SeanR

10. Odo gears that don't work after the first install. Just had this happen, it's a first for me.... Damnit, back to pulling a pod for the 2nd time.

blown 87

For me the third time was the charm, they have to be just right to work.

kccampro

cam carrier / valve cover design clearance with the shock towers on 16v engines. On second throught... maybe they could have redesigned the 16v head/cam set-up so that the engine wouldn't have been 4' wide. The small-block cheny had been around for 25 years when they designed this engine and some how they made it wider, heavier and less powerful...

Erik N

Oh, boy. Where's my Nomex suit?

LT Texan

sounds like a bitter man that just did the tower gaskets with the engine in the car!

I feel your pain.

And on the engine, Porsche seemed to want to put chevy small block bore and stroke in a big block. Valves pointing up rather than out would have given the designers a bit more flexibility.

How's this for dumb. Carried around the window triangle guide for 15 years before someone told me that you didn't have to remove the window trim to install.

Tom in Austin

BTW, why did Porsche drive the outer/exhaust cam from the timing belt? Could have made the 32V engine narrower if the cam gear was on the intake cam, would have improved access to lots of stuff jammed btwn the engine and inner fenders.

Does it make any difference which cam's driven directly from the belt and which is driven by the chain?

tlsmith1999

my least favorite jobs:
Upper A-arm bushings
Clutch master
CV boots (messy)
Defrost actuator on green line for AC system

kccampro

You know it... and I'm using your threat as the bible for my engine rebuild

Just venting... there are good points to the stock motor too... that's why it's still in the car

Hear Hear! I second that... thanks for reminding me about the upper control arm bushings... what a F-PITA to get to those bolts with the engine in. And yes, love that master cylinder design too.

4drgl

I second that...

I've been looking at the front bumper pieces thinking what a pita to reassemble... The rest of it... pretty easy... getting the siezed waterpump bolts out was a pain... but not difficult...

The front fenders are on my isht list for removal... those bolts are hard to reach, find, and then get a socket onto with the cosmoline all over them.

My door hinge bolts were seized.. but a drill and some pb blaster solved that problem quickly.

Cam covers were difficult but mainly time consuming to get out with the motor in the car...

Overall it's been a pretty decent car to work on. No worse than the typical vw! Probly easier to work on in some aspects. No complaints except for the previous owners total disregard for maintenance!

JHowell37

Installing new hoses on the A/C compressor sucks. That new rubber is stiff and it fights you every step of the way. The problem isn't getting the hoses on, it's the fact that you have to remove the compressor to do it (which isn't hard) and then reinstall it with the new hoses. That's the hard part. The solution I came up with was to remove the air pump, install the compressor, make sure the hoses air tight and properly routed, then install the air pump.

I never understood why people bitched and moaned about removing the valve covers on the S4/GT/GTS engines. It's not hard at all on the '85/'86. Then I went to remove the valve covers on a couple of different S4s. Those allen head bolts really suck. Thanks but I'll keep my old style that are somehow prone to breakage.

The bolts at the top of the fender that secure the bumper cover are impossible. I think the fenders and bumper cover are designed to come off as one unit, and then get disassembled.

Replacing the expansion valve with the hood on the car sucks.

Rob Edwards

I'm clearly missing something on the front bumper covers. After the spoiler comes off, they come off with an 8 mm socket and an 8mm gearwrench for the nuts under the headlamps. (Obviously those are a megaPITA without the right tool...) The hose for the washers is clamped with a single screwclamp (screw pointing to 12 o-clock in he pic below)- loosen it and pull. I think I kind of held the bumper cover resting on the underlying support with my knee while detaching and re-attaching it.

The shop manual for my '08 Odyssey has 100+ pages just on the power sliding doors. 928's just aren't that complicated...

GregBBRD

This is a great thread...but this just made me laugh until my stomach hurt!

jon928se

UCA bolts are easy it's just a matter of using the correct tools and having practiced a bit. my favourite method is to attack them from above when you are lying under the car. You do need a decent ratchet though (One of those 72 or 90 click per turn ones)

Once prepared - ie car onstands and undertray removed but no accessories removed I can have the UCA nuts in the engine bay undone completely in about 5 minutes. Of course it will then take me 30-60 minutes to retrieve the washers from the recesses of the X member.

Master Cylinder - brake or clutch makes no difference - I agree.

4drgl

Show me a pics of an 8mm gearwrench and I'll stop complaining...My fenders & bumper cover were pretty screwed up when I got mine... It was not an easy task... And the rear was especially more fun due to a large dent that had bent over all the bolts holding the cover...



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Rob Edwards

What kind of dork do you think I am, like I just happen to have a picture of an 8 mm gearwrench at 7:30 in the morning?