Reckless things you've done while working on cars

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Hello:

One of my first jobs as a teenager was working at a Mobil gas station. The year was 1969. These were true full service facilities, unlike the convenience stores they are today.

When we used to do brake jobs we'd use compressed air to blow out all the brake dust. It would fill the service bays with a gigantic cloud of brownish-grey dust. What did we do? We walked back and forth, inhaling as deeply as possible. We loved the smell of that stuff!

For you younger folks, brake linings from the old days contained significant amounts of asbestos. Additionally, drum brakes did a great job at trapping the dust inside. Sometimes the inner workings were packed 1/4 thick with the stuff!

At least I never smoked!

Scott
 
I have done "quick jobs" using a jack only, thinking because it was a "fast or quick task" the danger is less....

(very flawed logic)
 
While working at a gas station in a different life when I was a teenager and there were still gas stations that did oil changes etc., the owner had me clean an engine with what looked like a large oil can that was attached to an air hose.

In the can was gasoline to clean the engine. After I was done and there were gas fumes all over the shop I noticed that there was a natural gas heater hanging from the ceiling that had the pilot flame visible. They only thing that might have saved me was the gas fumes stayed lower than the flame.
 
Originally Posted By: Linctex
I have done "quick jobs" using a jack only, thinking because it was a "fast or quick task" the danger is less....

(very flawed logic)


I've made fast moves like that with an arm.

Scott
 
I worked at my uncles Sunoco station near Big Flats, NY along old rt 17 (now 86) back in 1987. It was a full service station back then. We washed windows, checked the air pressure in tires, checked the oil level etc. We used a lot of Arco Graphite oil in a lot of cars back then! Ooh the horror!!!! Lol.
 
When I first got into the auto industry, I was a dealership tech. Apprenticed under another tech through the GM ASEP program. This particular knucklehead move was after the apprenticeship, when I didn't have a babysitter watching over me.

Being the most inexperienced in the shop, my two bays were right next to the brake lathe, which was always filthy because techs are slobs when it comes to shop equipment. I told the shop foreman that I'd keep the brake lathe tidy and clean if he'd get me a shop vac for the purpose. He nabbed an old shop vac from our prep and detailing area and I was in business.

After about six months, the shop vac was filthy, so I gave it a quick spray down with some brake clean. I know what you're thinking: Brake clean is flammable dummy! I knew that and I gave ample time for any excess brake clean to evaporate... or at least I thought it was ample time. Turns out, it takes longer to evaporate from the little nooks and crannies in the motor.

When I turned it on, it erupted into a fireball. Being quick on my feet, I unplugged it (couldn't turn it off from the switch being it was on fire, ya know), kicked it toward the middle of the shop (away from any customer vehicles), and grabbed a fire extinguisher.

So there it was: A shop vac rolling across the shop, on fire, with me chasing after it with a fire extinguisher.

The next day, I plugged it back in and flipped it on. After a massive puff of residual dry chemical powder, it worked fine. I used it every week until I left. Never did clean it again, though.
 
I hope that didn't happen on a Monday morning. A Friday afternoon fire ball would have been much better.
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Changed a clutch and pressure plate on a '64 Ford Galaxy 390 using 2 bumper jacks.
I was 19 and indestructible.
 
I was extracting the oil from the dip stick tube on my last Focus when I decided it would be a great time to swap out some PS fluid. After Extracting all the engine oil, I moved onto the PS res. After I evacuated all I could from it, I decided to fill and drain it a few times by starting the engine to circulate the new PS fluid.

Silly me, I forgot the engine was empty of oil
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I quickly shut off the engine after a few turns when I noticed it didn't sound quite right.
 
Apart from using jacks without jackstands. The worst for me was using a grinder while the fuel line was disconnected and exposed. I only had a sheet of cardboard separating the sparks from the fuel line.
 
one stupid thing I did was i tried to extract some oil from the dipstick tube. I couldn't get my pump to work so i thought Id siphon it using my mouth. I got a breath full of motor oil fumes. It was horrible.
 
I have gotten great use of out my 16K lb pair of ramps--they have more than paid for themselves already.

But I gotta say I wish they were wider and longer. I think about this every time I drive up them.

Originally Posted By: JustinH
Drove my wife's scion xb off the rhino ramps on one side. Had to jack the car up to get it down.

I was scared.
 
First engine I ever pulled-230 inline 6 out of my old '68 Nova, using a come-a-long and a tow rope off the crossbeam in my Mom's garage (I was 18 at the time). It came out upside down and backwards!
 
Removing a trailer hitch from a parts car I was tearing apart. Couldn't get the rusted bolts all the way out, so instead of cutting the nuts off the bolts I thought it would be best to take the 9" angle grinder and just cut the stupid thing into pieces. While flat on my back under the rear of the car that was only on 1 floor jack, without safety glasses (24 and invincible) I tore into it.

When the first cut went through, both pieces swung down (forgot to retighten the nuts) and one caught me at the edge of my right eye and continued across the bridge of my nose. I wore hard contacts back then, so I stumbled into the house to see if I could get the lens out before my eye swelled closed. Big trail of blood from the garage service door through my kitchen and to the bathroom.

Popped the lens out just in time. I couldn't open that eye for three days. I still have the scars at the edge of my eye and eyelid and the bridge of my nose. Since then cutting and grinding anything under a car scares the pants off me.
 
Originally Posted By: Dallas69
Changed a clutch and pressure plate on a '64 Ford Galaxy 390 using 2 bumper jacks.
I was 19 and indestructible.


That's pretty bad!

Scott
 
Have had many things turn nearly bad.

But the one that holds me in sweats is changing a mates strut inserts in a J Car using jacks, jack stands, and spring clamps...oh, and pry bars to get gaps where the above didn't work.

In my dreams, over the last 20 years, I've seen every imaginable possible outcome...lots of missing fingers.
 
Originally Posted By: Shannow
Have had many things turn nearly bad.

But the one that holds me in sweats is changing a mates strut inserts in a J Car using jacks, jack stands, and spring clamps...oh, and pry bars to get gaps where the above didn't work.

In my dreams, over the last 20 years, I've seen every imaginable possible outcome...lots of missing fingers.


Springs can be dangerous. I've worked with springs my entire automotive life. Suspensions are my specialty.

But one time I was upgrading struts on my son's Jeep Cherokee. The strut/spring package was unusually long compared to the road cars I regularly worked on. My fine German made spring compressor would not work so I bought a pair of those inexpensive, common spring compressors you can buy at any auto parts store.

Just after we removed the spring from the strut, the compressors slid around the radius of the spring, meeting together on one side. The spring bulged dangerously outwards on the free side. Fully respecting the lethal nature of compressed springs, plus the fact that we had to put this thing back together, I had to come up with a plan.

My son and I got a 4x8 sheet of 1/2 inch plywood. I cut two arm holes and a sight hole. I put on welding gloves and got things back under control. My only fear was my hands and arms, but at least I wasn't going to take an exploding spring to the face!

Scott
 
I think my spring compressors cost me 12$. The learning curve involved having a 20 lb spring whiz past my left ear. Having the clamps slide together was temporarily solved with hose clamps. Instead of ruining a perfectly OK sheet of plywood, I walked out into the empty pking lot and gave the spring an under handed toss. Upon impact the spring went flying ,safely. That was my first strut. On the 2nd, I had an AHa moment. You don't need to squeeze all the coils together. All you need to do is to hold enough tension to back off the top mount nut without trouble. Definite example of the less is better principle.
A nicotine fit saved my life at the ripe old age of 14. I was trying to take out the starter of a '56 Dodge. I struggled for a while with no result. Frustrated, I crawled out and fired up a Lucky Strike. I let out the first drag and the jack let go
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