DIY Mechanics Fail Stories
Discussion
Went on a road run with a large group of other car club folk, got halfway round the planned route of the day and the Manta died, no fuel being injected.
Got towed back to my workshop where I set about changing the fuel pump, this did not cure it, so I changed the fuel pump relay, no again, went back to the pump and checked the wiring, all seemed good so I decided that there must be a break in the 12V feed to the pump, took the interior out of the car and followed the wire from pump all the way to the fuse box where I found the fuel pump fuse had got old and grown some fur on the end so it was not making a good contact.
wiggled the fuse and the car started first time.
Lesson learnt: try the simple stuff first.
Got towed back to my workshop where I set about changing the fuel pump, this did not cure it, so I changed the fuel pump relay, no again, went back to the pump and checked the wiring, all seemed good so I decided that there must be a break in the 12V feed to the pump, took the interior out of the car and followed the wire from pump all the way to the fuse box where I found the fuel pump fuse had got old and grown some fur on the end so it was not making a good contact.
wiggled the fuse and the car started first time.
Lesson learnt: try the simple stuff first.
Left the windscreen wiper next to the telephone to remind me to buy another then went to work for the week. Came back got in the car thought mmm, screen looks mucky, I'll just... Nooooooooooo. s
t. nice curved scratch across the screen as the metal arm does 5 'wipes'. FIVE bloody wipes. Must get a programmable one...
Another was when I was tinkering under the boot lid, checking the oil and topping up, saw a nice red thing go whizzing by making a wonderful noise so quickly shut the bootlid, jumped in and away. He was long gone and I came back in after only a brief drive to find a bit of blue smoke from the engine... I had forgotten to put the oil cap back on! DOH! Still, no corrosion in the engine bay...
Both of these in a Lotus Esprit...
t. nice curved scratch across the screen as the metal arm does 5 'wipes'. FIVE bloody wipes. Must get a programmable one...Another was when I was tinkering under the boot lid, checking the oil and topping up, saw a nice red thing go whizzing by making a wonderful noise so quickly shut the bootlid, jumped in and away. He was long gone and I came back in after only a brief drive to find a bit of blue smoke from the engine... I had forgotten to put the oil cap back on! DOH! Still, no corrosion in the engine bay...
Both of these in a Lotus Esprit...
Brigand said:
At the beginning of the year my Alfa GTV failed its MoT on a rusty back box, front wheel bearing going and rear brakes not working properly.
Easy fixes I thought.
Slipped new Cherry Bomb tailpipe on the rear, cleaned the rear calipers, un-stuck one of the pistons and put fresh pads on. Next job was to do the wheel bearing.
I went to test the brakes after fitting the new pads, and was confused when the pedal stayed spongy. I looked out the door to see an expanding puddle of brake fluid on the garage floor. Upon inspection I had managed to knock one of the brake line unions where they go into a small cube whilst I was fitting the back box.
I had no way of fixing the union myself on the garage floor, and the car couldn't be driven anywhere to repair it. Faced with an expensive bill to get it towed to a garage, I threw in the towel and flogged it on eBay.
Then there was the time many years ago I went to change the rocker cover gaskets on my Mazda MX-6. When putting the front-bank's lid back on, I found I was one washer missing, so I replaced it with one in my toolbox.
I found it when I started the engine up, it was still inside the block rattling about and making a lot of noise. Pretty much wreaked that nice V6. So it was off to the scrappy with that rusty bucket of bolts!
Aaaah, Mikey, nice to hear your stories of woe!Easy fixes I thought.
Slipped new Cherry Bomb tailpipe on the rear, cleaned the rear calipers, un-stuck one of the pistons and put fresh pads on. Next job was to do the wheel bearing.
I went to test the brakes after fitting the new pads, and was confused when the pedal stayed spongy. I looked out the door to see an expanding puddle of brake fluid on the garage floor. Upon inspection I had managed to knock one of the brake line unions where they go into a small cube whilst I was fitting the back box.
I had no way of fixing the union myself on the garage floor, and the car couldn't be driven anywhere to repair it. Faced with an expensive bill to get it towed to a garage, I threw in the towel and flogged it on eBay.
Then there was the time many years ago I went to change the rocker cover gaskets on my Mazda MX-6. When putting the front-bank's lid back on, I found I was one washer missing, so I replaced it with one in my toolbox.
I found it when I started the engine up, it was still inside the block rattling about and making a lot of noise. Pretty much wreaked that nice V6. So it was off to the scrappy with that rusty bucket of bolts!
I changed an oil pressure switch on a 1 year old house (rented) tarmac driveway. When the switch was out I decided to walk around to the drivers seat and start her up(why I still don't know to this day)!! You can imagine the scene;oil absolutely funnelling out of the hole, all over the tarmac! I had to leave the car on the drive when I had the place inspected prior to moving out. Mostly to hide the massive oilstain!!
I had my fair share of mishaps. The most painful involved checking the oil on my rover mini (innocuous so far) level all fine, close the bonnet, jump in, start her up and remember I didn't put the dip stick back in. No problem I think so I hop out engine still running, lift the bonnet and put the dip stick back only I forgot it had been raining so the instant my hand touched the wet HT leads 50000 volts went through me. Think I must have jumped 3 feet. I had to give it 20 minutes before I drove off.
Certainly not my most expensive mistake but the one that sticks in my mind.
Certainly not my most expensive mistake but the one that sticks in my mind.
Faust66 said:
iva cosworth said:
I have recently replaced the fuel pump on the Cosworth and now my fuel guage is stuck at
zero with light on.
I believe i should have held the guage sender "arm" up while dropping it back into
the tank and it got stuck in the fuel collector thing in tank.
Out comes the tank again or drive without guage and fill up regularly
I feel your pain: replaced the fuel pump on my XR4x4 a couple of weeks ago... horrible, filthy job (tank was had 20 litres of fuel in and I was to lazy to siphon it out which made the job so much easier!).zero with light on.
I believe i should have held the guage sender "arm" up while dropping it back into
the tank and it got stuck in the fuel collector thing in tank.
Out comes the tank again or drive without guage and fill up regularly
I'd zero the tip meter and use that to gauge how much fuel you've got in the tank.
Why did Ford not put an access panel in the boot floor?
I didn't have the special tool to remove the pump unit [who has ?]
The large ring is all rusty and twisted when i undid it with a blunt chisel n hammer,so i had
doubts as to whether it would do up properly.
One of the tank straps is also very weak so will have to be replaced before it snaps.
I could go on for hours about how i made a hash of a simplish job.
And i also had 3/4 of tank and managed to spill very little of it.
Set about trying to change the wiper arm on my lotus Elise. Over tightened the restraining nut on the first one and the soft metal loop which cuts in to the spline on the motor crumbled (so had to throw brand new wiper arm out). Put old arm back and ordered new arm.
The following weekend put the replacement one on, lifted up wiper arm to replace blade and slipped - the wiper arm slammed in to windscreen cracking the screen. Had to take car to auto glass for them to fit a new screen (which is tricky on an Elise as its a front clam off job). All for a new £10 wiper arm...
The following weekend put the replacement one on, lifted up wiper arm to replace blade and slipped - the wiper arm slammed in to windscreen cracking the screen. Had to take car to auto glass for them to fit a new screen (which is tricky on an Elise as its a front clam off job). All for a new £10 wiper arm...
littlebasher said:
Removing the steering wheel from an old VW camper, i made the simple mistake of not putting the retaining nut on loose before trying to yank it off.
After a lot of pulling and twisting it came off......right into my nose.
On the plus side, this was in a VW breakers and the owner on seeing my nice broken nose gave me the wheel for free.
Ouch, but LOL. After a lot of pulling and twisting it came off......right into my nose.
On the plus side, this was in a VW breakers and the owner on seeing my nice broken nose gave me the wheel for free.
My hippy friend Steve, many years ago, trying to replace the holed rear exhaust box on his rusty heap of a car. Undid the U-bolt and the hanging bracket, but couldn't free up the rusty connection to the exhaust centre section. So he smoked a fat one for inspiration and had a smart idea.
Heavy duty rope tied to the rear exhaust box, plenty of slack and the other end secured to a lamp post. Steve accelerated away, the rope snapped taut and ripped the whole exhaust system off the car, right up to the connection to the manifold, damaging the engine mountings in the process. Oh how we laughed.....
In my early motoring days I had a TR7 (yes yes, I know - but I was 20 years old and it was a 2 seater, so uber cool in my young mind 
). I noticed the voltmeter was dropping over a period of a few days and the battery would need recharging. "I'm a petrolhead, I know about these things", I thought. Straight off to Halfords for a new and typically overpriced battery, which was a serious expense for me in those days. No change, voltmeter still dropping. "Tried tightening the fan belt?" asked a more experienced friend of my Dads. Uh, well, no. That sorted it - no cost and 5 minutes. What a tt!
My first ever resto project was a Datsun 260Z, which I never actually finished. Bit off more than I could chew and being only 22 at the time and somewhat new to serious car work - I spent my budget on nice alloys, new body panels, new seats, body kit etc., and then realised I should perhaps have saved some for chassis legs, floor pan and so on. I did get quite far with it but eventually lost interest and sold it unfinished. (DVLA database shows the car is still alive and taxed though, which I find pleassing). Anyway, having detailed and perfected the engine and bay I decided to refit my newly polished and detailed cam cover. Not having a new gasket I elected to use that orange instant gasket stuff. That worked a treat, but bonded like some sort of space age glue, and I never did manage to get the cover off again.
Made the loose wheel nut mistake myself many years ago on a Toyota Celica Supra. Only discovered it after about 200 miles of motorway, which included serious leptons showing my brother-in-law what it could do! Started hearing odd noises from the back and eventually decided to investigate, only to find all the wheel nuts coming off on both back wheels. Fortunately none lost, tightened them all up properly and carried on. Frightening thing is I had my future wife, brother-in-law and sister all in the car with me, could have ended very badly that. Lesson learnt.
Had a Rover SD1 Vanden Plas EFi (posh version of the Vitesse) which started losing oil pressure about a mile from home. Got out to see oil coming out from the front of the engine bay. "That's the oil pump gasket gone" I thought. Got a mate to tow me home and then spent many hours removing and and rebuilding the pump with upgraded spring etc., bh of a job. Refilled with Mobils finest expensive synthetic and started it up only to watch the new oil exit by the same route as before. It was now I decided to actually look for the leak instead of assume, and found one of the short hoses to the front mounted oil cooler was split - a 10 minute job to replace 
). I noticed the voltmeter was dropping over a period of a few days and the battery would need recharging. "I'm a petrolhead, I know about these things", I thought. Straight off to Halfords for a new and typically overpriced battery, which was a serious expense for me in those days. No change, voltmeter still dropping. "Tried tightening the fan belt?" asked a more experienced friend of my Dads. Uh, well, no. That sorted it - no cost and 5 minutes. What a tt!My first ever resto project was a Datsun 260Z, which I never actually finished. Bit off more than I could chew and being only 22 at the time and somewhat new to serious car work - I spent my budget on nice alloys, new body panels, new seats, body kit etc., and then realised I should perhaps have saved some for chassis legs, floor pan and so on. I did get quite far with it but eventually lost interest and sold it unfinished. (DVLA database shows the car is still alive and taxed though, which I find pleassing). Anyway, having detailed and perfected the engine and bay I decided to refit my newly polished and detailed cam cover. Not having a new gasket I elected to use that orange instant gasket stuff. That worked a treat, but bonded like some sort of space age glue, and I never did manage to get the cover off again.
Made the loose wheel nut mistake myself many years ago on a Toyota Celica Supra. Only discovered it after about 200 miles of motorway, which included serious leptons showing my brother-in-law what it could do! Started hearing odd noises from the back and eventually decided to investigate, only to find all the wheel nuts coming off on both back wheels. Fortunately none lost, tightened them all up properly and carried on. Frightening thing is I had my future wife, brother-in-law and sister all in the car with me, could have ended very badly that. Lesson learnt.
Had a Rover SD1 Vanden Plas EFi (posh version of the Vitesse) which started losing oil pressure about a mile from home. Got out to see oil coming out from the front of the engine bay. "That's the oil pump gasket gone" I thought. Got a mate to tow me home and then spent many hours removing and and rebuilding the pump with upgraded spring etc., b
h of a job. Refilled with Mobils finest expensive synthetic and started it up only to watch the new oil exit by the same route as before. It was now I decided to actually look for the leak instead of assume, and found one of the short hoses to the front mounted oil cooler was split - a 10 minute job to replace 
Howard- said:
CDP said:
My dad had to replace the steering box on his '64 VW camper.
The suppliers had given him a LHD unit by mistake.
It fitted but turning the wheel left made the van go right....
LOL I missed this The suppliers had given him a LHD unit by mistake.
It fitted but turning the wheel left made the van go right....
Imagine living with it for a while, then trying to sell it.
"So there's something you should bear in mind when driving it..."
Many years ago. Gas welding a patch on a rusty floor from underneath, someone says 'phone call for you'. I look round, moving the gas torch across the back of my ungloved hand. I think 'ouch' and twitch, sticking the white hot welding rod into my thigh. Which stung, and made me twitch violently, which made my head contact an exhaust U bolt violently and between the eyes.
I can't remember which hurt most, the crispy hand, bloody head, metal filed leg or the laughing audience. bds.
I can't remember which hurt most, the crispy hand, bloody head, metal filed leg or the laughing audience. b
ds.
iva cosworth said:
Jus remembered a painful one from a LONG time ago.
Changing clutch on MK2 RS2000.
Trying to pullout clutch alignment tool,it's a bit stiff.
It comes out suddenly i pull my head back quickly and bang it on the garage floor
Thanks for giving me a painful reminder of this one. Changing clutch on MK2 RS2000.
Trying to pullout clutch alignment tool,it's a bit stiff.
It comes out suddenly i pull my head back quickly and bang it on the garage floor
Simple story, I am under the car changing the rear ARB, when I see someone walk past the back of my car. At the same time, someone shouts 'Alright' or words to that effect. I think its the guy behind the car, so I instinctively try to sit up. Head makes contact with a hard piece of metal, then the reaction sends me back down to the floor. Two big bruises for the price of one!
Had to change a radiator on my clio 182, job went perfectly. (using my mates ramp) sent it up in the air, running to check for any leaks... ofcourse I forgot it locks itself and I only had the one key... Always remember, smash the passenger side window so you don't have to sit on glass while driving to order a new window. There was probably another way to get in the car, but i'd already done it, so please nobody tell me it would've been really simple now!
Working on my old landrover in the garage.
Need to lift it so attach the chain block to the roof and attach it to the chassis and start lifting.
Discover the roof is bending down and the landrover isn't going up
Thankfully it is a metal framed workshop so a day with the welder and all fixed
Need to lift it so attach the chain block to the roof and attach it to the chassis and start lifting.
Discover the roof is bending down and the landrover isn't going up
Thankfully it is a metal framed workshop so a day with the welder and all fixed
Nothing particularly exciting I have to admit.
Changing the wipers on my bangernomic E34 when the wiper arm pinged back to leave a rather lovely crack on the windcreen which increased in size over the course of the year before I punted it on.
Changing the brake pads on the E30 managed to strip the brake carrier meaning a 1/2 hour job leff the car stranded for over 2 weeks until the new (second hand) part was sourced.
Ford Ka which had (obviously) never had its spark plugs changed. Twist...twist...crack. Half the plug left in the block. Needed some cunning with a hammer and 'EZ-out' but managed to sort it (eventually).
There are innumerable parts which I have struggled with and eventually broken and had to replace. Mostly it's a result of frustration. Partially it's as a result of a hammer.
Changing the wipers on my bangernomic E34 when the wiper arm pinged back to leave a rather lovely crack on the windcreen which increased in size over the course of the year before I punted it on.
Changing the brake pads on the E30 managed to strip the brake carrier meaning a 1/2 hour job leff the car stranded for over 2 weeks until the new (second hand) part was sourced.
Ford Ka which had (obviously) never had its spark plugs changed. Twist...twist...crack. Half the plug left in the block. Needed some cunning with a hammer and 'EZ-out' but managed to sort it (eventually).
There are innumerable parts which I have struggled with and eventually broken and had to replace. Mostly it's a result of frustration. Partially it's as a result of a hammer.
I spent an entire YEAR, sourcing parts and rebuilding the engine on my Renault vel satis, that had destroyed the big ends at only 75000 miles.
Job finally complete and it just would not start.
It took a further 3 weeks to discover that I had forgotten to connect the earth for the ecu...
Job finally complete and it just would not start.
It took a further 3 weeks to discover that I had forgotten to connect the earth for the ecu...
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