There may be dumber engineering, but you’ll have to convince me

2009 GMT-900 (Escalade). Trying to be a good owner, I ordered the Delco replacement trans pan with drain plug so I could do frequent fluid changes. I was suspect when it arrived and the drain plug was in the shallow part of the sump. Then I installed it and noticed that in the shallow sump the bolt was right over the exhaust. “The bolt has to be short enough to come out” I said. Fast forward 12 months, first time to remove the bolt.... and nope. Hits the pipe. I tried pulling on the exhaust and not enough give to wiggle it out. 

Did you pull your ratchet out of the windshield yet?

That goes right along with me swapping the front sway bar in the BMW yesterday.  6 hours of being pissed off at the car because the sway bar has huge arms, 37 bends for clearance and lives in the middle of a subframe / steering / engine sandwich.  According to BMW you have to drop the subframe to get it out.  You don't, but you do have to disconnect 1/2 of the front suspension, some of the steering and lift the engine as high as exhaust to floorpan clearance allows.  And if the car is up high enough in the air, you'll just barely be able to get it out / in. 

That looks like some pretty typical gm engineering all around

Looks like GM hired the same engineer who figured out where to put the oil filter on my Miata. 

I saw the title, clicked the thread, and looked at the picture before anything else.  "Looks like a GM thing right there" I said to myself. Yup.

So if I have a gas tank leak ,per se, on the "V" ....the rear exhaust ....prop shaft ......un do the brake lines/sensors....lower shock bolts......autotrans jack/two arm lift ......four bolts and drop the rear susp .....to only stare at the plastic tank held in place with plastic straps.....I'm still no closer to seeing the 'top' of the tank where the filler neck enters..........news at eleven 

I will see your Escalade and raise you my Landrover LR3 which requires removing  the crossmember, unbolting the right side engine mount and liftIng the engine, and unbolting the transmission mount and exhaust system to drop the pan and change the filter.

Kinda makes we want to drive early Air Cooled Volkswagens from now on.

And people wonder why i like mazda. Oil change took me 15 minutes, and i didn't even have to move the pan. They even put in holes in the splash shield for service of all fluids.

My 95 Silverado is a pain in the ass in most service regards. Same with the mopars.

In reply to bearmtnmartin :

Sounds about like changing the oil pan gasket on my 128i. Support the engine from the top, loosen some lower suspension bolts, undo both motor mounts, unbolt the subframe, drop it so it’s hanging on the struts, undo some steering and ac stuff, try really hard to wiggle the oil pan out. 

Yea, op, that designer’s father was the guy who placed the oil filter on the 2003 vintage S10 2.2 liter.  

einy said:

Yea, op, that designer’s father was the guy who placed the oil filter on the 2003 vintage S10 2.2 liter.  

If you think that engine sucked in an s10 you should try it in the cavalier. The s10 looks like fantastic engineering next too that mess.

I'm all for comedy but i want to point out that part of the comedy here is putting a part on the car that didn't come on the car and being surprised it doesn't apply perfectly.

Looks like you can change the plug to make it work in the future.

Ever try to remove an oil filter on an early Peugeot 505? You know, the one where you have to remove the alternator?

dropstep said:

einy said:

Yea, op, that designer’s father was the guy who placed the oil filter on the 2003 vintage S10 2.2 liter.  

If you think that engine sucked in an s10 you should try it in the cavalier. The s10 looks like fantastic engineering next too that mess.

It's no fun in a Vue either. According to Haynes and Chilton, there should be room to get a serp belt tool in between the frame rail and the motor. According to this weekends experience, you need to remove a wheel, loosen the motor mounts, lift up the engine, shorten your serp belt tool, and make a custom extension for the HF kit to get the damn belt tensioner out when it stops actually holding tension. 

My Opel Manta has a steel splash pan with a hole in it in the exact right place for the oil filter.   The hole is of course less than 1/4" bigger than the filter diameter so there is no way to hold the oil filled filter and lower it through the hole.

I installed my own drain plug for my Dodge Dakota.  Later, I had to take it to a transmission shop for work that later had to be completed by a different transmission shop.  That, and the fact that they removed my drain plug and welded up the pan without my permission was enough that they won't ever see me again (or anyone that asks my opinion of where they should go for transmission work).

ebonyandivory said:

Kinda makes we want to drive early Air Cooled Volkswagens from now on.

Easiest oil filter I've ever replaced.

Dumb, as dumb as putting a Caddy starter under the intake manifold?

In reply to Vigo :

Partly true but it is a Delco part he's using not "Discount-Larry's Pans" I'd have an expectation of better compatibility given the source.

914Driver said:

Dumb, as dumb as putting a Caddy starter under the intake manifold?

Not really. The Northstar starter location keeps it clean and dry and out of the rain, snow, salt, sand and dirt. I've seen Northstars with 200k on the clock and the original starter still functioning fine.

NickD said:

914Driver said:

Dumb, as dumb as putting a Caddy starter under the intake manifold?

Not really. The Northstar starter location keeps it clean and dry and out of the rain, snow, salt, sand and dirt. I've seen Northstars with 200k on the clock and the original starter still functioning fine.

Mechanics must trust it if they did all that labor to remove the manifold and put the old starter back on when they did the head gaskets and time-sert kit in at 100K. 

Spoolpigeon said:

Whiny oil change monkey can't figure out how to make a splash panel out of an oil filter box.