DIY Mechanics Fail Stories
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Not my mistake but a garage caused me this heart attack on my Evo 6 , an errant bolt had fallen inside the water pump pulley
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=X8eN8iUlGgY
My worst one was wiring a mates car stereo to the side light circuit rather than ign live so his radio only worked at night
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=X8eN8iUlGgY
My worst one was wiring a mates car stereo to the side light circuit rather than ign live so his radio only worked at night
twink said:
No the fans were reconnected, should have made that a bit clearer. Look a bit further down.
Ah, sneaky edit! Yes I'd taken the heatshield to the garage to clean some of the rust from around the bolt holes before refitting it then promptly forgot about it.
Forgot to re-fill the radiator?Ah, sneaky edit! Yes I'd taken the heatshield to the garage to clean some of the rust from around the bolt holes before refitting it then promptly forgot about it.
loosely related
I was sat in the passenger seat of my mate Huws 205 road rally car some years ago during scrutineering. Anyone whos done road rallying will know what a fraught time this is with the capacity to end your planned nights activities there and then if anything sub par is found. The engine was running and he asked me to knock it off which I did. Moments later the scrutineer mentioned the fog light wasnt working.
Huw isn't the most mild tempered person at the best of times and after some minutes of franticly bumping the light, checking the bulb, checking the wiring having pulled most things out of the boot he was apoplectic with rage. Things were being thrown, words of which I've never heard the like of were being uttered. Looked like the end of his rally before it had started (but all paid for) because of dodgy peugeot wiring.
Turns out I'd knocked the ignition off rather than keeping it on acc. He turned the key onto acc and the fog light popped on.
Needles to say his first sentence started "Jim you ffffuuuuu...!"
I thought he was actually going to assault me
We still don't laugh about it
I was sat in the passenger seat of my mate Huws 205 road rally car some years ago during scrutineering. Anyone whos done road rallying will know what a fraught time this is with the capacity to end your planned nights activities there and then if anything sub par is found. The engine was running and he asked me to knock it off which I did. Moments later the scrutineer mentioned the fog light wasnt working.
Huw isn't the most mild tempered person at the best of times and after some minutes of franticly bumping the light, checking the bulb, checking the wiring having pulled most things out of the boot he was apoplectic with rage. Things were being thrown, words of which I've never heard the like of were being uttered. Looked like the end of his rally before it had started (but all paid for) because of dodgy peugeot wiring.
Turns out I'd knocked the ignition off rather than keeping it on acc. He turned the key onto acc and the fog light popped on.
Needles to say his first sentence started "Jim you ffffuuuuu...!"
I thought he was actually going to assault me
We still don't laugh about it
When I was 17, I changed the clutch on my Mini. Never done it before, not really having a clue about what I was doing! But I gave it a go anyway. Turns out I put something back in wrong. It was good enough to get me the 15 miles to work, but it failed on the way home on a busy dual carriageway, with no hard shoulder, at rush hour!!
I had to drive it without being able to disengage the clutch, which was fun! Changing gear with no clutch was difficult enough, but when I got to stop start traffic with nowhere to pull over, it was a complete nightmare. Eventually it all failed catastrophically! No drive at all, lots of banging and clattering. Turns out I'd put something back in the wrong way around (can't remember what now), the bearing has been destroyed and everything had to be replaced with new, again!
I had to drive it without being able to disengage the clutch, which was fun! Changing gear with no clutch was difficult enough, but when I got to stop start traffic with nowhere to pull over, it was a complete nightmare. Eventually it all failed catastrophically! No drive at all, lots of banging and clattering. Turns out I'd put something back in the wrong way around (can't remember what now), the bearing has been destroyed and everything had to be replaced with new, again!
Doing a bit of electrical DIY under the bonnet of my car to remove a tuning box, I needed to cut through a number of cable ties. I decided rather than go inside and get a chunky pair of scissors, I'd use the Stanley knife I had in the toolbox.
You know how sometimes whilst preparing meals with a very blunt knife, you use the knife to cut against your thumb? Well... The Stanley blade went quickly through the cable tie and alarmingly quickly through my thumb. Right along the side of my nail all the way up to the first joint. I now had a flap of detached finger almost an inch long alongside my thumb nail and a rather large amount of blood! Cue one trip to A&E...
Ouch.
You know how sometimes whilst preparing meals with a very blunt knife, you use the knife to cut against your thumb? Well... The Stanley blade went quickly through the cable tie and alarmingly quickly through my thumb. Right along the side of my nail all the way up to the first joint. I now had a flap of detached finger almost an inch long alongside my thumb nail and a rather large amount of blood! Cue one trip to A&E...
Ouch.
Me: Ed put the guard back on that grinder mate you'll lop a finger off if you aren't careful!
Ed: Nah mate i'll be fine leave me alone i know what i'm doing
Me: ! *head back inside to make a brew*
Less than two minutes later Ed sticks his head around the door
Ed: Can we go to A&E please mate i think i need some stitches!
Silly t
t cut from the top of his index finger all the way down to his hand! Was a lucky mane not have lost a finger!
Nurse called him a prick and stitched him up while i made fun of him...
Ed: Nah mate i'll be fine leave me alone i know what i'm doing
Me: ! *head back inside to make a brew*
Less than two minutes later Ed sticks his head around the door
Ed: Can we go to A&E please mate i think i need some stitches!
Silly t
t cut from the top of his index finger all the way down to his hand! Was a lucky mane not have lost a finger! Nurse called him a prick and stitched him up while i made fun of him...
After doing a bit of work to my mx5 it was time to lower it off the axle stands. To do this I have to lower it onto bricks as the trolley jack is taller than the ground clearance. Managed to get the back lowered and went onto the front. All was going well right up until the jack was low enough to not be supporting the cars weight. At this point I noticed one of the bricks was not aligned properly and the car rolled off the bricks and straight at me.
It's quite scary how much energy a car has, even when moving at such low speeds, as despite my best efforts I couldn't stop it rolling into the jack and scoring the bumper.
It's quite scary how much energy a car has, even when moving at such low speeds, as despite my best efforts I couldn't stop it rolling into the jack and scoring the bumper.
Gilhooligan said:
After doing a bit of work to my mx5 it was time to lower it off the axle stands. To do this I have to lower it onto bricks as the trolley jack is taller than the ground clearance. Managed to get the back lowered and went onto the front. All was going well right up until the jack was low enough to not be supporting the cars weight. At this point I noticed one of the bricks was not aligned properly and the car rolled off the bricks and straight at me.
It's quite scary how much energy a car has, even when moving at such low speeds, as despite my best efforts I couldn't stop it rolling into the jack and scoring the bumper.
The joy's of lowered cars hey, I always lower it as much as I can on the trolley jack then get the scissor jack under and jack it back up a tiny bit to make sure that supports the weight whilst I remove the trolley jack then lower it. It's quite scary how much energy a car has, even when moving at such low speeds, as despite my best efforts I couldn't stop it rolling into the jack and scoring the bumper.
Brother wanted me to change his thermostat on the Octavia. Quite an easy job, move some stuff out of the way, extensions and swivel joints and you're done.
Now, I quickly looked a diy guide and it stated that if you were quick, you can pull the thermostat out and replace it with the new one with minimal coolant loss.
You can imagine the rest.
Now, I quickly looked a diy guide and it stated that if you were quick, you can pull the thermostat out and replace it with the new one with minimal coolant loss.
You can imagine the rest.
98elise said:
You wont believe how many times I've used a grinder without my safety glasses........I'll think again.
My uncle used a rotary wire brush to buff a bit of corrosion off a wheel without glasses on, and is now virtually blind in one eye. Meks me a little more paranoid about such things now. Mind you it didn't stop him hooning round the TT track on mad sunday with his mrs on the back of his Fireblade.LeeThr said:
The joy's of lowered cars hey, I always lower it as much as I can on the trolley jack then get the scissor jack under and jack it back up a tiny bit to make sure that supports the weight whilst I remove the trolley jack then lower it.
Not a bad shout. I'll probably pick up another scissor jack next time I'm at the scrappies. Gilhooligan said:
LeeThr said:
The joy's of lowered cars hey, I always lower it as much as I can on the trolley jack then get the scissor jack under and jack it back up a tiny bit to make sure that supports the weight whilst I remove the trolley jack then lower it.
Not a bad shout. I'll probably pick up another scissor jack next time I'm at the scrappies. 
My Mum had a Seat 133 when I was younger [in actual fact they were a re hashed Fiat 850] with the engine in the boot. My mate and I decided to give it a bit of a tune up and happily messed about with the dizzy and timing etc. While doing this I thought the external connections on the dizzy looked a little scruffy so I cleaned them with a wire brush and smeared it all in copperslip to prevent further corrosion.
We couldn't get it to start and eventually my Old Man came home and unimpressed with my efforts told me to crank it while he turned the dizzy to get it to fire. He stuck his head under the boot lid and after a second it caught so I gave it a blip and wondered to the back to see my Old Man, electrically bound to the dizzy with his left hand and smashing the top of his head into the underside of the boot lid every time it fired. He was actually dribbling as he tried to swear at me while "requesting" that I turn it off, problem was with his headbanging antics and such a hefty voltage he couldn't get his words out coherently.
I did get the message but knew that as soon as he was free I'd be subject to a hefty dose of vengeance so I was too afraid
, I was also trying not to wet myself laughing, because all said and done it was really bloody funny, eventually [it seemed like ages but wasn't long at all], my mate took pity, turned it off and we legged it while he calmed down a little!I've got another one and work is dead today... Replacing the standard shagged suspension on my mx5. Instead of separating the hub from the top wishbone, like you should, I used a set of crap ebay special spring compressors. Managed to get one out and had almost done the next when one of the compressors slipped off. It flew off the spring with such force that it wedged itself in the wheel arch leaving two dents and scraping the under seal off.
Wouldn't like to think what damage that would have done to my face which was only about two feet away. The rest of the springs met a noisy spark filled end with an angle grinder!
Wouldn't like to think what damage that would have done to my face which was only about two feet away. The rest of the springs met a noisy spark filled end with an angle grinder!
Currently sat looking at my trusty shed 406 sat on axel stands on my drive.
NSF road spring snapped last week. used a disc cutter to get the spring off the strut and thought ... Ill get some springs and do it myself.
Car is currently sat on the drive, no strut / hub or drop link, cannot get the spring on, so plan is to refit tonight (in the rain) and drive to the garage (1 mile away) with no spring very, very, very slowly and get them to change both fronts
NSF road spring snapped last week. used a disc cutter to get the spring off the strut and thought ... Ill get some springs and do it myself.
Car is currently sat on the drive, no strut / hub or drop link, cannot get the spring on, so plan is to refit tonight (in the rain) and drive to the garage (1 mile away) with no spring very, very, very slowly and get them to change both fronts
Edited by JVaughan on Thursday 7th March 15:07
A colleague at work years back had a old DB6 that he was restoring. A confirmed DIYer, he decided to take on the task of repairing the leaking fuel tank.
Dave is a safety engineer, so does things "properly". The stripped out fuel tank was left in the garden with the hose running water through it for a few hours to get rid of any residual petrol and vapour, before he set it up on the work bench in the garage and started welding. The heat must have liberated more petrol vapour out of the rust and scale inside the tank, because there was a god almighty bang that blew all the garage windows out. Dave was propelled backwards out of the garage and landed on his arse on the driveway.
He was deaf for a few days, had a sore arse and had to buy a new petrol tank as the old one had blown up like a football then ripped open along a seam.
JVaughan said:
Currently sat looking at my trusty shed 406 sat on axel stands on my drive.
NSF road spring snapped last week. used a disc cutter to get the spring off the strut and thought ... Ill get some springs and do it myself.
Car is currently sat on the drive, no strut / hub or drop link, cannot get the spring on, so plan is to refit tonight (in the rain) and drive to the garage (1 mile away) with no spring very, very, very slowly and get them to change both fronts
Can you hire a spring compressor for a day? Or is it more complicated than that?NSF road spring snapped last week. used a disc cutter to get the spring off the strut and thought ... Ill get some springs and do it myself.
Car is currently sat on the drive, no strut / hub or drop link, cannot get the spring on, so plan is to refit tonight (in the rain) and drive to the garage (1 mile away) with no spring very, very, very slowly and get them to change both fronts
Edited by JVaughan on Thursday 7th March 15:07
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