DIY Mechanics Fail Stories
Discussion
otherman said:
Fleckers said:
ha ha ok I should not laugh
Brake lights on my Opel Manta stopped working, I stripped the inside of the car out, rewired the car everything with my dad offering words of advice of have you checked the bulbs and fuse to wich I told him not to be so silly, a full weekends worth of stripping, rewiring and rebuilding the inside of the car and the lights still did not work, then my dad popped the fuse and said its blown
Doh at least the wiring was new......
I'm completely mystified by this. A bulb goes out so you assume its the wiring loom???Brake lights on my Opel Manta stopped working, I stripped the inside of the car out, rewired the car everything with my dad offering words of advice of have you checked the bulbs and fuse to wich I told him not to be so silly, a full weekends worth of stripping, rewiring and rebuilding the inside of the car and the lights still did not work, then my dad popped the fuse and said its blown
Doh at least the wiring was new......
I guess you have never been young, stupid and eager to prove to everyone you were a master mechanic, at least I took it apart and rebuilt it and it all worked
I've remembered another I posted about before,
My 1st car was a Metro that a local rally driver had built up complete with a very noisy exhaust. My Dad noticed the accelerator cable needed renewing & fitted a new one with me looking on/helping in his single Garage (doors shut as it was cold) When finished the car was started to test it and there was just a sudden almighty wall of noise hitting us - Yup the Enginneer Dad & apprentice Engineer son had somehow managed to set the throttle to full open. I'm sure that's why I still have slight hearing loss in one ear 20 odd years later !
My 1st car was a Metro that a local rally driver had built up complete with a very noisy exhaust. My Dad noticed the accelerator cable needed renewing & fitted a new one with me looking on/helping in his single Garage (doors shut as it was cold) When finished the car was started to test it and there was just a sudden almighty wall of noise hitting us - Yup the Enginneer Dad & apprentice Engineer son had somehow managed to set the throttle to full open. I'm sure that's why I still have slight hearing loss in one ear 20 odd years later !
Many moons ago, not me but the nephew of the workshop owner..
Tappets on his mini, cover off adjusting clearances. Cleverly he had clipped on a remote start button to turn the engine over rather than rock in gear. Not so cleverly he had left the car in gear and ignition on.... couple of clicks on the starter and it suddenly chugged forwards - and wedged it straight under a 4 post lift in front of it.
Another job, checking the fuel delivery on a renault master. Top off the carb, fuel line into a glass jar.
Gets me to hold the jar while he cranks the engine over. Suddenly the vapour in the cab ignites, he jumps back and knocks the jar out of my hands sending a small amount of petrol over the cab, seatbelts and my jumper. Luckily for me my jumper went out fairly easily and I had a small extinguisher in my car next to the van...
Before getting into mechanics my first car was a 1000cc mini. Proper POS. I had to do the timing chain and cover on it as it began to leak once the chain wore through it...
Did the job, car started!! Well chuffed. A few days later approaching a roundabout the engine stopped.
Much head scratching went on until I noticed the bottom pulley had fell off. Woodruff key had slipped out of the keyway and cam timing went out. Luckily the bolt was sitting on the subframe though I had to wait a few days for a new woodruff key...
Tappets on his mini, cover off adjusting clearances. Cleverly he had clipped on a remote start button to turn the engine over rather than rock in gear. Not so cleverly he had left the car in gear and ignition on.... couple of clicks on the starter and it suddenly chugged forwards - and wedged it straight under a 4 post lift in front of it.
Another job, checking the fuel delivery on a renault master. Top off the carb, fuel line into a glass jar.
Gets me to hold the jar while he cranks the engine over. Suddenly the vapour in the cab ignites, he jumps back and knocks the jar out of my hands sending a small amount of petrol over the cab, seatbelts and my jumper. Luckily for me my jumper went out fairly easily and I had a small extinguisher in my car next to the van...
Before getting into mechanics my first car was a 1000cc mini. Proper POS. I had to do the timing chain and cover on it as it began to leak once the chain wore through it...
Did the job, car started!! Well chuffed. A few days later approaching a roundabout the engine stopped.
Much head scratching went on until I noticed the bottom pulley had fell off. Woodruff key had slipped out of the keyway and cam timing went out. Luckily the bolt was sitting on the subframe though I had to wait a few days for a new woodruff key...
zedx19 said:
Changed the discs and pads on a mates Corsa, we drove down my street to check everything was ok, noticed the steering wheel wobbled a bit, didn't tighten up the wheel bolts lol
Weekend just gone, servicing the mrs 2004 Focus 1.6, dreaded drop links which everytime I try and change always end up rounding off the allen key. Done this so many times on my GTI-6 and the Focus suspension is near identical, so thought I'd get a decent socket attachement allen key. All was going well, until the bloody nut rounded off. Half hour of angle grinding the fook out the nut sorted it, not really a blunder, but bloody annoying! Why do they make drop links so damn hard to remove??
You need a nut splitter. Two minutes (admittedly, it takes some effort) with a ratchet and the nut will be cracked and will wind off easily.Weekend just gone, servicing the mrs 2004 Focus 1.6, dreaded drop links which everytime I try and change always end up rounding off the allen key. Done this so many times on my GTI-6 and the Focus suspension is near identical, so thought I'd get a decent socket attachement allen key. All was going well, until the bloody nut rounded off. Half hour of angle grinding the fook out the nut sorted it, not really a blunder, but bloody annoying! Why do they make drop links so damn hard to remove??
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000LFXN94/?tag=hydra0b...
May not be the 'professional' way to do things, but it works.
The simplest ones are the best - being a good son, I was changing my mum's wiper blades. Old one off, spring loaded arm up in the air. Leant across to take the other wiper blade off, the first wiper arm slams down leaving a good 8" crack across the bottom of the windscreen. Erm... mum, what's your windscreen insurance excess?
My little two stroke generator stopped working suddenly one day. The engine cut out and refused to start with all manner of persuasion.
It's a simple machine so I pulled, cleaned and re-gapped the spark plug. Next I removed the carburettor, completely dismantled cleaned and re-assembled it. When everything was back together I picked the genny up and thought 'this is a bit light' which caused a lightbulb in my brain to illuminate. Engines need petrol said a little voice. I checked the tank. Empty. A slosh from my can and a dab of two stroke later it was running beautifully.
Lesson learnt: if an engine runs out of petrol it stops!
It's a simple machine so I pulled, cleaned and re-gapped the spark plug. Next I removed the carburettor, completely dismantled cleaned and re-assembled it. When everything was back together I picked the genny up and thought 'this is a bit light' which caused a lightbulb in my brain to illuminate. Engines need petrol said a little voice. I checked the tank. Empty. A slosh from my can and a dab of two stroke later it was running beautifully.
Lesson learnt: if an engine runs out of petrol it stops!
Ouch. Not too many, luckily 
Years ago, the first and only time I made this cock-up, luckily on a motorbike, so not too much oil..but did an oil and filter change, and whilst pouring in 4 litres of expensive, brand new oil, was disappointed to see all this oil run straight out of the sump plug hole onto the floor. I hadn't replaced the bolt
A little more embarrassing and very recent. A mate gave me his Westfield XTR2 kit car to work on. He'd blown the motor on a track day due to the external oil scavenge pump belt failing. The motor is a Hayabusa 1300cc bike engine.
The cheapest and easiest route to repair (as the motor was well lunched) was for him to buy another complete Hayabusa bike and drop that round to me.
So I pulled the knackered old motor from the Westfield (which is a complete t
t to work on btw) and then stripped the bike for it's motor. This whole operation all took a week or two by the time he'd sourced a bike and brought it round.
I did take some pictures of the engine bay, but not really enough (in hindsight). So when I came to drop in the new motor, I THOUGHT I knew where all the hoses and connections went - but clearly didn't.
The thing wouldn't start - it did splutter a bit, but no joy. I tested the injector supply with noid lights - all fine. I checked the sparks - all fine. I checked the output of the fuel pump - also fine. I checked the fuel pressure at the exit of the fuel rail - didn't seem quite right to me...
It was only then that I realised I had connected the inlet and outlet fuel pipes straight to the injector rail, completely by-passing the fuel pressure regulator which was bolted to a frame behind the engine. I had thought the regulator was actually a coolant thermostat, so I'd connected the small coolant pipes through the bloody fuel pressure regulator! Hence I had the wrong fuel pressure, and coolant working it's way through a fuelling device.
Massive d'oh!
Years ago, the first and only time I made this cock-up, luckily on a motorbike, so not too much oil..but did an oil and filter change, and whilst pouring in 4 litres of expensive, brand new oil, was disappointed to see all this oil run straight out of the sump plug hole onto the floor. I hadn't replaced the bolt
A little more embarrassing and very recent. A mate gave me his Westfield XTR2 kit car to work on. He'd blown the motor on a track day due to the external oil scavenge pump belt failing. The motor is a Hayabusa 1300cc bike engine.
The cheapest and easiest route to repair (as the motor was well lunched) was for him to buy another complete Hayabusa bike and drop that round to me.
So I pulled the knackered old motor from the Westfield (which is a complete t
t to work on btw) and then stripped the bike for it's motor. This whole operation all took a week or two by the time he'd sourced a bike and brought it round.I did take some pictures of the engine bay, but not really enough (in hindsight). So when I came to drop in the new motor, I THOUGHT I knew where all the hoses and connections went - but clearly didn't.
The thing wouldn't start - it did splutter a bit, but no joy. I tested the injector supply with noid lights - all fine. I checked the sparks - all fine. I checked the output of the fuel pump - also fine. I checked the fuel pressure at the exit of the fuel rail - didn't seem quite right to me...
It was only then that I realised I had connected the inlet and outlet fuel pipes straight to the injector rail, completely by-passing the fuel pressure regulator which was bolted to a frame behind the engine. I had thought the regulator was actually a coolant thermostat, so I'd connected the small coolant pipes through the bloody fuel pressure regulator! Hence I had the wrong fuel pressure, and coolant working it's way through a fuelling device.
Massive d'oh!
I changed the clutch on my grandfathers car a few years ago using my uncles garage as he got a pit . He said his pride and joy vintage harley davidson would be fine in the back of the garage . Cue elderly grandfather getting in car with new clutch thus a new biting point equals one badly dented bonnet and a harley on its side along with my uncles expensive snap one tool chest .
When i was 17 i done an apprenticship in the local BRS fixing hgv's , one day we had a erf tractor unit up on the 4 poster ramp with the cab tilted forward . The driver left it in gear before tilting the cab so one of the fitters had a lucky escape when he went to start the engine and the truck lurched forward off the end of the ramp taking with it the workshop heater that was mounted in front of the ramp .
When i was young i was sat in my parents car while they went in a shop and i dropped a small screw i found in the cigarette lighter so i got a pliers and went to retrieve it , there were a lot of sparks before the fuse went and for some reason it burnt out most of the wire as well so my old man wasnt very happy with me lol
When i was 17 i done an apprenticship in the local BRS fixing hgv's , one day we had a erf tractor unit up on the 4 poster ramp with the cab tilted forward . The driver left it in gear before tilting the cab so one of the fitters had a lucky escape when he went to start the engine and the truck lurched forward off the end of the ramp taking with it the workshop heater that was mounted in front of the ramp .
When i was young i was sat in my parents car while they went in a shop and i dropped a small screw i found in the cigarette lighter so i got a pliers and went to retrieve it , there were a lot of sparks before the fuse went and for some reason it burnt out most of the wire as well so my old man wasnt very happy with me lol
Back in 08 i purchased a 306 D-Turbo for an epic Euro tour of 3 month proportions. In that respect it was great. When I returned I relocated from the South East back to Edinburgh for uni and it mainly sat doing nowt for close to a year. At some stage I had noticed extreme fogging of the windows and dodgy looking liquid in the passenger foot well, yup, heater matrix gone.
After reading up on how to replace it and feeling the sentimental pinch of my euro hog I decided it was worth driving it 360 miles to my old dears house in West Sussex where I would store it until I returned in slightly sunnier times to fix her up good and proper.
A heater matrix job on a 306 is a dash out. No problem thought me, I'll just take mental notes of where everything goes....
Managed to replace the matrix without too much hassle but fitting the dash back in was a complete ball ache and several of the electrics that were required for the MOT simply stopped.
I removed and refitted the dash 3 or 4 times all in before throwing the car on ebay and punting it for close to what the fuel cost to drive up and back from Scotland.
If only I'd thought to use a camera...
After reading up on how to replace it and feeling the sentimental pinch of my euro hog I decided it was worth driving it 360 miles to my old dears house in West Sussex where I would store it until I returned in slightly sunnier times to fix her up good and proper.
A heater matrix job on a 306 is a dash out. No problem thought me, I'll just take mental notes of where everything goes....
Managed to replace the matrix without too much hassle but fitting the dash back in was a complete ball ache and several of the electrics that were required for the MOT simply stopped.
I removed and refitted the dash 3 or 4 times all in before throwing the car on ebay and punting it for close to what the fuel cost to drive up and back from Scotland.
If only I'd thought to use a camera...
Try replacing the brake fluid with one of the calipers removed. Pumped the pedal a few times, then 'ding' as the piston parted company with the caliper and started rolling down the drive. What a cretin!
A moment of panic ensued, as I tried to get the piston back in past the rubber boot and failed several times. After calming down, used a short length of PVC sink drain pipe to hold the boot open and reunited the piston with the caliper.
Finished the job with the caliper reattached to the car!
A moment of panic ensued, as I tried to get the piston back in past the rubber boot and failed several times. After calming down, used a short length of PVC sink drain pipe to hold the boot open and reunited the piston with the caliper.
Finished the job with the caliper reattached to the car!
I've done a few daft things, but the one that my mates don't let me forget was when we lowered the suspension on my Corsa.
We finished swapping everything over and I was really eager to get the wheels back on and take it for a drive. Obviously I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have been!
We got half a mile down the road before hearing a loud metallic bang, and another half mile before there was a lot of wheel wobble and vibration.
I pulled into the conveniently placed pub car park to see the two rear wheels looking very loose, and the locking nut was nowhere to be found.
Only then did we realise that the noise further up the road was the locking wheel nut key leaving the rear wheel at about 50mph! Somehow I did manage to find the locking key in a hedge after about half an hour of searching.
I then dropped the same locking key down a drain a few months later whilst changing a rear wheel bearing.
We finished swapping everything over and I was really eager to get the wheels back on and take it for a drive. Obviously I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have been!
We got half a mile down the road before hearing a loud metallic bang, and another half mile before there was a lot of wheel wobble and vibration.
I pulled into the conveniently placed pub car park to see the two rear wheels looking very loose, and the locking nut was nowhere to be found.
Only then did we realise that the noise further up the road was the locking wheel nut key leaving the rear wheel at about 50mph! Somehow I did manage to find the locking key in a hedge after about half an hour of searching.
I then dropped the same locking key down a drain a few months later whilst changing a rear wheel bearing.
Lot of people dropping things down drains 
Remembered another one. On my first car the gearstick was really sloppy and wobbly. Jacked it up to have a look underneath and found the linkage to the bottom of the stick had loads of slack in it and the bolt (a shoulder bolt I was to discover) looked like it could just be tightened up. It couldn't and it snapped leaving the gearstick free to flap about without being attached to anything. Even better the car was still in gear and with it being a Sunday I had to cycle to work the next day then cycle to the Pug garage to buy another 90p nut and bolt. It was still sloppy but I just left it like that in the end.
Bleeding the cooling system of our 306 I ALWAYS drop the bleed cap things and never see them again because I somehow forget how hot the coolant gets when up to temp despite the gauge and burning myself every time I do it?
Remembered another one. On my first car the gearstick was really sloppy and wobbly. Jacked it up to have a look underneath and found the linkage to the bottom of the stick had loads of slack in it and the bolt (a shoulder bolt I was to discover) looked like it could just be tightened up. It couldn't and it snapped leaving the gearstick free to flap about without being attached to anything. Even better the car was still in gear and with it being a Sunday I had to cycle to work the next day then cycle to the Pug garage to buy another 90p nut and bolt. It was still sloppy but I just left it like that in the end.
Bleeding the cooling system of our 306 I ALWAYS drop the bleed cap things and never see them again because I somehow forget how hot the coolant gets when up to temp despite the gauge and burning myself every time I do it?
Super Slo Mo said:
zedx19 said:
Changed the discs and pads on a mates Corsa, we drove down my street to check everything was ok, noticed the steering wheel wobbled a bit, didn't tighten up the wheel bolts lol
Weekend just gone, servicing the mrs 2004 Focus 1.6, dreaded drop links which everytime I try and change always end up rounding off the allen key. Done this so many times on my GTI-6 and the Focus suspension is near identical, so thought I'd get a decent socket attachement allen key. All was going well, until the bloody nut rounded off. Half hour of angle grinding the fook out the nut sorted it, not really a blunder, but bloody annoying! Why do they make drop links so damn hard to remove??
You need a nut splitter. Two minutes (admittedly, it takes some effort) with a ratchet and the nut will be cracked and will wind off easily.Weekend just gone, servicing the mrs 2004 Focus 1.6, dreaded drop links which everytime I try and change always end up rounding off the allen key. Done this so many times on my GTI-6 and the Focus suspension is near identical, so thought I'd get a decent socket attachement allen key. All was going well, until the bloody nut rounded off. Half hour of angle grinding the fook out the nut sorted it, not really a blunder, but bloody annoying! Why do they make drop links so damn hard to remove??
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000LFXN94/?tag=hydra0b...
May not be the 'professional' way to do things, but it works.
Heater matrix went on my GTi-6, wasn't that hard a job, took me a day to get the dash out, replace the matrix and get most of the dash back in. Next day I finished the job and all was well, or so I thought, bloody switch for the brake lights had come loose so they no longer worked! From what I had read on the net, dash needed to come out again, somehow I managed to get my hand into the tightest of places and get the thing reattached!
RizzoTheRat said:
I part ex'd my 306 rather than change the heater matrix. Glad I dis reading that
Ah, the old heater matrix. Two weeks ago I had two problems with my Volvo. The matrix had gone and the drivers seat tilt mechanism wasn't working. Which should I fix first considering the MOT was due today? A seat which doesn't lock upright is a fail so I'll do that first. A quick look inside it reveals a snapped cable but judicious adjustment of the mechanism inside sees it lock in the upright position and the knowledge that it will stay there unless anyone operates the backup lever down behind the seat.Did the heater matrix which was took two evenings but all working. Result!
Car booked in for MOT yesterday and I told them about the seat not tilting. However it would seem that the first thing the mechanic did was to try the handles to tilt the seat with the result that it isn't locking upright and has failed the MOT... To be fair they said if I wanted to come and fix it I could but because the MOT expires today I haven't time and need to pay them for the part and for the labour to fit it.
Arse! If I'd done it properly it would have cost £8 for the cable. Now it's going to cost me closer to £100 with their labour charges.
Just remembered a tale about a Clio I had I decided to slam to the ground during my teenage days. It was a mk1 Clio 1.4 RT, they have torsion bars on back, no springs. So I bought 55mm drop springs for the front, which took me a day to fit. Next day I attempted the torsion bar, I removed the bars, jacked up the hub and measured 55mm to match the front, popped back in the bars and put the car back on its wheels to see the drop. Somehow, I'd measured wrong and the car went so low the part of the wheel dissapeared into the arch. Thing is, it was now getting dark and I was at work the next day, so had no choice but to leave it like that! Drove to work the next day, about a 30 mile commute, with it bouncing like fook on the bump stops, at times, so hard I got air in the drivers seat and whacked my head on the roof lining lol
That evening after work, in the dark, I set about raising and managed to get it set right to match the front. Was seriously dangerous though driving it on the bump stops, I wouldn't be surprised if the rear wheels left the ground at some point. Kept the car for 3 years like that, with absolutely no problems ever, sailed through each MOT, then sold it to a mate who wrote it off within a week, I was gutted!
Pics of said car below for us all to laugh at. At the time, I loved the car, when I look back now I think wtf is that spoiler, how times change!
That evening after work, in the dark, I set about raising and managed to get it set right to match the front. Was seriously dangerous though driving it on the bump stops, I wouldn't be surprised if the rear wheels left the ground at some point. Kept the car for 3 years like that, with absolutely no problems ever, sailed through each MOT, then sold it to a mate who wrote it off within a week, I was gutted!
Pics of said car below for us all to laugh at. At the time, I loved the car, when I look back now I think wtf is that spoiler, how times change!
Edited by zedx19 on Friday 12th October 10:54
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