A class - great interior space - crap under bonnet space

[h1ghway1]

I love my A class - wouldn’t have anything else - have no idea what goes on under the bonnet though ....

same here !

 

[barsteward]

They did do one though, the "Swift Bel air " bloody awful things.

D.

I know, I think the same prototype is still doing the rounds for the unsuspecting on ebay. Advertised as low mileage with indoor un heated swimming pool

 

[ambulancekidd]

I had a wee Mazda Bongo some years ago & for those of you who don't know, the engine is between the seats under a large acoustic cover.
When the alternator went fizz/bang I sat outdoors in the pouring rain in total comfort enjoying the easiest alternator change I'd ever carried out.
I didn't get wet in the slightest & didn't even get my hands dirty.

I've always done my own mechanical work & the thought of an A Class motorhome fills me with dread, that & the fact that I don't really care for the look of them (hoping not to offend A Class owners) anyway means I've never contemplated one.
However the interior space that A Class motorhomes have makes me very envious.

 

[Spriddler]

Later on my toyota rally mechanic and my ex wife fell in love so we divorced.

He obviously didn't have a problem with access.

 

[airwave]

Is it just a Merc thing, access on our IVECO chassis A class is OK

Martin

That's what i was wondering . I will admit , access is not the best on my fiat (iveco engine) hymer . Not only do i change the oil , twice a year , but i run a flushing oil though as well . Filter no problem from underneath . Fuel and air filter a doodle through the letterbox , though again i will admit i have to remove the airbox to get at the fuel filter , still done every year .

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[Tude]

Water pump on a 3litte take front end off and engine out I’m so pissed off with fiat 3litre and ACLASS. No more for me.????

 

[Deleted member 57092]

Could be worse
Apparently to change the EGR valve on a 3 litre range rover sport they have to take the body off of the chassis !

 

[PeteH]

I too agree that access to the Rapido Merc 3L is a right Bitch! and have the bruises to prove it!. If I was doing more than just an Air filter, I would consider removing the bonnet. "Mer-Tech" in Hull did my "B" service, for a tad over £200 all in. Most "Yanks" (R-V`s) have an engine cover in the cab area, providing the seals are in good condition they are just as quiet. Best of all was my old "pusher". Lift the Bed and all is revealed!. What you cannot get at from there can be got from below and without a ramp or pit. The access to the engine in the Previous Fiat (non A) was not all that much better. The EGR needed the loosening of the Radiator and pulling forward to give access

 

[jongood]

So the conclusion is that you re all going to ignore considerations like layout, build quality and space and go for the one with easiest access to the fuel filter?

The really keen ones could go right back to basics and do a self build?

 

[Deleted member 57092]

You could always move the fuel filter of course ...........
Manufacturers have almost never considered mechanics though ,we are just ‘grease monkeys’ who weren’t clever enough to go to ‘uni’.
Unfortunately the increased service costs of making things difficult to fix don’t seem to impact on their vehicle sales.
Plus of course many vehicles are fitted with engines that were designed to be fitted in a completely different model where access to filters etc had been thought out at the design stage (possibly !)

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[Tude]

Mine the same

 

[GWAYGWAY]

You do need to bear in mind that this varies from model to model. There is reasonable access to our NB Arto, The Fiat engine is fitted transverse so not too bad to get to most items.

However I'm also in the camp that would prefer to pay somebody else to do the oily stuff these days, even cars are hard to do without a 4 poster and the diagnostic stuff these days.

This is my car engine bay, access is fine but where would you start
View attachment 271614

That s fantastic access, I would whip off tha cover and it is all there, But on mine you need to do it through an 8 inch letter box ,and the engine in front of you in the dark and BLXXDY difficult to see let alone remove the covers, you need the extension tube to fill the Screen Washer bottle, the adblue container, the oil filler, aqnd the filter is easier at the front, the dipstick is awful so they give you an auto level reading system. I dropped my adblue cap and it never appeared underneath as it caught SOMEWHERE in there. I bought another cap and found the original during the service lodged in the cross member lightening hole. I caught my ears trying to get the head out from looking in there for it. It is meant to have the cooling radiator the auto gearbox radiator, the AC radiator and the power steering radiator along with the cross members taken out to get at the engine to work on it. My MB dealer DOES NOT want to do anything on it as they cannot get access to anything in there. I always though that A class MHs had an inside panel that could be removed for serious access but no they don't or at least the later ones do not. They will cost a fortune if they go wrong, the easiest way to work on the engine is for the crossmember and suspension to drop down along with the engine and gearbox?????????????????????????? WTF who though that was a good idea.

 

[GWAYGWAY]

In my case , it was a credit card that caused the problem.

The oil change on service takes a LOT of oil to be pouring it in from a pint can at a time. I bought a 20 litre can to get it in bulk buy price and that was a small fortune. 10000 more mile for another change, thank goodness. but the auto box needs the base off that time to drop the oil and filter and filling through a drinking straw without a dipstick, so I had to get one of those for then.

 

[Spriddler]

Could be worse. Apparently to change the EGR valve on a 3 litre range rover sport they have to take the body off of the chassis !

Cuh! I was lucky. I only had to remove the passenger seat to adjust the handbrake on my 2CV.

 

[Deleted member 57092]

We once had a 2CV in for welding repairs , the lady loved the car and said that the other garage had shown her underneath the car, it needed patches all over the middle flat floor section and she was worried that it was too bad to fix.
We welded it up and she was so relieved, she asked how many patches we had needed to weld on.
I said ‘only one’ she looked confused and said ‘one ?’ I said , ‘yep just one patch, two feet wide and eight feet long ‘
We cut an eight by four sheet of mild steel in half down the middle, jacked it up under the citroen amd welded it all the way around.
Sorted !

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[Deanobeano]

The oil change on service takes a LOT of oil to be pouring it in from a pint can at a time. I bought a 20 litre can to get it in bulk buy price and that was a small fortune. 10000 more mile for another change, thank goodness. but the auto box needs the base off that time to drop the oil and filter and filling through a drinking straw without a dipstick, so I had to get one of those for then.

Interesting, ref the gearbox. Mine has the 5G box fitted and I was thinking of doing a oil and filter change on it (just coming up to 60K and 10 years old next year).

I had a look underneath and I'm not sure if the gearbox sump can come off, without removing a cross member first.

If its just sump off to change the filter, I will give it a go (I have a dipstick on order on a slow boat from China). But if the cross member needs to come off first, then I will think again.

If I do it I also think it will be a stretch to reach the dipstick / filling hole on the left side of the engine - another curse of the pillbox like access slot.

 

[csd4t]

"crap under the bonnet space"
How often do you have to do that then?