wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (10/11/84)
There is a PBS program of automobile testing and automotive news called "Motorweek", aired here (St. Louis, MO) at 7 PM Saturdays. I never see any mention of it in this group, but I think it would be of interest to any participant. For example, they had comparative tests of the same three 4-wheel-drive off-road vehicles that have been being discussed here. So check your local listings, as they say... One of their features is a mechanic describing some repair or maintenance procedure. This last show, he discussed checking the differential in an off-road vehicle for water contamination. This was illustrated by showing him under the vehicle working on the housing. What amazed me about this was the way this differential housing was made, in terms of maintenance. There was a sort of "check-port", with a plug in it, about half-way up the housing. (The instructions given were to remove the plug and check that the oil was up to the level of that hole, and that it wasn't contaminated.) However, to replace the oil, the only way to drain the old contents was to unbolt about 20 bolts around the periphery of the housing, remove the entire back panel and gasket, allow the oil to dump out, put on a new gasket and replace the panel and bolts, and then refill with oil through the "check-port". To me this is totally insane. Why on earth is there no simple drain plug at the bottom of the housing? Why make what should be about a five-minute job (remove plugs, let oil drain, replace bottom plug, refill, replace top plug) into an hour or so of wrestling with many bolts, buying and refitting a new gasket, and suchlike misery and struggling? Was this show just using the worst example for demonstration purposes? That is, do other models have the simple drain-plug design described above? (I don't know which brand he was working on.) Or are they all made this way? If so, why? Will Martin seismo!brl-bmd!wmartin or wmartin@almsa-1.ARPA
seifert@ihuxl.UUCP (D.A. Seifert) (10/18/84)
gee, the diff in my 320i has a drain plug. I even changed the
oil in it once! (PM, ya know!)
on the other hand the trans in the beater comet I used to have
didn't have a drain plug. Thus the trans fluid didn't get changed.
You think I was going to drop the whole pan to change the oil
in a *beater* ??? HA!
Leaving out drain plugs means the poor thing gets *less* PM,
not more.
--
_____ "Money. It's a gas. Just keep your hands
/_____\ off of *my* stack!" - Pink Floyd
/_______\
|___| Snoopy
____|___|_____ ihnp4!ihuxl!seifert