What Places Are Notoriously Hard to Reach on Your Car?
We all have to dig into our vehicles to repair, replace or simply retrieve something at some point. Be it addressing a bad exhaust manifold gasket, failed starter, or your cell phone that slid between the seat and the console, some places are notoriously hard to reach. Sometimes it feels like this was created by design, especially when you need to get something done quickly.
This week’s question should generate many unique stories and relatable tales of painfully difficult things to reach in your vehicle. There are just some places that are so much harder than others, especially on some vehicles. For me, it’s the ritual of doing an oil change on my Lincoln Mark VIII, because I truly hate the filter location.
See the Mobil 1 oil filter nestled deep within the engine cradle, further obscured by the anti-roll bar underneath? Granted, I’ve made this job harder for myself, as said bar is a much larger piece from Addco. While access to spin the oil filter off from the block is straightforward, the oil pours down the engine cradle (all around the pictured metal/rubber hose) and collects at the divot in the cradle’s sheetmetal. It’s a mess, especially since there’s another divot which requires careful placement of your oil pan to ensure it catches used oil from both locations.
It’s a hot mess (literally), but I haven’t even discussed the real chore: getting the oil filter between the engine and that Addco bar. The trick is to stick your pointer finger in the oil filter, clamp down with said finger, and pull down hard so it slides past the bar.
I’ve owned this car for over two decades and can change the oil without frustration, but this filter is still “notoriously hard” to reach. So now I shall kick the question back to you:
What places are notoriously hard to reach on your car?
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I know I can’t top (or even match) a lot of other’s stories, but I’ve found that replacing coils and plugs has been unnecessarily painful on a couple of my vehicles. In the F150 with the Triton V8, the two could/plugs closest to the firewall are challenging. In the left side, there are hoses and wiring in the way and an electronic component that is attached to the firewall must be detached. It probably adds about 30 minutes.
On the Gen3 Escape, the wipers and cowl must be removed and the intake must be disconnected and moved out of the way. This takes as long as the rest of the process.
It seems that most cars made this century have at least some components that are nigh impossible to repair or replace because there just isn’t enough space to make everything easy.
Oh, I thought of a beast: Audi A8 with the 4.2 V8 required the engine to come out to replace the water pump. I didn’t do that myself, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt (money instead of time).
The rear plugs on my ’04 Solara. The official way is to drain the coolant and remove the intake manifold and pile of miscellaneous parts. I was able to do it by removing everything at the back and driver’s side of the engine and with a large assortment of adapters, extensions, wrenches, sockets etc. 1 hour per plug! Thankfully it is a rare occurrence – every 400k km (250k miles).
The other problem is what happened to my 3/8 universal and 12mm socket when I changed the alternator. Still havent found it.
Ugh. Right front spark plug on a 75 (C3) Corvette. The steering shaft connection to the steering box in a 64 Mustang. The power steering pump on a 1st gen BMW Mini, which goes bad routinely because it is located closely above exhaust manifold. Adjusting the fan belt on any Porsche 914. I have more scars on my hands but can’t remember where the rest of them came from!
One day my mechanic was complaining how he couldn’t get the starter out of a Toyota SUV because the dipstick tube was in the way. On closer inspection, the tube was in 2 parts with the upper held in place with 1 bolt and a twist connector on the tube. Real easy job then!
#2&4 (passenger side front) plugs on 66 Chevy II SS V8 required reaching under the ram horn manifold and removing the wires. Then, snake the 13/16 plug socket (one with a hex on it), then using a long open end wrench to loosen it. Then reaching back under to finger rotate them out.
Getting the rear plug wires off of my 06 Monte 3.9 was a 2 hour and 8 different style “wire pullers” and 4 different screwdrivers P.I.T.A. Job. They are holding on for dear life! Never seen boots hold like that one, front ones fortunately are right there but still needed a puller.
always put dielectric grease in spark plug boots they will come off easily. also keeps spark from coming out and shorting to ground. if you’d ever run a mercury outboard with the cover off at night you’ll be surprised at the spark coming all around to the base of the plugs. it will idle way better with dielectric grease in the boots,no leaks at all.
The hardest place for me to reach on my car is my wallet! Yeah I’m cheap, that’s part of the reason I do most all my own work. Unfortunately this year is a tire year and that means alignment so guess I’ll have to let the moths out.
As a side note when I started driving my 1964 Galaxie it had been sitting in tha barn for about 20 years. Through bad decisions as a young man I found myself with a broken arm and totaled car ( you can probably guess what happened to me as a 22 year old.) Asked by my brother what I planned to do for a car after my state issued driving hiatus I stated “the only thing I can afford, a $500 pile to drive until it dies.” He suggested I spend the $500 on that old Ford your grandmother has been complaining about sitting since you got the title on your 16th birthday(that’s a different story.) So $486 later the Galaxie left the barn ready for daily use. In that process, keeping in mind I only had a right hand as the left was still casted from reconstruction surgery, I found a number of “hard to reach places.” I called them all left hand bolts. Luckily I high school friend of mine had to drive by my farm shop on his way home from being a bus mechanic. There were a number of times he got the call, “Jesse I have another left hand bolt, can you stop by on your way home?”
Ferrari 308 GTS: front pan under frunk is the cavern of Satan if you drop small fasteners while fiddling with the grill, horns, etc. I was able to retrieve a lost grill fastener by thumping the plastic tray to locate the general whereabouts of the piece & then taking a strong magnet to “drag” the piece forward to a point where I could fetch the little rascal!!
Driver side instruments panel 68 Corvette. Original wanted to change the instruments lights. Finally pulled the whole unit. After reassembly no wiper function, probably on my 5th try and no joy!
Here is an old school one: The center 2 spark plugs on each side of a 1969 Mustang or Fairlane/Torino Cobra with a 428 Cobra Jet, complete with original smog system and tubes in place. The center plugs are canted towards each other, you have to work under the steel smog tubes that enter the exhaust manifolds, and you are tight to the shock towers. It’s a challenge, actually it’s a PITA.
I had a friend that owned one of those new. He told me the factory manual called for less time to pull the engine than to change the plugs.
GM vehicles with 2.8/3.1 V6 need to remove motor mounts and tilt the engine to reach spark plugs on firewall side.
I own an R58 Mini Cooper Coupe and I’m 6′ 2″. Pray for me. Everything is hard to get to.
Sunbeam Tiger spark plugs! Access the right rear plug through the firewall from inside the cockpit, don’t remember if I had to remove the glove box to access the grommet in the firewall but none of them were easy.
My Ferrari 355 has the battery located in the front right wheel well requiring you to remove the wheel and tire and wheel well inner fender panel to access it. Also, the same car requires you to remove a belly pan 2/3 the size of the undercarriage to get to the oil sump reservoir plug to drain it for an oil change. If the car is not perfectly level, the draining oil will hit a cross member and you will be getting a dirty oil facial you hadn’t planned on. They could have engineered a small access panel or cutout to make the oil changes far easier. I wonder why they didn’t? Well, not really.
take a 4″ hole saw drill a hole in that pan so lifes easier. measure twice drill once. I did that on the wife’s bmw.