DIY Mechanics Fail Stories
Discussion
My worst 'fail' happened on a Passat 1.8 20V engine, about 20 years ago:
I'd lost playing Russian roulette with the timing belt change, so had to suck it up and sort out the wrecked valves - all 20 of them
Duly fixed, we then set off on a family holiday to Norfolk. Half-way there and a very loud 'crack' was heard from under the bonnet. The car ran fine, so we continued without incident to where we were staying - presuming it was a stone flung up from the road.
A couple of days later, the engine just died. I had the car recovered home - along with myself - and it didn't take long to diagnose a shredded timing belt
The cause? I'd forgotten to tighten fully a bolt securing a small 'filler' part of the timing cover - item '10' here:
The bolt had slowly unscrewed itself, dropping onto the crank sprocket - to then be ejected straight through the belt and the lower timing cover (the cause of the loud 'crack')!!
Only 10 valves bent this time - the engine reconditioner doing the head work (again) took pity on me and did the work for parts cost only
I'd lost playing Russian roulette with the timing belt change, so had to suck it up and sort out the wrecked valves - all 20 of them
Duly fixed, we then set off on a family holiday to Norfolk. Half-way there and a very loud 'crack' was heard from under the bonnet. The car ran fine, so we continued without incident to where we were staying - presuming it was a stone flung up from the road.
A couple of days later, the engine just died. I had the car recovered home - along with myself - and it didn't take long to diagnose a shredded timing belt
The cause? I'd forgotten to tighten fully a bolt securing a small 'filler' part of the timing cover - item '10' here:
The bolt had slowly unscrewed itself, dropping onto the crank sprocket - to then be ejected straight through the belt and the lower timing cover (the cause of the loud 'crack')!!
Only 10 valves bent this time - the engine reconditioner doing the head work (again) took pity on me and did the work for parts cost only
hairykrishna said:
I'm an optimist when it comes to extractors. No matter how many times I snap them or just use them as a tool to further f
k up a stud I always have to have a go. One day one will work as intended and I'll drop dead of shock.
I actually managed to use one the other day!!! Guess I should buy a lottery ticket. k up a stud I always have to have a go. One day one will work as intended and I'll drop dead of shock.Had a Citroen AX when I was in uni that I decided to do an oil and filters swap on while back at my parents. On a Sunday. Everything went perfectly, all changed and everything cleaned away, until I spotted a loose screw holding some wiring. Grabbed my screwdriver to tighten it up only to accidentally have it slip and fall out of my hand with a surprising amount of speed. It bounced off the oil filter leaving a sizeable dent. Thought I'd got away with it right up until I saw that tiny drop of oil start to seep out of the tiny pinhole it had created. Cue a manic ring around all the local car shops that were open to eventually find one that was open and had stock, had 20 mins to get there and they shut in 15. My mum will never know how fast I drove her Rover 213 to get there in time and get the new filter. Got home and removed the damaged filter, put the new one on and double-checked the oil level. All good. Got tidied up, got fed by the parents and then had a 4 hour drive back to uni and it was now well past 7pm. Arrived at uni and got my flat key out, couldn't find it but did have the keys, the only set of keys, for mum's Rover. A quick phone call home and I have indeed put my flat keys on the hook in the kitchen. Cue another 4 hour drive home to switch them over then a 5 hour drive back to uni thanks to it now being Monday morning rush hour. Didn't go to lectures that day after being up for well over 24 hours, having driven well over 600 miles and having a massive headache from being dehydrated.
I've never worked on my main car on a Sunday ever since.
I've never worked on my main car on a Sunday ever since.
Toaster Pilot said:
hairykrishna said:
I'm an optimist when it comes to extractors. No matter how many times I snap them or just use them as a tool to further fk up a stud I always have to have a go. One day one will work as intended and I'll drop dead of shock.
I actually managed to use one the other day!!! Guess I should buy a lottery ticket. k up a stud I always have to have a go. One day one will work as intended and I'll drop dead of shock.I use them once a week, one M5, M8 and M10 bo0lts and studs.
The drilled hole must be the diameter of the 50% centre length point of the stud extractor,.
So the first half of the stud extractor neatly slips into the drilled hole, (used as a guide to make sure stud extractor is straight)
Thus, the remaining "meaty" part of the stud extractor starts to do the work.
hairykrishna said:
Polly Grigora said:
Extractor broke in stud
I'm an optimist when it comes to extractors. No matter how many times I snap them or just use them as a tool to further fk up a stud I always have to have a go. One day one will work as intended and I'll drop dead of shock.
I've remembered another. I was the first uk owner of a high mileage JDM subaru legacy twinscroll. It hadn't been very well serviced so I gave it a good going over. Clean MAF, boost solenoid, oils and fluids, filters etc. I also took of the intercooler and gave it a good rinse to clean out any crud and replaced the "dog bone" engine mount with a new group N version.
When I got the registration from the dvla I headed off to have a first drive. As soon as I pressed the throttle the engine massively bogged down and chucked out loads of black smoke out the back. I got a mile down the road before it became undriveable.
I had to get recovered. But when I was waiting for the RAC I had a poke around under the bonnet and realised the turbo recirculation valve was only on finger tight. I walked home, grabbed some tools, fixed it and it ran perfectly.
When I got the registration from the dvla I headed off to have a first drive. As soon as I pressed the throttle the engine massively bogged down and chucked out loads of black smoke out the back. I got a mile down the road before it became undriveable.
I had to get recovered. But when I was waiting for the RAC I had a poke around under the bonnet and realised the turbo recirculation valve was only on finger tight. I walked home, grabbed some tools, fixed it and it ran perfectly.
Many years ago when I was 17 I had changed the oil on my first car, using the pit in the garage. To get into the garage you had to do a 90 degree left turn.
My dad had said he would do the same to his car, so I left it uncovered. He came home and swung into the garage where he normally parked like normal, and dropped a wheel into the pit.
Whoops!
My dad had said he would do the same to his car, so I left it uncovered. He came home and swung into the garage where he normally parked like normal, and dropped a wheel into the pit.
Whoops!
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