I wanna know...
Site Moderator
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 9,657
Likes: 24
From: Louisville, Ky
Yeah, the rear three plugs on our old 96 Windstar required removing the cowl and such from the van to access the plugs. What a PITA!!
How about the DPFE (EGR sensor) on a 93 Lincoln Mark VIII. Wedged between the drivers side head and the firewall. I had to remove the master cylinder and could barely get my hand in there to get a very short stroke on the 9mm wrench to remove the bolts. The DOHC 4.6L is a huge engine for only 281ci.
How about the Chevy Z34 Lumina/ Monte Carlo with the 3.4L DOHC. 8hrs to replace the alternator. It involved jacking up the engine and removing the passenger side drive axle!!!
On the other hand, it took all of 10 minutes to put plugs in my old 77 F150 with a 460 in it. Just get in and walk around the engine bay
How about the DPFE (EGR sensor) on a 93 Lincoln Mark VIII. Wedged between the drivers side head and the firewall. I had to remove the master cylinder and could barely get my hand in there to get a very short stroke on the 9mm wrench to remove the bolts. The DOHC 4.6L is a huge engine for only 281ci.
How about the Chevy Z34 Lumina/ Monte Carlo with the 3.4L DOHC. 8hrs to replace the alternator. It involved jacking up the engine and removing the passenger side drive axle!!!
On the other hand, it took all of 10 minutes to put plugs in my old 77 F150 with a 460 in it. Just get in and walk around the engine bay
Veteran
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 381
Likes: 0
From: Georgia
Ah, nothing Like American, Nice and Simple. LOL.
Champion
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 4,210
Likes: 0
From: Shreveport, LA
I just bought an extended B2B warranty to 70K miles out of fright.
My dad has a truck he uses around the farm and stuff, a 93 Mazda something. 330K American made miles and still rollin strong. Pulled me out today actually.
Captain
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 507
Likes: 0
then you have really $hitty luck with vehicles. or at least trucks. 16 times in 2 years? what the hell are you doing to your vehicles man? lol thats crazy! that's like going to the shop for major repairs every 6 weeks. only repair/maintenance i've had in the past 8 months has been 1 oil change, 2nd one due probably next month...
Thread Starter
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Professional
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 150
Likes: 0
From: St. Augustine, FL
The plugs on my wife's pt cruiser were very easy to change even though it is FWD and the engine is turned sideways. The plugs are right on top up front.
Originally Posted by lookintododge
Hello all, i have been cruising this site for some time and decided to make my first statement in reply to this thread. I am a mechanical engineer and cringe every time i hear someone ripping engineers on their"design", especially with vehicles.
Just kidding. Welcome to DF. Glad my post was able to get you to post. 
I understand all about how the engineers are constrained by the requirements they are given. I've been a software engineer for over 10 years and we are also very much constrained by the requirements we are given. And I can also understand how frustrating that is to my end users.
3rd gen Ram, Newbies
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 3,815
Likes: 0
From: Chicago
<rant>...who the dumbass dodge engineer was that figured out the layout for these engines and decided to put all that crap around the spark plug location on the 8th cylinder. I liked to shake his hand and beat his ***.</rant>
Maybe I'm doing it the hard (wrong) way or something, but I don't see how there is anything else you can take off or move out of the way to make getting to that spark plug easier. And I can only contort myself so far these days.
Maybe I'm doing it the hard (wrong) way or something, but I don't see how there is anything else you can take off or move out of the way to make getting to that spark plug easier. And I can only contort myself so far these days.
Hello all, i have been cruising this site for some time and decided to make my first statement in reply to this thread. I am a mechanical engineer and cringe every time i hear someone ripping engineers on their"design", especially with vehicles. im not posting this to bust anyone's chops or be rude but more to inform.
As a design/mechanical engineer you are given a list of criteria and this list must be followed to a "T" when designing. on the top of 90% of those criteria lists is the almighty dollar. we must use current technology, techniques, and processes to follow this list. unfortunately this means most of the time the design is flawed and causes issues with the end product. most of these engineers, including myself, hate this about our jobs and constantly fight these items, however, just like the rest of the world the green back has ultimate say.
sorry for my rant, but i just wanted to get this point out there.
As a design/mechanical engineer you are given a list of criteria and this list must be followed to a "T" when designing. on the top of 90% of those criteria lists is the almighty dollar. we must use current technology, techniques, and processes to follow this list. unfortunately this means most of the time the design is flawed and causes issues with the end product. most of these engineers, including myself, hate this about our jobs and constantly fight these items, however, just like the rest of the world the green back has ultimate say.
sorry for my rant, but i just wanted to get this point out there.
Yes american manufacturing does make a large portion of their profits on the parts and services, not the initial unit sales.
Last edited by xfeejayx; Dec 6, 2009 at 07:53 AM.
Administrator
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 24,686
Likes: 21
From: South Georgia/East Florida
Well my Ford lasted till 110K, started having problems so I bought the Ram. I love the looks and the power, but my truck has been in the shop 16 times now in less than two years. Tranny, differentials, ECU, waste gate,on and on. Serious stuff, about $7,000 worth of repairs in all. I think it would qualify for the Lemon law, but most of the stuff has been single occurrences
I just bought an extended B2B warranty to 70K miles out of fright.
My dad has a truck he uses around the farm and stuff, a 93 Mazda something. 330K American made miles and still rollin strong. Pulled me out today actually.
I just bought an extended B2B warranty to 70K miles out of fright.
My dad has a truck he uses around the farm and stuff, a 93 Mazda something. 330K American made miles and still rollin strong. Pulled me out today actually.
In 5+ years of ownership, my '04 Ram has been to the shop once for a problem and that was a blown shock, after a weekend of hunting and a little "rough" play off-road (before my lift and Rancho shocks went on). Replaced the shock with no question under warranty.
Champion
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 4,210
Likes: 0
From: Shreveport, LA
then you have really $hitty luck with vehicles. or at least trucks. 16 times in 2 years? what the hell are you doing to your vehicles man? lol thats crazy! that's like going to the shop for major repairs every 6 weeks. only repair/maintenance i've had in the past 8 months has been 1 oil change, 2nd one due probably next month...
Site Moderator
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 9,657
Likes: 24
From: Louisville, Ky
Matt99 How did you manage a wastegate on a 4.7L?
xfeejayx, Cyl #8 is the rear passengerside plug so unless it is an Australian truck, there is no master cylinder there
8 7
6 5
4 3
2 1
front
xfeejayx, Cyl #8 is the rear passengerside plug so unless it is an Australian truck, there is no master cylinder there
8 7
6 5
4 3
2 1
front
Last edited by lxman1; Dec 6, 2009 at 12:08 PM.
