30 years experience doesn`t count for much

[SURFVIRGIN]

took surf in to reputable garage this morning, came highly recommended and mechanics were experienced...however it went in for radiator,top hose and thermostat change (all parts supplied by myself from rough trax) and there was nothing but problems. i stayed around as thought it would only take an hour or so but not to be. viscous fan was stuck on proper so had to get under and drop aircon rad a couple of inches to get under with some leverage. this resulted in transmission oil pipe being knocked off and atf all over floor. mechanic had hands like shovels so was struggling to get in and remove bottom hose etc. putting all back together was the same as he couldnt get hands down sides to bolt up fan cowling. got all ready to turn the key and he realised he`d forgot to put new thermostat in...bugger. in all fairness he was stressed by then. whole job took 6 hours but they only charged me for 2. we did have a laugh about it and it was just one of those jobs, and i would actually recommend them to anyone out here. wondered though if this has happened to anyone else?

[SURFVIRGIN]

oh well, just my toyota then. (still love her tho)

[da SLUG man]

reminds me of the cavalier clutch "only takes 20 mins"

my cavlier didn't have the inspection panel, so it was up on ramp, subframe out, engine up, gearbox down... they were right, the clutch change only took 20 mins, but the rest took 5 hours!!


last time i leave the job till th morning i go on holiday!!

[SURFVIRGIN]

i was lucky enough to have given myself the day off. somehow had the feeling it might not go smooth. back on the road, thats the main thing.

[kitesurf_phil]

When I had my Volvo people said the clutch was a bugger to do. I used my brothers hydraulic ramps in his garage. We had it done in 45 mins.

[Gazbo]

vauxhalls are canny to work on? All front wheel drive cars can be a pig to do a clutch on, but still no hardship

[TonyN]

If the fan is jammed on you only need to ease a sharp chisel between the hub and the pully, then spin it round a 180 deg and do it again and ease it of bit at a time, you can do it all from the top.

Its not unusual, and not really tricky. Mech must have been thinking about the football!!

[M35A2]

I changed the clutch in my series three land Rover back in about 1995. It took me 1 WEEK to do the job. I had to take the seat box out as the Army decided to fit a new CL chassis on it and not a Military version. The Military chassis has an un-boltable gearbox crossmember the CL chassis doesn't.

It took me 2 1/2 days to get the seat box, floor and gearbox tunnel removed, and to remove gearbox. Took about half hour to replace full new clutch and thrust bearing, then another two days to re-fit all the seat box etc back. It was also about -5 all week as it was the week before christmas and I got the worst case of flu I've ever had after.

[Gazbo]

ha ha ha, they are a treat arnt they? I hate the things, now you know why i dont work there any more