Two Things That Used to be Simple and Cheap

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To get a handle on just how difficult it has become to perform even minor repairs on many new cars (and trucks) it’s worth a stroll down memory lane to recall how easy it used to be to do those same repairs.

Replacing a  fuel pump is a good place to start.

For the most part, this used to be a 15-30 minute job involving two bolts – the ones that held the pump to the side of the engine – and the disconnecting/reconnecting of the fuel  lines. This was back when the pump was a simple mechanical device. It was basically a rubber diaphragm inside a metal housing with a lever arm that was pumped up and down by the running engine. This created suction, drawing fuel from the tank to the pump and then up to the engine.

Few mechanical things are simpler than this.

Eventually, the diaphragm would fail and then the pump would not work. Very easy to diagnose. All you needed to do was disconnect the fuel line running from the pump to the carburetor with the engine running (you kept it running by pouring a little gas directly into the carburetor from a bottle, which you could do because carburetors were also simple, mechanical things) and see whether fuel came out of the tube.  If it didn’t – and there was plenty of fuel in the tank – it was almost certainly because the fuel pump was bad. There might possibly be some other problem – but there were only a few, easily checked possibilities, such as a clogged fuel line farther downstream.

Removing the pump was – as mentioned already – so easy any teenaged kid with some gumption and a few basic hands tools, such as open ended wrenches and a socket set could do it. My ’76 Trans-Am’s pump is held on by two 1/2 inch bolts and that’s all there is to it. Remove the bolts, disconnect the lines – and remove the pump. Installation of the new pump is the reverse of removal and just as easy-peasy.

And the pump – even today – still only costs about $50.

Most late model cars (and trucks) have electronic fuel injection and have electric fuel pump assemblies that are usually mounted inside the gas tank. In most cases, it is necessary to remove the tank from the car before you can remove the pump from the tank. This requires more than a few basic hand tools – and the pump itself is often (as already mentioned) part of an assembly than can cost several hundred dollars. And that’s why paying a shop to replace a dead fuel pump in a model car can easily cost $1,000 or more in parts and labor.

You don’t even want to know about direct injection.

. . .

How about replacing a water pump?

Until relatively recently, this wasn’t a difficult or expensive job, either. I’ll use my 2002 Nissan Frontier as an example. Removing/replacing the water pump – which circulates the engine coolant – is chiefly a matter of removing the radiator and the fan, which is mechanically driven via a pulley and a belt – in order to get at the bolts that hold the pump to the front of the engine. The word is italicized for reasons that will become shortly apparent.

Remove the bolts and remove the pump. Scrape off the mating surface on the engine case so the new pump (and gasket) seals correctly and then reinstall everything you removed. It takes maybe an hour with – again – basic hand tools. Anyone who is capable of changing engine oil is capable of doing this job. The cost is maybe $75 for a new pump and whatever a couple of gallons of fresh coolant cost (you’ll be draining the radiator when you remove it because you have to disconnect the upper and lower radiator hoses to be able to remove the radiator).

It is not nearly as easy – and it is almost always much more expensive – to do this job on a typical modern front-wheel-drive/AWD car with a sideways-mounted engine.

The water pump will be tightly packed on the side of the engine rather than facing you – up front – and getting at bolts and so on will require specialized tools and experience/skill. It may be more involved than just that, too. Some late model vehicles have the water pump buried deep inside the engine’s guts, requiring major disassembly of both the car and the engine to get at the pump. This is professional mechanic-level work  and you will pay him accordingly.

A job that used to cost less than $100 that anyone who wanted to could do themselves, probably, has become a job that very few have the tools or skills to do themselves that can (once again) cost $1,000 more to get done by a professional.

In many cases, even changing oil has become a difficult job because of the underbelly pans that many new cars now have. The pan must be removed before the oil can be drained – and that is probably why many people who changed their own oil in years past now have it changed at a shop that has a lift that makes removing and reinstalling the pan easy (for the shop) and hard for you, if you haven’t got a lift.

It raises the obvious question: Are we better off now than we were? It’s a question that pretty much answers itself.

Things like fuel pumps and water pumps do the same job they used to. They just do it more elaborately – and expensively. Especially if you have to pay someone else to deal with servicing either in a newish vehicle.

. . .

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88 COMMENTS

  1. I have two old Toyota pickups around, a 1984 and a 1992. Both 4 cylinders, the older one a 22R with a carb and the newer a 22R-E with EFI. Both have a ton of miles. The EFI one I think was slightly less painful.

    The reason for this is by 1984 engines had been complicated with vacuum lines everywhere and getting the pump off the 22R is an origami of emissions, coolant bypass line and what-not.

    Also in the time I’ve owned these trucks the mechanical pump has worn out twice (about 10 years but only around 30K miles (it’s used for dirty jobs, plowing, hauling junk, etc). It was dodgy when I bought the truck so I replaced right away and the aftermarket quality I think was suspect so the rubber just dried out (I used an Aisin this time).

    The EFI pump only just went at 350K miles (this truck is driven regularly for commuting and recreation). It was the original that Toyota installed 33 years ago. I replaced it with a Denso aftermarket (Aisin and Denso are the two OEM to Toyota originally) for $90 using the get your buddy to help lift the bed onto sawhorse method in an afternoon.

    So I’d say that I actually prefer the EFI in this case and would say the problem isn’t a simple carb or EFI, cam-driven or in-tank pump but rather relative complexity and design for repairability of the manufacturer. I also think in this case being a pickup makes things a lot easier since the tank doesn’t strictly have to drop. On an SUV or car removing the bed with it’s few bolts isn’t an option and would certainly complicate the repair.

  2. Eric,

    You forgot to mention one salient fact in your article: you could actually SEE the fuel pump, the water pump, the spark plugs, the alternator or generator, the distributor, sparkplug wires, etc. Try that now with all these fwd shitboxes with their transverse engines and the plastic “hide the engine” engine covers. Part of the huge expense of doing anything that used to be simple on real cars is that the mech has to spend sometimes nearly an hour (at $160 to $200/hour shop labor rate) pulling that crap off the engine before he can begin working on things. Then once the parts are replaced, he still has to put the plastic crap BACK on. Found THAT out the hard way, but at least the shop was honest enough to tell me that.

    • That’s very true, Nike –

      I despise the black plastic engine covers for another reason, too. They homogenize engines (and vehicles). Pop the hood, what do you see? A black plastic cover. They all look the same – just like the cars.

      • Sometimes, I wonder if auto manufacturers will eventually delete the hood altogether? After all, most people don’t even bother to open it, anyways. lol

      • You can thank (again) Joan Claybrook and the retarded peanut farmer. And, YES, there was nothing like popping the hood and seeing Trips, dual quads, or, just a big-ass Holley double pumper. Tube headers always made the frosting on the “cake”. 😉

    • I bookmarked the video “how to” Jeep V6 spark plug replacement. Not just the plastic engine cover, then the tuned plastic intake comes apart, similar to what I dealt with on the V6 Escape. However, the 15 year newer Jeep has way more stuff on and around the intake than the Ford. It’s a tedious step by step but at least no special tools.

      The 91 V8 Chev truck, takes longer to round up the spark plug socket and ratchet than pull the plugs. Also iron heads no critical in-lbs torque requirement.

  3. We just got home from a family road trip in the ‘63 Comet….riding as intended, cruising forgotten backroads with an AM radio and a small block Ford providing the background music. Smelled coolant a little the last few miles and noticed a little puddle this morning. Sure as hell, coming out the weep hole. Conveniently, I’ve got a spare water pump on the shelf – now I just need to go pick up a six pack to enjoy while swapping it out. It was a better world when you could look forward to a peaceful hour or so in the garage.

  4. Interesting article with good points.

    On a side note, Say what you want about VW, but they have designed an access panel into their vehicles (below the rear seat cushion), in order to gain access to the gas tank fuel pump.

  5. A Mechanic shares the realities of modern car repairs with complicated safety systems and tight packaging causing car repair to get more and more expensive because of labor costs.

    They were designed to be assembled quickly…for more profit…but…..this made them hard to disassemble….hard to repair……

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcOCckVS6XA

    • A look at a classic case of why Car Engineers and Car Mechanics don’t always get along because of some of the designs that are not repair friendly.

      This 2010 Lexus RX350 is a prime example of that with 2 integrated servos that require disassembling the whole interior to replace and without a sure way of testing…..a 24 hour job….plus a very expensive replacement unit…..

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWNBgfXgp0Q

  6. Porsche 924…simple, easy to work on compared to modern Porsche’s….bullet proof engine…CIS injection….which is better then electronic injection….

    the new Boxster….have to drop the engine to change the spark plugs….

    early Boxster engine problems….IMS bearing…cylinder bore scoring….cylinder bore chunks breaking off…996 911’s same problem….996…cheapest 911…

    Boxster problems…..so now it is the cheapest Porsche….cheaper then a 924….

    928 5 speed Porsche’s prices are going up….it used to be a big car…now the new 911 is the same size and weight…but…the new 911 has disadvantages compared to a 928….less analog…crappy electric steering…..full of electronic self driving and surveillance tech…etc…

    The 1st generation 5 speed 928’s are popular….they are lighter and have CIS injection…better throttle response, more low end torque….928 has great V8 sound….

    • Had an early Boxster with the 2.7 engine. Incredible handling (FAR better than a 911, btw) and SO much fun to drive… until all the defects in that “fine” german engineering started showing up, like the leaking engine seals, especially the rear seal that ruined the clutch, the leaking cam seals, and then finally the porous cylinder heads that finally collapsed and grenaded the engine.

  7. If I ever found out the water pump was buried in the block, I would probably cry. Then I would find the person who designed the engine, and make him/her eat the block with a sledgehammer!

    • I’ve often thought that taking automotive design engineers hostage and forcing them to disassemble their own cars and put them back together using basic hand tools…and delivering progressively stronger electric shocks when they fail…would be worth the time spent in prison afterwards if it led to cars being designed by people with both the brains to do it correctly and the fearful incentive to do so.

      • Hi LetMe –

        I don’t blame the engineers. Their task is designing what they are told to design. The car manufacturers want cheaper production costs and the engineers go to work on that. It works a lot like working at CNN, I imagine. The “reporters” report what they’re told to report – and how. He who pays the piper calls the tune!

    • I believe some smaller Ford engines have a glaring problem with water pumps, that when they leak (always eventually), they leak into the engine instead of outside the engine, causing engine failure. Not sure which engines, but I know one I had in an escape was one of the culprits.

    • Daughters Acura V6, the water pump buried behind the front engine cover. Dandy! Just replace it along with the cam drive BELT when you finally unbury it all. I watched a video and promptly sent it off to a trusted local shop when the BELT replacement mileage came up.

      My 2003 V6 Ford Escape – CHAIN drive cams, no belt. The water pump sits behind the fwd cylinder head totally in the open, driven by a cute little belt off the cam end that is easily replaced.
      Of course they buried the alternator on the backside of the engine, repair manual procedure is remove the passenger side drive axle to get the alternator out.

      I’d vote for the alternator stator/rotor to be integrated into the front of the motor, not the water pump – like many motorcycle engines.

  8. Eric, you kind of referred to it in the article so I’ll just elaborate on it. “Are we better off?” Obviously, that’s a bit of a subjective question but one thing is for sure – teenagers, or really young kids, used to be able to learn basic mechanical traits from their fathers while working on the simple things in their vehicles. They learned physical skills, spent time together, got outside in the sun, got there hands dirty, etc. We’ve lost more than just monetary value as we digitize and complicate everything we own.

    • I’ll also add that I work with a few boys aged something like 19-21. They’re all so awkward, quiet, and you can tell quite unconfident. They weren’t born like that, they developed those traits.

      • Too many raised by single moms obsessed with acting like they’re still in high school, and fathers ABSENT. Some by (poor) choice, others by anti-male family courts that just want to cut their financial balls off, and would literally do so were it legal.

    • I agree, Logan –

      How does a young kid learn what he’s never exposed to? This runs really deep. My generation got to run around after school on our own, unsupervised. We learned to be adventurous rather than afraid. We graduated from riding our bicycles wherever/whenever to driving our cars wherever/whenever at 16, just like adults. We had old beaters that we could afford and learned how to fix. We had all kinds of fun – and even though we did not fully get it at the time, learned a lot along the way, especially about handling things ourselves.

      • Yup, and why kids that like and ride dirtbikes get to learn how to fix engines, actions vs reactions, win or lose and what it takes to win. Respect, use my tools, they better be put back in better condition or your bike will be outside in the snow, etc…. At least at my house they do.
        Just an example that I exploited to the fullest.
        My kid desired to be a AA rider (I want it!). Meaning top 15 in the tri-state area, out of roughly 1000 riders (off-road racing). Took him from 18yrs old to 25yrs old to finally get it on what it takes. I never gave him the answers. Not easy at all, with effort, body and mind.

  9. The mechanical fuel pumps (and water pumps) were also rebuildable, so instead of throwing away a bunch of manufactured perfectly good parts, you could take it apart and put in a new diaphragm, spring, and check valves. But they seldom failed with mileage, usually with age before the communists started diluting our fuel with ethanol.

    It was also cheaper, 5-10 bucks for the kit vs 30-50 for a pump.

    I do recall one of the most memorable I ever did, a 64 Riviera with the 425 nail head, in the dark on the side of a canyon road in South Dakota. That one was still just 2 bolts, but it was buried between that beefy x frame on the bottom and the AC on top.

  10. My 67 c10 still has its original fuel pump. I keep a new one under the seat next to my extra fan belt ,just in case. Still have a nice shiny fuel tank behind the seat .

    • Hi Ant,

      Yup – and you raise an important point. That spare you keep under the seat can be installed if need be by the side of the road with basic hand tools. Zero cost other than the 30 minutes it takes to perform the repair. When the EFI craps out, you’re stuck – and it’s time to call a flatbed.

      I understand – as Burn it Down says – that EFI is generally more reliable, long term. But that misses an important point. More reliable, yes – but when it craps out, you have a big (and probably, expensive) problem you cannot (probably) deal with by yourself, by the side of the road. We are, in other words, rendered more helpless – and thus, dependent.

      • Eric: “ installed if need be by the side of the road with basic hand tools “

        Yep, my 79 Pontiac ate ignition modules, kept a spare with the two needed hand tools in the glovebox. Twice r & r on the roadside. Finally found out it was missing a ground strap in the HEI distributor cap then no more failures.

  11. Fuel pump on a 89′ Vette (C4 Generation):

    Remove the trim piece that is the fuel filler flap on the body work (4 Torx screws) and set aside.

    You now have fuel pump access.

    Mind blown!

  12. On the reliability of electric vs diaphragm pumps, I’ve changed maybe 8 to 10 electric in tank pumps over 25 years in two GMs and a Ford, but over 40 to 50 years with old farm trucks and older cars I can only remember changing a diaphragm pumps maybe 2 or 3 times. From my experience, the diaphragm pumps are more reliable and much easier to change. Fuel injection is nice, cold starts are better, efficiency is better. But sooner or later everything needs service if you keep it long enough, and we tend to keep cars for 25+ years and 350,000+ miles. At this point serviceability is the critical factor. What I save from not buying a new truck or car every 4 or 5 years saves more than that efficiency difference.

  13. In high school had a 1965 Chevy van, the flat front style, body rusting like crazy in Ohio salt. One day a support for the gas tank strap rusted away, dumping the gas tank on the pavement at highway speed, dragging the tank by the fuel line. No harm done but at least it was an easy change out of the broken fuel level sender while bailing wiring it back together. 🙂

  14. My first car was a’63 Ford Fairlane, at age 16. Working at a gas station, I did my own oil changes, tire rotations, exhaust jobs, brakes, filter changes, battery changes, more. Today, I can’t even get to my battery… and changing sidelights/taillights, headlights is impossible…

    • Hi Scott,

      Yup! Mine was an old Beetle; easiest car to keep running I’ve ever owned. If you can service a Briggs & Stratton push mower, you can keep an old Beetle going!

      • Hello Eric,

        “How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive: A Manual of Step-by-Step Procedures for the Compleat Idiot” by John Muir was wonderful, wasn’t it?

        Speaking of, any idea when I’ll get the magnet yet? I was reminded by the sticker that used to be at the bottom of the articles.

        And I wanted to thank you this morning, having seen this article and scrolled down, that was a nice wave of endorphins being reminded of the niceties of a mechanical fuel pump when I was still half asleep. Made me feel real good.

        The beetle engines had a few tight spots as Bill mentioned, but nothing like today’s vehicles. My pet peeve was the leaking intake manifold gasket seals, that would connect the plenum to either side on a single carb engine. I used to paint them over with liquid electrical tape goop once a year, instead of removing the carb and fixing them heh heh.

        Ah better times, when engineers were put to work designing something easy to service by the customer, rather than deliberately doing the opposite.

        • Ahh, the Volkswagen Beetle. I’ll never forget the first time I worked on a Volkswagen Beetle…my buddy bought one and brought it to me to do some work on it, including an oil change.

          Mind you, I had been working on cars…AMERICAN cars…for years and years up until then.

          We spent an hour looking for the “oil filter”. Easily. “It has to be here somewhere.” Went to the auto parts store. Asked for an oil filter for a whatever year it was Beetle. They SOLD us one. Happily so. Filter in hand, searching in vain for the oil filter…which did not exist.

          By the time we ended up figuring out that all it had was an oil screen, I felt dumber than I’d ever felt. Boy, I sure learned a lot about Volkswagen Beetles that day.

          • Now that you mention it… I’d have to go back… I remember changing my oil filter (which was remote – full flow in series with a remote oil cooler) but then I also replaced the screen on the sump. Changing the screen probably wasn’t necessary to do with every 3 thousand miles with an Amsoil filter in the works, but I did it anyway. It was right on the sump anyway, so atleast it wouldn’t get clogged if any sludge got in the system. I remember it never being particularly dirty.

            Sometimes the nuts would come off, and on others the nuts would be stuck and the studs would back out. Nevertheless went back on as they came out.

            Good times.

        • Hi Steve,

          Shoot me an email with your address, please – I’ll make sure mail gets out this week. I apologize you (and several other) for being tardy with this. It’s been (cliche) more busy than ever for me lately and I’ve (me culpa) fallen behind with too many things, including this.

          I sill have a copy of Muir’s book!

      • Similar power outputs in both…..no money to be had in simple fixes hence where we are today , bend over you are taking one for the team. Push button emergency /parking/fuckery brake another good example of reinventing the wheel.
        Math for grifters 2.0 trumpenstein has come up with a formula where 1% of the problem is 25 % tax on junk 10% on oil and wait for it 0 on electricity . My quick reply if i had one from Canada would be we are shutting the tap off, you cunt and you can freeze in the fucking dark. Fortunately for the northeastern US we have nobody with a spine in power so we will play paddycake for the next year.The grifters here cannot be doing without their money for nothing schemes. Assholes one and all both sides of the border. War on drugs part 2, the gubment gonnsa save you from the drugs….who is going to fund the cia ops??????

      • Part of how Ferdy Porsche was able to persuade his Fuhrer to back “Der Kafer” (Beetle) was that is was so simple to maintain, that Hitlerjuhend with a basic auto shop class under their belts could fix it. Not too many years later, those Beetles and boys were off to war!

        • I’m not sure if simplicity to maintain was just a function of their simplicity, or a function of “we may be in a conflict and simplicity is a design criteria”. Either way, I’m glad they made the thing.

          /pun

  15. In the early 1960s and before, you could buy a replacement diaphragm. The pump was easy to take apart and exchange the diaphragm. The chamber that held the diaphragm was like 2 saucers, and a ring of small bolts holding it together. About 1960 they started manufacturing the pump with the 2 sides riveted together and more difficult to repair. At that time the pump was about $5.

    • Model Ts and Model A Ford’s didn’t even have one. Their fuel tank was mounted high, in front of the windshield, and gasoline was fed to the engine via gravity. Hence a reason that often a “flivver” could only negotiate a steep incline in REVERSE. It proved a fire hazard if the vehicle went forward into a ditch or creek, as Bonnie Patker found out. How she didn’t die of shock or sepsis after being burned over most of her legs astounds me.

  16. I have a 2012 Lincoln MKZ. If you want to see what a difficult water pump swap it, look into that. Last time I checked, the book said it was about a 12 hour job.

  17. When I was about 19 yo I owned a 1970 AMX 390ci 4 speed posi that would terrorize the pavement whenever I pressed a little too firm on the gas pedal. Gosh I loved that car. Anyways, one day while driving my oil pressure gauge dropped and a red light came on. Being a naive kid I hoped it was a fluke and kept driving.. for about a minute until the engine seized.

    Pretty bummed about my car and with little money.. I looked in our local Pennysaver classified ads and found a 1972 AMC Javelin 304ci with 3spd automatic with super low miles for $500 and called immediately!

    Turns out the car was like new inside and out with only 52000 mi, the catch was that all over the body it had little rust holes.. in the strangest places just like a hunk of baby Swiss cheese.

    Driving it home it broke my heart.. thinking I was about to gut this beautiful Javelin in an attempt to save my AMX.

    So as a kid with little experience, I was able to unbolt the motor/trans as one piece and install the 304ci with no problems or issues. Including the change from manual to automatic.

    Even the Javelins beautiful center console with horseshoe shifter bolted right in and looked factory original!

    A trip to Midas muffler and $150 later, I had complete new dual exhaust with long tube glass pack mufflers that sounded amazing!

    Back on the road with a beautiful 1970 AMX (sans a couple hundred pony’s) 😀

    FYI it would still bake the tires off it.. ran and sounded awesome!

    So.. “It raises the obvious question: Are we better off now than we were?”

    You tell me..

    • Meddlesome bureaucrats, pontificating politicians, environmentalist whackos, the faggot Ralph Nader, and the Insurance Mafia killed hot rides like your AMX. Came out AFTER George Romney left AMC to be governor of Michigan.

    • Supply chain is certainly compromised. Replacement vacuum pump for 1982 VW diesel Westy came from Russia, oddly enough, poor quality gears didn’t last long. Had to get a junkyard pump and refurbish it to really make it work.

  18. I drive a 2002 Camry that I bought used with low miles about 7 years before retiring. Since I lived 5 miles from work and drive even less now, the car still has barely over 100k miles, which is low for being 23 years old and a Camry! It runs like a top AND because it has minimal computerized anything…it is fairly easily repaired and does not keep me under surveillance. For those reasons, and the fact that it is a well-made, heavy, comfortable car, I intend to maintain it and drive it until I am no longer driving or dead. I drove a new Camry while mine was being repaired…it was like going from a Cadillac (my old car) to a wind-up toy—new Camry being louder, miserable seats, and I felt every crack in the road.

    If I were young and starting over, I would start an appliance company called ”Simply Analog,” using mechanical devices that provide basic functionality, lasts 5x longer.…and doesn’t have me under surveillance! I am sick of computerized junk.

  19. Comments: Bunch of old dudes shaking fist in the air and yelling get off my lawn.

    I’ll take design for reliability over design for serviceability every time.

    Mechanical fuel pumps suck. Good thing they were easy to replace . . . Because they failed often.

    If you value ease of serviceability; buy a vintage vehicle. Push the easy button.

    • you’re right; mech pumps DO suck. It just happens to be the way they get the gas from the tank to the discharge side to the carb. Amazing observation.

  20. “Replacing a fuel pump is a good place to start. . .

    It raises the obvious question: Are we better off now than we were? It’s a question that pretty much answers itself.”

    I beg to differ.

    Old mechanical diaphragm fuel pumps literally sucked. They had to be easy to replace, because they failed frequently. A mechanical diaphragm pump is not capable of developing enough pressure to operate basic fuel injection.

    In tank pumps are much more reliable based on testing, field reliability, and warranty data.

    For any anecdotal example of how easy it is to replace a mechanical pump, I can give an anecdotal example of an in tank pump that literally that went multiple vehicle lifecycles and never needed any repair at all.

    I’ll take design for reliability over design for serviceability every time.

    Here’s the bottom line for everyone that prefers simplicity and ease of service . . . Go buy a vintage vehicle.

    Get the ease of serviceability that you crave. No one is stopping you.

    I’m all for sending a message to the OEMs that we won’t continue to buy their product.

    But at the same time, I’m beyond grateful we aren’t stuck in the Stone Age of carburetors and mechanical fuel pumps.

    I say this as someone that has cars from the 70’s, 90s, and 00’s. The 90s and 00s vehicles get driven more often for a reason. They are more reliable even though they aren’t as easy to service.

    • But “someone”, namely CARB, IS “stopping you” from driving and DIY’ing a vintage ride like a Vee-Dub or a ’65 Valiant. Limiting their annual mileage as “classic” cars, local governments passing ordinances that prohibit you doing your own car repairs on YOUR property, and requiring mundane items like a trunk latch for a ’66 Plymouth Fury (By Gawd and Sonny Jeez-Uz, I shite you NOT) to be “approved” by CARB, and so on. Try to get one insured as the state insurance commission also wants vintage rides relegated to be “trailer queens”.

    • I agree to the point that the cars today are light years ahead of the old stuff as far as handling, braking, and, reliability. However, it all comes with a huge price tag, and potential repair bills that possibly make the car not worth fixing. Have had to have two (2) in-tank fuel pumps replaced; one in a Tahoe and one in a LS 400. Fortunately, both were worth fixing, but, the pain….

  21. Weld the hood shut and put a label across the front “No user-serviceable parts inside”

    Deer John continues to do everything they can to prevent owners from repairing their property. Apple only made it possible to replace failed batteries after the EU forced them to. As more hardware is being run by electronics, those chips are becoming more integrated, meaning it is becoming less likely there’s going to be anything that can be repaired.

    Chip production is generally a short-term process. Notable exceptions include the 555 timer, the LM741 op amp, and up until last spring, the Zilog Z80. If you have a vehicle ECM that uses a chip that’s been EOL’d you’re going to have to come up with a replacement somehow. I imagine at some point there will be emulators and substitutes developed, but it will require a lot of reverse engineering, something that isn’t going to be cheap or for the hobbyist.

    You can blame Chipzilla, or Ford or anyone along the chain, but the reality is it isn’t profitable to keep chip lines in production just because someone might need a replacement someday. If Ford or GM is unwilling to release their old software into public domain (or just sell it to an aftermarket company willing to run in that business), they’re going to pretty much guarantee there will be no “original, unrestored” class vehicle from this and the coming eras.

    • User programmable ECM’s already exist and are being used by tuners everywhere (like the MegaSquirt). They are fairly simple and just need a laptop to map all the settings.

      • For something like a crate engine, sure. And as long as the chip isn’t burnt out. But some oddball processor that was last produced in 2002 that lost its magic smoke due to a shorted capacitor or someone accidentally installing a batter backwards and finding out the protection diode was blown out? Will it be worth seeking out a tuner, if any exist in your area, to get a replacement (that’s priced for racing) installed?

        I understand your point, but right now the tuner culture is very insular and not at all mainstream. Will they be willing to build ECMs for daily drivers -and advertise their services to the average car owner who doesn’t want a $80K EV device? Will they even be permitted to operate if they would poke their heads up out of the dark?

  22. As a kid, learning mechanic chops by changing the ignition points and spark plugs on a pickup with an inline six, I had room to sit on the inner wheel well and dangle my feet between it and the engine block. There was more open than occupied space under the hood.

    Probably it was a legacy of earlier pickups with wide external pontoon fenders. The hood opening was somewhat narrow, and so were the engine and the few accessories underneath it.

    When pontoon fenders disappeared in the mid 1950s, the underhood space grew wider. But there was no urgent need to fill it with anything. Auto designers of the day did not fear empty space. Nor did their customers, who could spit a wad of tobacco to the ground without hitting anything while working underhood.

    Those were the days
    Those were their ways
    Miracles everywhere – where are they now?
    They’re gone

    — Cream, Those Were the Days (1968)

    • I have similar memories of working on my ‘75 Dodge Dart with the the 225 six; could sit inside the hood and all the components were right on top and easy to access. Changing the oil filter was a pain though because the minute you got it loose oil would drip over the engine block.

  23. A tale of two fuel pumps…

    My father changed a fuel pump on the side of the road in his 1970 Chevy K10. End-to-end it was about an hour and change including the time it took for someone to get us, run my brother and me home, and for daddy to go get a fuel pump & install it.

    I changed a fuel pump in my 26-year-old Sierra a few years ago. The tank was full so dropping it wasn’t viable. Ended up unbolting the bed & had several friends help shimmy it off. Changing the pump only took a few minutes after hours of unbolting and moving the bed.

    The next time the Sierra goes out, I’m getting an angle grinder & cutting a hole in the bed to access the pump.

    • Horst. It’s not like 1948, they put the oil filter on top of the engine so it drips oil all over the engine. In 1948 they it put it under the engine so it drips on the floor. Progress…….

      • For the Toyotas I have owned and worked on, the oil filter housing is accessible from underneath the engine. The housing is beefy and well machined and if you want to bother, you can access the oil in the filter with a little plastic gizmo attached to a plastic tube that when inserted into the bottom access port pushes a spring loaded valve out of the way allowing “clean” draining of the oil filter housing. I have never seen a Toyota with an oil filter housing on top of the engine but if you will specify which model does that I’ll know what to avoid.
        P.S. – I will not buy any automobile newer than 2010 at which point, as Eric points out, mostly what were offered tended to isolate the driver from the experience of driving.

        • I wouldn’t let the oil filter placement dissuade you from getting a 2007-2009 FJ.

          That iteration of the 4.0 was the last of the good Toyota motors.

        • My Toyota has a spin on filter to the side of the engine facing up, my Ford’s on it’s side and my Dodge had a spin on filter that faced down. Filters are put on an engine where they figure there’s room to get at them and not where they won’t be messy to replace.

  24. > This was back when the pump was a simple mechanical device.
    The *electric* fuel pump on my 1989 F150 is tucked inside the frame channel on the driver’s side, just aft of the cab bulkhead, right next to the fuel filter, and is very easily accessible. I’ve replaced the fuel filter a couple times, but still using the original fuel pump. Thirty six years and counting, so far. Easy to replace should it ever fail. Just remember to depressurize the fuel line first.

    My 1960 MGA had an electric fuel pump also, which emitted a reassuring click-click-click as it built fuel pressure upon unlocking the ignition via key in the dashboard. Simple push button to engage the starter. No weird complicated ignition key/starter engagement assembly mounted on the steering column as in most American cars. Very easy to steal, assuming anyone had wanted to do so (debatable). 🙂

  25. “Contrived Complexity for Job Security”

    It’s the driving (pun intended) force behind so much of “modern” society. If something is simple, it’s old-fashioned. Old-fashioned is to be shunned because the past is evil and diabolical because it was run by straight, white, Christian men. We need to rid ourselves of any and all thing from the past and embark on our new Diverse future.

    The New is better than the Old. The more opaque the operation the better it must be.

    Rube Goldberg is thine god.

  26. One of the funnest things about changing my 454 Chevy fuel pump was trying to keep the fuel pump push rod in place as it kept sliding down. Turns out if on a cold engine you put a blob of grease on it, it will stay there long enough for you to get the new pump in place.

    A lot of cars have a removable panel under the back seat to get at the fuel pump. You will of course need a special tool to unhook the fuel line before removing the assembly. One thing to remember is that old plastic sitting in gasoline gets brittle. On my car I had a mechanic replace the gas tank along with all the filters. Luckily nothing broke.

    Regarding oil changes; on one my cars I spent years driving it onto ramps, sliding under the car and getting really filthy to get at the oil filter. It turns out that with the passenger front wheel removed you can see the filter and your arm can fit through to change the filter. In other words; you might have been doing a task a certain way for years but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a better and easier way.

    If not certain how to repair your car do some research first because firing the parts cannon at the problem seldom works especially with the low quality of parts today. Big hint; if you are using the cheapest parts from Amazon you can find from a brand you never heard of, you might be creating more headaches than you have want.

    In closing I’d advise using proper safety equipment and jack stands. Gasoline in your eye will sting and a car falling off the jack after jerking on a wrench may even kill you.

    • Good comment about parts quality, though how can we really avoid the problem? I once did what was a relatively easy alternator swap on my 80s era Sable. Yet after I had everything bolted together it turns out my replacement was bad too! Fortunately it was a simple swap so I simply redid everything I’d just done and the second replacement worked fine. What a PITA though, and not how I wanted to extend my working weekend.

      • I’ve seen shops that mostly only use OEM parts from the dealer to try and get better quality parts. One big problem with bad parts is that once you do all of your diagnostics and come to a conclusion a certain part is bad and you replace it with a part that’s intermittent like the part you’re replacing you can waste a lot of time finding the problem. Just remember “NEW” stands for never ever worked.

    • Murphys Law II

      Parts cannon hits desired bullseye in direct proportion to difficulty of replacement and price of NEW part.

      Try rebuilt ymmv.

  27. When the pump on my ’99 Camery died, I was about to drop the tank until I got a closer look at it. Most of the tank was underneath the rear seat. Hmm.. So l pulled the bottom cushions out (super easy to do) and lo and behold, an accsess panel to the top of the tank. Hallelujah! After that, a straight forward swap.

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