9/17/07
308 Major Service

A 308 Quattrovalve was in for a major service at Bill Pollard’s shop. From the amount of spider webs under the car, it’s been sitting a long time waiting for this service.

A major service for one of these cars is defined in many ways, but they all involve replacing the cam belts on these cars. There’s a lot of discrepancy between what should be done, and at what interval, and I’m not about to report what is gospel on these cars, but what Sport Auto does are all the things that are prudent and necessary when servicing a 308. Less can be done, but the risk is up to you.

The first trick I learned today was how to get a stuck wheel off the car. These 308s have locating pins and a close fitting hub flange. Corrosion between dissimilar metals can sometimes cause the wheel to stick to the the wheel hub. Sean, Sport Auto’s main mechanic told me to put one wheel bolt back on loosely, lower the car so some of the weight was back on the stuck tire, and give the tire one quick back kick with my foot. The swift kick jarred the wheel loose and the tire was soon off the car. I cleaned the hub and the wheel of all the corrosion, and will coat the surfaces with some anti-seize to prevent this from happening again.

I spent the rest of the day getting closer and closer to the cam belts. Some of the steps in the process were draining the coolant from the front of the car, removing the right rear splash shield, removing various coolant hoses, unbolting the alternator, removing two accessory belt tensioners, removing the fuel evaporator canister, unbolting the A/C compressor, and removing studs from the front cam housing. Eventually, the A/C Compressor will be moved out of the way, and the front cam housing will be removed. We’ll also service the water pump while we’ve got everything apart and replace any coolant hoses that need replacing. I found that there is no easy way to get all the coolant out of these cars without wearing or standing in some of it. Hopefully, the next time I work on this car, the antifreeze will have stopped dripping!

Previous Restoration Day
Next Restoration Day
Home page