Ok, someone else with a Targa go check yer drain plug, and tell me I am not imagining things ???
What kind of blathering IDIOT of a designer uses hexbolts to begin with, but oooh no, worse, hex bolt for a DRAIN PLUG ?
Damn things are hard as hell to get to, especially without pullin the whole damn exhaust pipe, usually caked in grit, and slippery when you do get a wrench on em to boot.
But no, they couldn't stop there, they didn't just shoot themselves in the foot, they hit every fuckin toe.
Every single godsbedamned hexbolt on that thing, is metric, SAVE ONE - that bastard drainplug....it's 3/16" !
This AFTER shelling out for an expensive, very complete set of metric hexxies cause none of mine fit.
So back to the store and MORE cash later...I finally get it out.
I am so glad the trans was already in pieces, I wouldn't have wanted to try that under the ped...I was half tempted to drill it out and replace it with a bolt, and WOULD replace it now, but the hardware store would be closed by the time I got there.
On top of that ?
I didn't know Dexron III was Red...I thought that was type-F.
What came outta that trans wasn't red, and it sure wasn't motor oil, but this milky tan stuff with powdery silver bits in it and the consistency of asphalt. (not a good sign at all).
Since 7.5oz of Dexron ain't that much, I left the plug out and flushed the trans with half of what was left in there, to make sure any more metal powder/flakes were flushed...now I've already replaced any part that looked worn, preferably with an A3 part...so that's ok.
One it was back together, and set to the Specs HERE, instead of the one's in the manual for this vehicle (The Tomos A5 Specs I posted are from Tomos, but so's the Manual, and they are very different) - it performed well, bangin out a 33mph on flat-level....it's all in the tuning.
It sure beats 26mph, which is what it was doin - more to come.
As for the hexbolts stupidity ? the A3 engine's transmission casing was held by bolts with a FLATHEAD SCREWDRIVER head- which you'd have to be a real, real moron to strip...as were the drain, fill, and level check plugs.
Now you think about how hard it's going to be getting a hexkey into that slot when it's slimy with road tar and caked inside with grime, trying every metric hexxie you got only to find none fit...by the time you figure out it's 3/16" - you've done stripped it beyond all hope of ever getting it out.
(I didn't, but then, I had it all by it's lonesome on a basement floor to study at leisure.)
Give me the A3 any damn day of the week.
-Ree