Time to fess up ? what have YOU done...

[OtisBlkR1]

That you can reflect back on and laugh at now ? (car wise)

Probably 15 years ago I was rushing doing a brake job on a pickup truck (disc brakes) and drinking beer.. Well, im not sure how I managed to do it but I put a pad on backwards.. Next day when I drove to work I had a real bad grinding/rattle.. I decided it couldn't be my work (im a great shade tree parts changer) So it was a problem outside of the brakes and a shop would be needed.. Well, when the shop called to inform me of the backwards pad I could only hang my head in shame.

Then of course more recently, I drained the oil out of everything, trucks, both cars, motorcycles, mower, even the power washer.. It was a all morning affair. I started refilling and my wife called me away for a short time, When I returned I got back at it. after a bit I was proud of all the work I had accomplished.. until I started checking dipsticks and got to my riding mower.. and I had way, way, way, overfilled it (filled it twice ).. oops.

Otis

 

[Olas]

Soon after I passed my test I filled my petrol car with diesel. Took 3 days to figure out what was wrong

 

[qdeezie]

When rebuilding an engine, I used a repair sleeve for the rear main journal and the instructions said specifically not to use a PTFE rear main seal.

Well, I figured I knew better than the manufacturer and installed a PTFE rear main seal anyway and it proceeded to leak oil afterwards.

This was most definitely an idiot moment for myself.

 

[Dave Sherman]

First brake job I did on my own was on my dad's car. All went well, except I had squeezed the caliper pistons in to fit the new pads and forgot to seat the pads. This car had diagonally split brakes, so since neither front disk seated, there was no pressure to the rear drums. It was after I realized the brake pedal went to the floor and put the car in reverse that I had no brakes. THUD - backed into the the other car down the driveway. Thankfully, both had black plastic bumper covers and there wasn't even a scratch.

 

[jrmason]

I botched my first brake job I ever did. I was 16 at the time and dad insisted I wait on him to get home from work but I just couldn't do it. I wanted so bad to show him I could do these things on my own, so I tore into it mid morning. Had both new front calipers and pads on in relatively short order and proceeded to bleed the brakes with a power bleeder just like I had helped dad so many times before on his vehicles. I bled and bled and bled...and bled it some more. The pedal would just push to the floor like there was a ton of air in the system. I used all the fluid we had in the shop and had to admit defeat. Dad came home later that afternoon with more brake fluid, took one look at the caliper on the driver side and shook his head. Walked over to the other side and shook his head again with a grin on his face. "You got em on backwards" Being the all knowing teenager I was I actually argued that it wasn't possible to do that. He proceeded to show how the bleeders were toward the bottom of the caliper and not at the top and that they would never bleed out that way.
He still reminds me of it to this day.

 

[eljefino]

Installing a wiper blade on my wife's saturn, I was wrestling with the old blade and wiper arm and its little U-shaped hook went SMACK into the windscreen, cracking it with a nice bulls-eye.

 

[OtisBlkR1]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Installing a wiper blade on my wife's saturn, I was wrestling with the old blade and wiper arm and its little U-shaped hook went SMACK into the windscreen, cracking it with a nice bulls-eye.



Now thats a expensive "whoops"

 

[ARCOgraphite]

I put new delco points and condenser set in the 401 buick nailhead V8 distributor, attached the dwell meter, opened the cap window, inserted hex wrench and proceeded to short out the points and blow the cap. I was 15 years old - an this my first shade tree tuneup; took me hours to figure out what I did wrong.
I still to this day have that same hex wrench but with with a couple spins of electrician's tape on the long end in my top tray of my toolbox

 

[Schmoe]

Brakes. Always about the brakes.....mine was installing new pads on the 02 Accord. Got the rear off but couldn't get the caliper pistons to move back. I used channel locks, vice grips, hammer with a 2x4, they still wouldn't budge. So, I reinstalled the older brake pads and said to myself, they weren't that bad any way. Went to return them at Autozone, and I had mentioned I couldn't get the back calipers to push back, probably going to have to take it to the shop as they are "froze." Luckily there was an older gentleman there helping me and said "did you turn the piston on the caliper?" I was like....what??? He got me a tool the hooks up to the 3/8 inch rachet that fits into the groves of the piston on the caliper which will turn them. Got that and tried it again, sure enough....pistons went back. Did I feel like an idiot. To this day, that same guy works there and we have a running joke. He always asks "how's the brakes?" We just laugh, but I think I died a little bit inside.

 

[CharBaby]

I think that I have too many botched up things(though small) to mention! Such as changing the oil and forgetting to put the drain plug back in the oil pan. When adding oil, it went all over the driveway!

Things like that! Though many of my mistakes were 40 years ago, I still make a small blunder today and I have to go back in and fix it. Mostly it's lack of thoroughness! Where I pride myself on how thorough I am in my work. Could be because of a cold/cloudy head or lack of sleep!

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I was doing a seafoam treatment on the Taurus. I sucked in the required amount and the car ended up stalling at the same time. Let it sit for 5 minutes like you are supposed to.

When I went to start it up, it immediately went bang and I thought I heard something hit the side of the car. It wouldn't start after that.

I thought maybe the thing was hydrolocked or something. Just as I was about to pull the plugs I noticed the PCV elbow was missing.

Apparently it backfired (which was not uncommon for that car ... even with distributorless ignition) hard enough to blow the pcv elbow and pcv valve off the intake manfold, bounce it off the neighbor's house - very narrow driveway - and it ended up under the car.

Put it back on and it started up and did its smokeshow as expected.


Originally Posted By: Schmoe
Brakes. Always about the brakes.....mine was installing new pads on the 02 Accord. Got the rear off but couldn't get the caliper pistons to move back. I used channel locks, vice grips, hammer with a 2x4, they still wouldn't budge. So, I reinstalled the older brake pads and said to myself, they weren't that bad any way. Went to return them at Autozone, and I had mentioned I couldn't get the back calipers to push back, probably going to have to take it to the shop as they are "froze." Luckily there was an older gentleman there helping me and said "did you turn the piston on the caliper?" I was like....what??? He got me a tool the hooks up to the 3/8 inch rachet that fits into the groves of the piston on the caliper which will turn them. Got that and tried it again, sure enough....pistons went back. Did I feel like an idiot. To this day, that same guy works there and we have a running joke. He always asks "how's the brakes?" We just laugh, but I think I died a little bit inside.


Never seen such a thing until I tried to do rear brakes on a friend's 05 Accord. He ended up having it brought to a shop because the piston was seized and wouldn't turn back in.

Prior to that, it's always been a mini-drum setup in the rotor.

 

[ironman_gq]

Not paying attention when trying to drop an engine back into my Jeep, got the engine on the hoist, flywheel and clutch bolted up, manifolds on and got the motor sitting in the motor mounts with the trans seated and something didn't look right. Silly me put the manifolds on the wrong sides so instead of dumping down to the rear, they pointing forward. Easy fix but a little more difficult than if I had noticed it on the hoist.

 

[morepwr]

I hate a leaky thermostat housing in an old Nova with a small block Chevy in it and I decided to change it and put a new thermostat in. So after I had it all apart and I cleaned the surface of the manifold and thermostat housing up really good and glued the new gasket in place, cleaned the bolts and really was proud of my "detail" work. I had it all back together and turned around and there was my brand new thermostat sitting on the workbench! I put it all back together without a thermostat!
Of course I was mad so I didn't fix it right then and drove it for 2 days without a thermostat. Kind of redefined a cold blooded running engine!

 

[MCompact]

I was changing the head gasket on my Datsun SPL-311 and managed to snag the choke cable under the RR corner of the head. I tightened everything down and started to refill the cooling system- thereby filling the sump and cylinders 3 and 4 with water...

 

[Dyusik]

Originally Posted By: Schmoe
Brakes. Always about the brakes.....mine was installing new pads on the 02 Accord. Got the rear off but couldn't get the caliper pistons to move back. I used channel locks, vice grips, hammer with a 2x4, they still wouldn't budge. So, I reinstalled the older brake pads and said to myself, they weren't that bad any way. Went to return them at Autozone, and I had mentioned I couldn't get the back calipers to push back, probably going to have to take it to the shop as they are "froze." Luckily there was an older gentleman there helping me and said "did you turn the piston on the caliper?" I was like....what??? He got me a tool the hooks up to the 3/8 inch rachet that fits into the groves of the piston on the caliper which will turn them. Got that and tried it again, sure enough....pistons went back. Did I feel like an idiot. To this day, that same guy works there and we have a running joke. He always asks "how's the brakes?" We just laugh, but I think I died a little bit inside.


I had the same exact experience with an early 90s Lumina sedan.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: morepwr
I hate a leaky thermostat housing in an old Nova with a small block Chevy in it and I decided to change it and put a new thermostat in. So after I had it all apart and I cleaned the surface of the manifold and thermostat housing up really good and glued the new gasket in place, cleaned the bolts and really was proud of my "detail" work. I had it all back together and turned around and there was my brand new thermostat sitting on the workbench!


Replace "thermostat" with "brake line tube nut" and that's me half the time.

Wow, nice flare. Hey, where's the nut?

 

[DriveHard]

Replacing an engine in a 2002 cavalier. For the life of me, I could not get the engine to separate from the transmission. I knew I had all the bolts out. I started with a fine tip flat head screwdriver, and slowly worked up to a proper pry bar...slowly working the engine off the tranny. Finally, I heard a loud POP, and the engine finally came free!!! That is when I spotted that last hidden bolt with a chunk of the transmission bell housing still securely fastened to the engine. A junk yard engine swap turned into a junk yard engine and tranny swap.

 

[threeputtpar]

The only real knuckleheaded think I can remember is from my teenage years working at the local service station on my block. Doing a routine LOF and tire rotation on a full size van, everything went just fine. I even had time to check the rear drum brakes for the customer, and they were still in serviceable condition. Buttoned it all back up and filled out the work order and the boss called the customer the next morning to pick up the van.

I come into work the next night to see the van in the first bay again with the rear driver's wheel off and the bottom of the brake drum appeared to be cut off. Plus part of the aftermarket body flare around the wheel well was hanging on by a few glass fibers. Turns out that I didn't fully torque the lugs on that tire and while his wife drove it home the tire liberated itself from the axle and she locked up the brake on that corner and the drum was the only thing stopping her. I felt sick to my stomach.

It turns out that the owner of the van was my high school science teacher and was really cool about it. He was a regular customer, so gave me grief every time he came in.

 

[OtisBlkR1]

Originally Posted By: DriveHard
Replacing an engine in a 2002 cavalier. For the life of me, I could not get the engine to separate from the transmission. I knew I had all the bolts out. I started with a fine tip flat head screwdriver, and slowly worked up to a proper pry bar...slowly working the engine off the tranny. Finally, I heard a loud POP, and the engine finally came free!!! That is when I spotted that last hidden bolt with a chunk of the transmission bell housing still securely fastened to the engine. A junk yard engine swap turned into a junk yard engine and tranny swap.



GREAT STORY !

 

[A_Harman]

My list of follies as an amateur mechanic is long and embarassing. Everytime I start a new repair job, I ask myself how much collateral damage am I going to do on perfectly good parts while trying to replace the bad ones.