I work for a company in the Motor Industry.
It's one of the Germans, so we have none of this company car nonsense.
My daughter has a Seat Arosa 1.7SDi diesel. It's really a VW Lupo, built in Wolfsburg, but I shouldn't really tell you that, as it's £1500 cheaper.
Anyway, she has just done 60,000 miles, so I've changed the cambelt.
When I say that this engine is one of mine, and I evaluated how it would fit into the chassis, you would think I could change the belt in 5 minutes.
NO.
4 hours. Skinned knuckles. Jacked engine up and down to remove bolts blocked by chassis cross members.Engine mounting in the way of belt removal.
Hard work.
Great in production, but I truly do not know how the Technicians do the job in the book time allowed.
Respect.
This is only my personal opinion.
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Tongue in cheek and I'll probably get rapped on the knuckles but,
how many technicians will just wipe the engine clean and voila!
one new cambelt to you sir.
No of course this would never happen would it ???
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Sean,
Great in production and built to fulfil a number of purposes....
Effeciency in manufacture
Safety
Ease of maintenance
and not always in that order. The placement of the mountings could be a major reason for a crash rating, or for placing the car at a price point. A cam-belt is a once or twice in a lifetime replacement for most cars, so the other factors are likely to take precedence? Maybe?
Oh, I dunno. I shall just leave it to the technically minded to fix my Italian beasty at service time until I can afford an Audi....
--
If I don't reply it's nowt personal, I'm just working!
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Sean,
I understand exactly what you mean.
I designed a lift carriage set up for ease of access and ease of maintenance.
The lift has been in production for two years now and I had to go to site to assist in a motor/gearbox removal a few months ago just to show some engineers how to do it properly.
When this was all put together on the benches it was a piece of cake. Of course since then new pcb's were designed with different wiring looms and harneses and a slightly different chassis so this basically made the removal of the motor/gearbox a 2 hour job instead of 45mins. Like you I skinned my knuckles, swore a lot and looked a complete idiot in front of the other engineers.
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"this engine is one of mine, and I evaluated how it would fit into the chassis"
"4 hours. Skinned knuckles"
Sean, they do say that revenge is a dish best served cold.
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It\'s one of the Germans, so we have none of this company car nonsense.
What do you mean Sean? All the German manufacturers are big fleet sellers...
I remember my Cavalier 1.8iLS - The alternator/water pump belt which should be a 2 minute job to replace turned out to run through, and I kid you not, an engine mount. Only the fact I have a highly technically minded father with the foresight to have an engine hoist were we able to do this - ridiculous!
And don\'t get me started on Vectra clutches or dashboard lights...
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Where Citroen leads, other follow...
:-))
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From my experience in the car industry it is very unusual for an engine to be 'made' for a particular bodyshell (or vice versa). In general the powertrain design team (and that's a lot of people!) are given 'interface specifications', i.e. mounting points, target envelope dimensions, target mass.
Similarly the body designers are told where the engine will mount and its dimensions, mass etc. etc. This enables a crude vehicle design to be arrived at.
Once agreement is reached, then the detailed design work begins. Often there is a team of engineers (going by various acronyms, depending on the particular company) whose job it is to interface between the powertrain engineers and the body engineers, to ensure that everything integrates together as it should (a task made much easier by increasingly sophisticated CAD and visualisation packages).
Unfortunately ease of servicing and access to maintainance points is often overlooked in all of this and when the 'going gets tough' it is the first casualty. It is also generally assumed that the car can be worked on from below as well as above.
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I would like to see car manufacturers incorporate the wings into the bonnet so that the whole lot opens up exposing the front road wheels and the mechanics can get to all sides of the engine.
I'm sure this could be done whilst maintaining optimum crash protection.
H
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Some of us are old enough to remember that - any old Triumph fans in here? I remember I used to sit on the front O/S tyre with a piece of tubing in my ear, listening to the carb. chokes and trying to balance them (this is 60's/70's era).
Sit on O/S tyre and you could change points and set timing.
Didn't the Cit. DS have removable front wings? I seem to remember one model did. I also remember on one Cit. we had to remove a 'bung' in the dashboard to get at No. 4 spark plug - maybe that was the DS too.
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Yup, I have still got my 1967 Mark III Spitfire that I rebuilt 20 years ago from two scrap ones for use as my first car. And we are just coming around again to doing some of the same jobs for the second time - brush painting the underside with Hammerite, changing the rear wheel bearings etc. Funny feeling that...
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Here you go hugo
1959 Triumph Herald 948, 1959, 45500
miles, good runner, lots of work done , MoT Jul 04, tax exempt, Powder blue. £900 . ono
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The P6 had removable body panels, all four wings unbolt very easily to allow superb access to all four wheels and suspension and brake componentry. I take of the wings to improve my reach for such jobs as a brake disc change or a wheel bearing.
Besides there's more room to swing a hammer without worrying about damaging any paintwork ;)
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Whilst on the subject of older cars that were very accessable and easy to service, the Morris Minor 1000`s were great and one could easily remove an engine in less than 30 minutes.
Unfortunately modern cars with their cats and electronic engine management systems are becoming too complex for the average D.I.Y.er, and I think Aprilla has hit the nail on the head by mentioning the multi-platform/engine combinations in different body styles, which then can lead to horrendous servicing difficulties in later life. Particularly as body styles are now more aerodynamic, which means more streamlined bonnets and less free space around the engine for servicing.
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ee, they don't build 'em like they used to do int olden days do they?
Oh praise be to the Lord...
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Mechanic mate of mine always wanted to meet Sir Alec Issigonis, 'to educate him in the errors of his design of the Mini', and 'Issigonis got a knighthood for designing the Mini... should of got thirty flaming years!'
Cockle
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A few years ago I replaced the hydrolastic pipes on a Riley Elf. Now, I was doing this at home with only basic jacks and chassis stands.
Picture this: the pipes come in one piece - pre-formed - the length of the car. They can't be bent or they kink.They are normally fitted in production before the front and back subframes - ie sandwiched between frame and bodyshell. Now not wishing to remove both subframes (somewhat tiresome task!!) I decided to drop them slightly and wangle in the pipes through the gaps. But because the pipes were about 8 feet long and rigid they couldn't be angled to pass up between subframe and body without hitting the floor at the other end.
After hours of struggling I eventually got them fitted and a friendly mechanic came round with a hydrolastic pump to re-pressurise the system. I reckon that was one of the worst jobs I have ever attempted - and that includes dismantling the gearbox of same car to retrieve a nut that dropped off one of the selector forks.......
The car is still in my garage by the way if anyone is in the market for some 60s nostalgia!
Now....off to do some run of the mill software rebooting on the C5 :-) Who says they don't make em' like they used to?
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Ah!
That theme again..
..where Citroen leads...
rg
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Yes, there is an astonishing similarity between my Riley Elf and my C5. (they're both black :-))
Of course the Elf isn't diesel. That WOULD be silly. Whoever heard of a Mini with a diesel engine?
I reckon the day they start putting diesel engines in Minis, Alex Issigonis will turn in his grave.
Wotzat you're telling me?
(Exit stage right to sound of deceased Ziggy doing 1000rpm six feet under........)
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In my experience, those frustrating problems get solved once you get to speak/demonstrate them to the technician.
It is a mark of a good garage (in my opinion)where a) the service receptionists listen to you and write down what you said (as opposed to their first, often wrong, diagnosis) and b) they invite (or are happy for you) to show the technician the problem before you leave the car...
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