Remember when spark plugs were easy to change?

[Merc]

I had the 1995 Roadmaster and my wife had a 1998 Chevy Venture van and many times, they would both be in the dealership for repairs at the same time. I swore I’d never buy a GM car again. The Roadmaster never ran right and used to flood the interior with condensate water from under the dash board. I took it to several dealerships who charged me big bucks to disassemble the ductwork and replace various parts. Nothing they did fixed the flooding problem. I was given a set of Roadmaster service manuals that I read cover to cover and discovered that the heat-AC door in the ductwork that directs air over the AC and heater core had to be re-set if the battery was ever disconnected. This was accomplished by pulling and re-installing a fuse while the ignition was turned on. Not one technician ever knew that or obviously never read the manual. There it was, in black and white. I traded the Roadmaster in on a 2004 Grand Marquis and traded the biggest POS ever (the Venture) in on the 2011 Sienna. We still have both of them and I think they are two of the most durable cars on the road.

[lyman]

when Mrs Lyman and I got married, she had an even bigger POS than you had Merc,,

a 1980 Buick Skylark,
X body (like the Chevy Citation)
threw a belt, on the coldest night of the year, but that went back on after about an hour of busting knuckles and cussing,
some mornings it did not want to start, traced that to the fuel filters, once they were changed, it got better,

and the V6 (standard 2.8 based model GM had in everything) ran fine,, but it took 3 extensions and 2 of the flex joints to get the socket to turn with a wrench for one or 2 of the back plugs,
(and considerable blood loss and cussing)


once we got in approved for the house loan and got settled we traded that off for a Toyota FX (good little car)

[JB White]

Late 60's Mopars with a 383 , 440, or 426 could be a real PIA to get at some plugs. A Rube Goldberg contraption made up with extensions and universals could usually get in there.
Changing the battery in a Chrysler Sebring involves going through the drivers side wheel well into the bumper area.
Some 60's Fords required cutting through the wheel well to access the heater core. Of course the core isn't a scheduled maintenance item.

Some newer cars now require a computer to do a brake job. The calipers must be ordered to retract before removal. Doing it the old school way will blow 'em and it could be as much as $800 a corner for replacements.

[togor]

JB,

Learned the procedure on a '69 Monaco with a 383. Can imagine the rear plugs on a big block in a B-Body took a lot of patience.

Re: rear plugs on transverse V-6s. On Chevy Impalas of the post 2000-era one actually has to loosen a brace and tilt the motor forward to create back side clearance. Even then the passenger side plug by the alternator is blind. Good times.

[Merc]

Changing the battery on a Dodge Journey requires removing the inner fender. Advance Auto Parts usually offers free battery installation. I was there once when the salesman was telling his customer what was involved and why he wasn’t going to do it.

My cousin bought a used Buick Lucerne a few years ago. Nice car but it soon needed a new battery. He gave up looking for it and called his mechanic who told him to look under the rear seat.

[dryheat]

There are two guys in my neighborhood who work on cars for a hobby. I can't imagine a worse fate. There's a Utube guy who is a Bush craft instructor. He said, he worked on cars all week and his hobby was cars. The light came on; 'I'm busting my knuckles all week for a living and then I'm busting my knuckles on the weekend for fun'. He got into bush craft.
I thought jets were hard to work on(grinding down a 9/16's spanner thin), but cars can be just as aggravating. When I got out of the Navy I was done with mechanics. I can fix stuff. The extension/swivel reminds me of my buddy who changed the plugs on his girlfriends Vette. He punched out a hole in the wheel well and put together a combination of extensions and swivels to get at the plugs.