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The Tuesday where a Chevy Cruze tried to kill me 3 times
Last week I had one of those days where you wonder if the cars are actually out to get you. Started with a 2014 Cruze that had a coolant leak I tracked back to the water outlet, took me 2 hours just to get the intake manifold off because someone previously snapped a bolt and didn't tell anyone. Then I dropped a 10mm socket into the oil pan opening and had to fish it out with one of those extendable magnets, which took another 20 minutes. Right after that I went to bleed the cooling system and the bleeder screw snapped clean off in my hand. I just stood there staring at the engine bay for a solid minute. Has anyone else had a specific model that just seems to fight you every step of the way?
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the_charles8h agoMost Upvoted
Honestly, that bleeder screw snapping off is the kind of thing that makes you question your whole career choice. I feel your pain on the dropped socket too, I've spent more time fishing tools out of engines than I'd like to admit. Some cars really do feel like they were designed by a committee that hated mechanics.
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That Cruze sounds like a NIGHTMARE. I had a similar experience with an older Nissan Altima where every single bolt felt like it was welded in place by hand. The bleeder screw snapping is the worst because you KNOW you're in for another hour of drilling and extracting, and that's if you don't strip the threads in the housing first. Dropping tools into open oil pans is practically a rite of passage in this trade though, I've fished out at least three different 10mm sockets from various engines over the years. Some cars just have that "designed by people who never had to fix one" energy. The Cruze seems to be a MASTER at that kind of torture.
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