble)
- Thread starter Rex R
- Start date
Help Support The Rocketry Forum:
Andrew_ASC
UTC SEDS 2017 3rd/ SEDS 2018 1st
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2017
- Messages
- 3,883
- Reaction score
- 542
Well. Those ol' Volvos had a timing belt even the newer 07's and new stuff. You changed the basturd thing by 120k miles like the book said or the valves crashed and it totals a $5-6k motor. Oh and the pendulum mount was illogical Swedish design where you had to apply pressure from below of car to release sideways tension on bolt on top of engine mount... There was no grumble. Only a neighbor that threw his 400 lb ignorant butt into a cheater bar at full running sprint (ignorant southerners you know), bent the cheater bar, and had us all cussing because a Volvo wasn't a old Ford. Then it became its a Volvo you have to use your brain and Vida/Dice dealer manuals to dissect it but not BMW bad. At least TASCA parts has all the Vo parts if you need it. They got Mazda and ford parts too etc. And unlike a V6 sideways mounted in a Honda I change my own coils and spark plugs rather easily. The power steering tank is under a freaking headlight that the dealers never even bothered to put CHF11s pentosin on. Lol. And mom's Audi TT had this proprietary bolt pattern not metric or SAE type sockets. I basically grumbled so hard at Audi.
Got a buddy into old timer VW beetles. The old ones with timing chains. You wouldn't believe how much he cusses actual timing chains and claims they lose timing at half the mileage than any belt design. He totaled a few motors when the chains snapped too. Gotta take the grumbles with a ice cold beer and a couple of laughs dude. Even as an
engineer student bro I got laughing so hard. It's like did they design this car without trying to stick a wrench it screwdriver into that spot? Unbelievable. Yes they did. Just a big old solidworks/CAD computer game to a bunch of nerds until some poor dude has to take it apart in a certain order or it's not coming apart!
Got a buddy into old timer VW beetles. The old ones with timing chains. You wouldn't believe how much he cusses actual timing chains and claims they lose timing at half the mileage than any belt design. He totaled a few motors when the chains snapped too. Gotta take the grumbles with a ice cold beer and a couple of laughs dude. Even as an
engineer student bro I got laughing so hard. It's like did they design this car without trying to stick a wrench it screwdriver into that spot? Unbelievable. Yes they did. Just a big old solidworks/CAD computer game to a bunch of nerds until some poor dude has to take it apart in a certain order or it's not coming apart!
muddymooose
Hoopy Frood
Was this on a Ford? I always found them annoying to work on because the designers have a tendency to do stuff like this. My wife used to have a 97 Explorer and first time I went to change the AT fluid and filter I discovered the exhaust ran right underneath the AT pan. I had to cut and remove the exhaust and re-weld it afterward. That was the last Ford we ever owned.
Easiest vehicle I ever worked on was my 97 Jeep Wrangler Sport...I worked on it all the time, not because it needed it but because it was pleasant work.
.
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2013
- Messages
- 4,392
- Reaction score
- 2,276
There was another vehicle (don't remember) where you had to use a hoist to remove the plugs.
I think it was the 74 Chevy Vega, but only for one plug.
Andrew_ASC
UTC SEDS 2017 3rd/ SEDS 2018 1st
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2017
- Messages
- 3,883
- Reaction score
- 542
BMW Z3, dissasemble front end of car for literally anything. Stepdad dumped it. When it worked right it was a fun car to drive similar to a German version of Miata. Very fun car around corners. The mechanical components weren't bad. It's always the stupid Bosch ECU proprietary code garbage that you need dealer tools or ripoff variants to electrically reset. And sadly the Bosch coding only got more complex with newer models of anything. If only they had turbocharged it. I'll never buy a BMW. Ultimate driving machine, **when it drives**! Ultimate mechanic's nightmare!! I still see a few occasionally and laugh.
Old timer VW Beetles had no timing chains. Or belts. They had a gear on the camshaft that meshed with a gear on the crank.
Speaking of crank, stop doing it.
Andrew_ASC
UTC SEDS 2017 3rd/ SEDS 2018 1st
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2017
- Messages
- 3,883
- Reaction score
- 542
Dad's got an old C20 Chevy where you can put a socket and torque wrench onto the headers and there's enough clearance to swing it like forty degrees. Other cars you get about one or two clicks in some places. I have to use so many extensions or wobble links on a euro car it pisses me off. It's like some designs you know when user serviceable wasn't in the design matrix. Then they put like security tamper torx on a modern mass airflow sensor housing because they don't want you taking it off to clean it. I've seen friends with Hondas require metric wrenches to remove air filters. That should be a snap in/out component so you can clean it on road if it gets clogged. And a torx Ratchet won't fit sometimes: so it needs more floppy connections. Or you can take a torx screwdriver and literally bend it with a vice and torch to fit. My dad's grease faced comment was F*** cars. Everything from his RX-7 to an Impala. Best part is when a jack leaks fluid when you least want it too while getting a car up on the stands. Then you have to use another vehicle to go fetch parts or tools or whatnot. Because cars.
Andrew_ASC
UTC SEDS 2017 3rd/ SEDS 2018 1st
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2017
- Messages
- 3,883
- Reaction score
- 542
The one I saw had a chain on it. And its owner was always pissed the timing was off. Can't speak for all models or years if the motor was swapped or not.
Andrew_ASC
UTC SEDS 2017 3rd/ SEDS 2018 1st
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2017
- Messages
- 3,883
- Reaction score
- 542
It wasn't a stock VW engine. Some moron stuck a foreign engine into it. Beater car. Long story. The engine was rear mounted but it appeared almost lawnmower like in size. About two Kohler riding lawnmower motors in height. It was just surreal all rust covered and unmarked. Owner bragged about getting the car cheap from a junkyard.
But thats different from what you first stated. You first said those old vw beetles with the timing chains as though you were speaking with amassed expertise.
Andrew, stop trying to impress us. Your exaggerations, jargon filled dissertations, and BS instantly mark you as a fake. Just listen, ask questions, and only say things that you truly have first hand knowledge of. You dont need to beat yourself up; that doesnt endear you to people either.
If you do that youll be welcomed by most here with open arms. Rocketry people are some of the most hospitable and forgiving people Ive ever known.
Andrew_ASC
UTC SEDS 2017 3rd/ SEDS 2018 1st
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2017
- Messages
- 3,883
- Reaction score
- 542
I'm not trying to impress anybody. I'm more confused that I saw a Beetle with a freaking chain in it at one point in my life. And none of the beetle engine configurations on google match what I saw. I judged all Beetles off of one car I saw. Sorry.
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2013
- Messages
- 4,392
- Reaction score
- 2,276
I had a Z3 and it was no problem to change out all six plugs or an oil change, (filter sat right on top), even hoses if I had to. My Z4 I simply send to a mechanic anymore if work needs to be done. That's not a concern either.
Sooner Boomer
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2011
- Messages
- 5,830
- Reaction score
- 4,673
I had a '75 Impala 4-door with a small block. You didn't *have to*, but it made it so much easier to change the plugs if you pulled the front wheels first. Working from the top, it was a knuckle-scraper. Going in from the side, it was easy-peasy.
I was really surprised how easy it was to pull the motor on my brother's VW Passat. I say "easy" - the first thing you do is unbolt the front bumper and clip and pivot everything from the passenger's side. Then everything's right there, easy to get to. He's also getting good at pulling motors on Z3's/Z4's - I guess everyone needs a hobby...
I was really surprised how easy it was to pull the motor on my brother's VW Passat. I say "easy" - the first thing you do is unbolt the front bumper and clip and pivot everything from the passenger's side. Then everything's right there, easy to get to. He's also getting good at pulling motors on Z3's/Z4's - I guess everyone needs a hobby...
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2014
- Messages
- 980
- Reaction score
- 459
mid 80's trans am had to break loose the right motor mount and jack up the engine a bit to get to the #8.
there were a couple of years of saturn vue's with a v6 that had to have the intake come off to get to the rear 3 plugs.
and always advised, since the thermostat housing was under the intake, to replace the t-stat at same time
For the timing belt on the minivan, I either have to lift the engine, or take the right side quarter panel off.
Since it is only every couple years, I take it to the shop instead....
Since it is only every couple years, I take it to the shop instead....
lakeroadster
When in doubt... build hell-for-stout!
I think you are thinking about a V-8 Monza..... They required loosening the engine mount and lifting the engine a bit to get the rear plugs out.
Vega's were about as easy to work on as one could get.
lakeroadster
When in doubt... build hell-for-stout!
"[FONT="]Well, there is another Vega that was available that didn’t have the little 4 cylinder engine in it. It came from the factory with a V8 squeezed under the hood. "
Never happened.... there never was a factory V-8 Vega.[/FONT]
I never heard of a V8 Vega either, but I thought this guys account was interesting. Theres another site that List urban legend, one of which is the Vega spark plug removal, so I may have committed assumicide.
Youre probably right that Im thinking of the Monza.
Thanks
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2013
- Messages
- 4,392
- Reaction score
- 2,276
I remember seeing the pro stock Vegas showing up at the strips in the early 70's. There actually were kits to modify them to stuff a V8 in them.
Sooner Boomer
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2011
- Messages
- 5,830
- Reaction score
- 4,673
Would have sworn there were factory V8 Vegas. At least in station wagon trim. (wikipedia says not) My friend's girlfriend had one. I helped him put two rear ends under it before she moved on. He had something of a heavy foot, and the ring gear couldn't take the load of moving that heavy chassis. This was '78 - '79 time frame. I know for sure they came out with a Cosworth engine in a very few Vegas.
They were a real hoot in bracket racing with a stripped down chassis and a hot 383. I know several people that raced them with great success.
They were a real hoot in bracket racing with a stripped down chassis and a hot 383. I know several people that raced them with great success.
Wikipedia says there was a V8 Vega prototype only, but it also says the Monza reused a couple of Vega bodies, so maybe thats what people remember as the V8 Vega.
cbrarick
Wildman CT
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2009
- Messages
- 3,146
- Reaction score
- 1,004
I have a 02 trans am ram air, you gotta pull the motor out a bit to get to the aft 2 plugs. Unless you own a plug socket with 2 joints....glad they're 100,000 mile plugs. I got another 70k before i have to do that little project
lakeroadster
When in doubt... build hell-for-stout!
I pretty much bled Chevy Orange in the 70's and 80's. V-8 Vega's were pure hot rod, never a factory affair. I had a high school friend who stuffed a 350 in a little red Vega coupe. It was scary fast.
The Monza's were a lot like the Vega's in regard to design. The front suspension though wasn't up to the task of supporting the V-8 and there were structural issues.
My wife had a Pontiac Sunbird, V-6 4 speed. Fully loaded, she bought it brand new in 1979. It was a nice car.
The Monza's were a lot like the Vega's in regard to design. The front suspension though wasn't up to the task of supporting the V-8 and there were structural issues.
My wife had a Pontiac Sunbird, V-6 4 speed. Fully loaded, she bought it brand new in 1979. It was a nice car.
Ive probably spent more time rolling around under BMWs than youve spent breathing... Theyre not reliable, but theyre great cars to work on. At least they were up until about 2006. Cant speak for the front end of a Z3 mind you but I once replaced the alternator on a 325 in a mall parking lot (did I mention reliability?)
I upgraded to an Audi once bmw stared using turbo 4 bangers. Now that thing is a mechanics dream. The engineers at VW dont believe in leaving extra space anywhere. You have to remove the front clip on mine to change the belts and something as simple as a thermostat is an 8 hour job. Differential acting up? 5 figure repair.
I miss my 75 super beetle. I do not miss applying a hair drying to the janky mechanical fuel injection in the winter to get it started, the lack of functional brakes, heater, working stereo or floor boards.
Similar threads
