The stupity of manufactures Range Rover related

[minimutly]

Gearbox out on mG6 turned into a swearfest - eventually dropped the subframe. I think easier to get engine and box out together..

 

[reb78]

Gearbox out on mG6 turned into a swearfest - eventually dropped the subframe. I think easier to get engine and box out together..

Did a gearbox change on my d2. Took me two evenings after work by myself. Easy job, made easier with a 4 post lift! But compared to more modern stuff it was a breeze.

 

[lchris21]

...attempted to change the thermostat on an Audi A4 once, there's 3 to choose from.....after best guessing which one was at fault I gave up after 3hrs as I couldn't even get anywhere near it, as I could hardly see where it was. Bolted all the bits back on and lived with a slightly warm heater and a thicker coat for the rest of the winter

 

[Ton-up]

Starter on Lexus 1uz v8. Under inlet manifold in Vee.....

 

[Ubique]

Gearbox out on mG6 turned into a swearfest - eventually dropped the subframe. I think easier to get engine and box out together..

It is with a lot of cars, especially M-B front wheel drive autos.

 

[Ubique]

...attempted to change the thermostat on an Audi A4 once, there's 3 to choose from.....after best guessing which one was at fault I gave up after 3hrs as I couldn't even get anywhere near it, as I could hardly see where it was. Bolted all the bits back on and lived with a slightly warm heater and a thicker coat for the rest of the winter

Audi S4 ( I think!) coolant pump & thermostat change, bumper cover, crash bar, cooling pack out before you get close to 'a few bolts' that hold them in....

To be honest, a lot of jobs become a struggle (like the OP's starter motor) if you're trying to do it with the vehicle on the floor or on a jack & axle stands, yes, you might have some access space but your body is at a different approach and working angle to having it on a two or four post lift. Pretty much every job I do, unless it's in the interior, I put on the lift so it's at the right height for working on, the one above I had at chest height, both to reduce fatigue and so that I was working at right angles to the area concerned - it makes a big difference.

 

[sparkysy]

Starter on my Vauxhall Vario is also in a stupid place, took me two days to strip half the engine, replace it & put everything back on.
On my aging VW LT is a half hour job, all the bolts are just there right in front of you as are the electrical connections!
The amount of vehicles with inaccessible parts that are bound to wear out is unbelievable.

 

[jmp49]

I just took the engine out of a Astra H recently, and reading the haynes book of lies afterwards, there's a chapter on engine removal that states this is not possible and subframe has to come down on a ramp and the engine/transmission removed as a unit. Good job I read it AFTER I'd extracted the engine.

 

[Ubique]

Another 'fun' one is Tiguan 4WD EGR cooler blocked, reasonably common.... Exhaust off, propshaft off, front subframe off, OS driveshaft out, transfer box out, a few other bits & pieces along with draining down the coolant - then remove the DPF before the EGR valve & cooler, clean up the pitted mating surfaces, refit everything (hoping the DPF isn't blocked beyond redemption), four wheel alignment & ADAS calibration then DPF forced regen.... The other week I had three back-to-back.
I'm seriously thinking of going back to Dealer-land....

 

[roblane65]

Audi S4 ( I think!) coolant pump & thermostat change, bumper cover, crash bar, cooling pack out before you get close to 'a few bolts' that hold them in....



To be honest, a lot of jobs become a struggle (like the OP's starter motor) if you're trying to do it with the vehicle on the floor or on a jack & axle stands, yes, you might have some access space but your body is at a different approach and working angle to having it on a two or four post lift. Pretty much every job I do, unless it's in the interior, I put on the lift so it's at the right height for working on, the one above I had at chest height, both to reduce fatigue and so that I was working at right angles to the area concerned - it makes a big difference.

Your absolutely right . it's two days later and my shoulders and back are knacking ! It would be so much easier on a lift . I would have stuck at and found a solution as I normally do but darkness was looming and I didn't want stuck up on stands out the front of the house all for one bolt . Most other stuff on it hasn't been to much of a pain .
the silly bolt situation is just a massive " WHY "

 

[Ubique]

The answer is invariably 'because it makes it easier in production'.
Think yourself lucky it's not an Audi A3, you either have to remove the engine or transmission (your choice!) to get the starter out....

 

[qwakers]

vauxhall vivaro starter is easy. once you accept its easier to strip the bumper and slam panel off its a fast job. takes me 2.5hrs max.

clutch on a vivaro is also far easier if you pull the engine and box. quicker to do that than **** around trying to get the box off the side of the engine in place.

 

[roblane65]

I try to stick to my rule of never buying a vehicle beginning with the letter F or R.
I do have a P38 though and have been hankering after a L322 but reading too many tales of woe

well if youv'e already got one with a R you might as well get another , I love my L322 , yes I really do and they really aren't the dreaded heaps of ****e people say they are it's finding a cared for one that's the problem . Complex car needs good maintenance there in lies the problem , when they get older people just don't want to pay to look after them as they should be . Obviously this wasn't a problem for the person who spent 70 or 80 so thou when it was new 20ish years ago .

 

[Ubique]

Point of order, Land Rover are the manufacturer, Range Rover is the model so it's a 'Land Rover Range Rover'
I (briefly) had an L322, as @roblane65 says, they get neglected / put on life support - you really need to get one with low body & subframe corrosion - everything else can be relatively easily sorted. I spent £2k on mine getting it up to a basic standard - but I bought it for £1.8k with known issues (HP fuel pump, inlet manifold split, TC slipping & front control arm bushes worn as the headline items), once you 'get it there' , it's easy enough to keep up to spec., the only reason I don't have it now is some twonk with an iPace caused minor damage on a roundabout which was enough for the ins. Co. to offer a settlement due to the cost of a new front light unit (~£2.5k) and an L405 coming available at the right price.

My 'old' L319 is still going strong in the custody of my eldest son, although it's somehow still under 'Dad warranty'....

 

[roblane65]

Range Rover is the model so it's a 'Land Rover Range Rover'

But it's also quite a bit of BMW too

 

[Ubique]

BMW took LR's plans and made them into an X5 whilst streamlining the supply chain to use BMW suppliers for L322 parts.... interestingly, they never really polluted the other models to any meaningful level.
I still think the L322 is the 'right' shape for a RR, the previous models don't look as well matured and it took me >10 years to accept the L405 shape.... I'd love to take a L322 bodyshell & drop an L405 into it!

 

[GRW]

Starter on my Vauxhall Vario is also in a stupid place, took me two days to strip half the engine, replace it & put everything back on.
On my aging VW LT is a half hour job, all the bolts are just there right in front of you as are the electrical connections!
The amount of vehicles with inaccessible parts that are bound to wear out is unbelievable.

The fuel filter on the 2 LT's I did s bit on though were a royal PITA to do!

 

[Keith 66]

My son works for a company that tests motor vehicle components, mainly ev stuff. He said last year "Never buy anything made by Jaguar Land rover group"
He reckons they are the most appalling bunch of "engineers" their company has ever had the misfortune to work with.
On my part i just wont have anything to do with a french car after having to replace the rubber water pump hose cluster on a peugot 406, hidden behind the engine is a black heart of rubber hoses squashed up against the bulkhead. Utterly inaccessible. The air was blue for two days.
I am told that i can swear extremely well at times. That car i surpassed myself.

 

[ajlelectronics]

The fuel filter on the 2 LT's I did s bit on though were a royal PITA to do!

I will see your fuel filter and raise you a heater matrix and wiper boxes on a Scimitar 6b on.

 

[GRW]

My Renault Master Mk2 starter is awkward - and requires the throttle body to be removed first, and then needs a set of extensions to reach the top blind bolt, while the main big live cable is encased in a plastic shroud that wraps around the starter body, making it unnecessarily difficult to disconnect the cables and withdraw the starter from a confined space.