TIPS FOR WORKING ON AWKWARD VEHICLES

TIPS FOR WORKING ON AWKWARD VEHICLES

This advice is based on my experience with one 1994 Grand Caravan with 3.3L gasoline fuelled engine meeting US federal emission standards, and initial experience with one mid-1993 Grand Caravan with 3.3L gasoline fuelled engine meeting Canadian emission standards.

The 3.3/3.8L engine installation is a stuff job especially at the right end and back side, with badly routed lines (especially A/C) and improperly located vacuum ports, you'll need a variety of tools and aids.
Beware it is easy to lose pieces down the back of the engine, you may not be able to find them.
For some tasks down the back of the engine you'll have to jack the vehicle well up, safely, to access from below.

I presume you have a service manual, though I may include brief pointers from it to make this advice more cohesive. Some of what I cover here is in the service manual if you can find it, often not in the section you'd expect it in.

Working on the engine is very awkward, especially on the RH end where many accessories are.
Thus you need more compact tools than you might expect, and jobs will take far longer than with a proper engine installation design.
Beware you can't grip as tightly in spaces not generous for your hand.

Preparation:
FASTENERS
Most of the fasteners are metric, known exceptions are
- wheel nuts are 3/4"
- brake lines are SAE
- muffler clamps may be SAE especially if the've been replaced.
- 3.3L engine is a mix, caps of bearings of crankshaft and connecting rods are inch, 5/8 and 9/16" respectively, whereas flywheel attach bolts are 17mm.
Many screws and some bolts have a Torx (aka Star) head recess.
(Only a few are security version of Torx.) The roof rack has one special fastener each rail, it is a nut whereas other fasteners are screws, the tool is hard to find but there is a way to avoid needing it. Beware that the nut inserts in the roof may not be properly set so will turn with the screw, you have to pull the liner down and grab them with lockjaw pliers. Tailight housing screws are 8mm hex head, no screwdriver recess, you may need a deep socket or wrench extension. ** As are some in the instrument panel.

The most common wrench sizes needed are 8, 10, 15, and 17mm.

TOOLS
I carry a packet of special tools, including ones marked above and below.
- Tool to move idler for serpentine belt (usually a long slim bar with 3/8" square on end plus short 15mm socket, and desirably a 6 to 7" firm object between bar and transmission computer to keep the belt released. ** Plus keep a diagram of belt routing in the vehicle. **
- Short extension for socket wrenches, I use a 3/8" to 1/2" adapter and a 1/2" to 3/8" adapter plugged together, perhaps two of the short extension I once had (this is Chrysler's stuff job engine installation so clearance to frame is short, you'll need something in between standard extensions).
- Desirably a thumb-wheel device to turn the socket without the ratchet once you've loosened the bolt, speeds the job so you don't have to have two hands in the area (one to hold socket on bolt and keep it from turning when you move the ratchet), these come either as thin wheel that goes between driver and socket, or thick wheel that replaces the driver.
- I find the new box-end wrenches with integral ratchet to be useful as they are slim compared to a socket and conventioanl ratchet. Beware that if clearance is too small to get the fastener out you can't reverse the ratchet.BR>
- A T-20? screwdriver to get plastic housings below steering wheel (a real screwdriver with fairly long hsaft), plus a T-20? security driver bit or screwdriver to remove the security screw from each housing pair. (Or T15.)
- To take the steering wheel off, you need a puller that attaches to the two 7/16-16 threaded holes.
- To remove the headlamp housings:
* a T20 screwdriver. **
* a tool to turn the black retainers. I made one from a 1/2" hex nut driver, but those are usually too short (need at least 3 1/2" shaft length), so a cheap 1/2" hex socket (1/4" drive) and 6' extension bar plus fixed turning bar (not ratchet). Cut a 3/16" slot through the driver or socket, preferably with some taper **.

- A gangly 12-year-old child (just kidding, big hands are a disadvantage on this vehicle, long arms are desirable).

- Hose clamp pliers (ChannelLock types worked on the squeeze clamps, but I had to use a very large one on the large coolant hoses and a smallish one on the small coolant hoses, space for the handles is limited).
- A face shield to keep coolant and oil out of your eyes (I suggest full face shield not just goggles, to keep stuff out of your mouth area as well).
- Hard rubber hammer to whack parts like water pump once bolts are removed, to free it/
- A means of cutting old hoses to get them off, such as:
* a box cutter knife with depth adjustment, to cut the outer layers of the hose (a bit awkward to use limited depth where nipple is short and near a wall), then use a knife blade or hose removal tool as below, or
* a knife blade under the hose - dull side to the tube, or<>BR> * try to cut beside the nipple to avoid scoring it, or
* or use a tool like (hooks under ID to pull hose off, it does not have a knife area, but it will break hose with effort, better to cut outer layer first as above), or
* pry with small flat blade screwdriver to break cut hose.
Even with full cutting you may need to break the hose away from the nipple it has become stuck onto.
- A means of cleaning the hose nipples on parts you aren't replacing (such as scrubbing pad). I haven't researched coating the nipple to prevent further corrosion and perhaps reduce sticking of hose, perhaps vegetable oil is appropriate. Is there a maintenance product called 'belt dressing'? Perhaps some of what flows in the hose, such as antifreeze which should have anti-corrosion additive for coolant hoses.

- When replacing hoses, consider (necessary for coolant bypass hose which has limited clearance to to grab strongly, especially as proper 11/16" hose is hard to find (Chrysler uses 5/8")):
> A tea kettle to heat water to soften hose end.
> A lubricant that won't degrade the hose (canola oil or the thicker corn oil helps, perhaps a gel-like oily substance such as lard or vegetable equivalent).
> A freezer to harden hose to facilitate beveling inside diameter to help get it started over the nipple (actually, that didn't help much over cutting at room temperature, I did not try a large drill bit when frozen, would need to be very cold, I am looking for a curved blade such as I think might be used by wood carvers).

Visibility between engine and firewall, such as:
- slim lights, held up somehow
- mirror, perhaps 3x5". The 5x7 camping mirror from Trileaf Distributors, available from Canadian Tires stores, has a hanger on one end that you could lash up to something. The oval mirror with large D handle from Greenbriar International/DTSC Imports may be useful, you can take the handle off and probably put a wire around the tabs and bend it into a hook. Putting self-adhesive magnet strip material on the back of a mirror may help, though the firewall may have insulation on it. The typical hand-held mirror with a simple handle usually has a hole in the end of the handle that you could put a hook into (carefully squeeze one end of an s-hook to close it). You could run a small bungee cord from the hook sideways across plumging to retrieve the mirror when it falls down.

- consider using worm gear hose clamps, but be careful tightening ones at the radiator which is thin material, perhaps plastic. (The squeeze type limit force on the hose but are awkward to deal with in close quarters, they can be rotated for better access by hooking a closed end wrench on one of the tabs and pulling in a direction that loosens the clamp). There's also T-bolt clamps that have a wrench hex so perhaps need less clearance (but don't overtighten those), and a design with the screw perpendicular to the hose. Tridon's clamp catalogue shows some designs, including quick-release and worm type with a wider band. They illustrate the constant-tension ones I found on my vehicle, as well as a screw type with spring to keep tension somewhat constant. Princess Auto has been selling clamps with a thumbscrew, but they may be difficult for weak hands to tighten enough.

I carry a long wrench handle with 3/4" socket to ensure wheel nuts are tight and to loosen them to change a tire.
Engine internals need a long handle and a means of keeping the block from rotating. (Beware that long sockets have to be stabilized against tilting else they slip off under torque, a two-hand job.)

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