DIY Mechanics Fail Stories
Discussion
When I built my first kit car with a Ford Zetec, the engine sat around for a few years while I built the car before it was installed, and I put a slimline sump on it for ground clearance.
Eventually I got the point of starting the engine, and with the help of a friend we spent the best part of 1/2 a day trying to get some sort of oil pressure reading when cranking before actually firing it up, with no results - oil pressure was always zero. My mate even resorted to blowing oil into the pump or sucking oil up or something still with no luck,but managed to get a mouthfull of oil in the process.
In the end we dropped the sump and found still attached the piece of gaffer tape that I'd used to cover the oil pickup a couple of years earlier to prevent any dust getting in.
He was not impressed.
Eventually I got the point of starting the engine, and with the help of a friend we spent the best part of 1/2 a day trying to get some sort of oil pressure reading when cranking before actually firing it up, with no results - oil pressure was always zero. My mate even resorted to blowing oil into the pump or sucking oil up or something still with no luck,but managed to get a mouthfull of oil in the process.
In the end we dropped the sump and found still attached the piece of gaffer tape that I'd used to cover the oil pickup a couple of years earlier to prevent any dust getting in.
He was not impressed.
Changed the oil and filter. All good. Started the car, waited for it for 10-15 seconds at idle. Engine started to sound tappy. Switched off to find that mess on the floor.
After removing the Halfords filter, I found the seal that mates it to the block was damaged. It’s now got a Bosch filter and oil from the motor factors and is fine so nothing wrong car side.
So either I damaged the seal or I didn’t notice it was damaged.
And now I have a f
ked blockwork drive in my temporary rental house. fk
After removing the Halfords filter, I found the seal that mates it to the block was damaged. It’s now got a Bosch filter and oil from the motor factors and is fine so nothing wrong car side.
So either I damaged the seal or I didn’t notice it was damaged.
And now I have a f
ked blockwork drive in my temporary rental house. fkeltax91 said:
Changed the oil and filter. All good. Started the car, waited for it for 10-15 seconds at idle. Engine started to sound tappy. Switched off to find that mess on the floor.
After removing the Halfords filter, I found the seal that mates it to the block was damaged. It’s now got a Bosch filter and oil from the motor factors and is fine so nothing wrong car side.
So either I damaged the seal or I didn’t notice it was damaged.
And now I have a fked blockwork drive in my temporary rental house. fk
Buy yourself a couple of dozen blocks and replace one at a time. Easy to do, then a bag of sharp sand to refill the gaps.After removing the Halfords filter, I found the seal that mates it to the block was damaged. It’s now got a Bosch filter and oil from the motor factors and is fine so nothing wrong car side.
So either I damaged the seal or I didn’t notice it was damaged.
And now I have a f
ked blockwork drive in my temporary rental house. fkAlternatively try brake cleaner in a spray bottle, I have had good results with that, but it is a big area!
Doofus said:
eltax91 said:
Not as messy as this one from my weekend. 
I'm trying to work out how exactly you managed that 
However, not pictured, the whole left side of my upper body splattered in oil. NEARLY dropped the drain plug into the pan, I reflexively changed my hand position and flicked backwards towards myself to catch it, must've caught all of about 20ml of hot oil and flicked that back too right on to my face/left shoulder. Not my brightest moment.
Doofus said:
I'm not laughing, but I did raise a slight smile. We've all been there, or somewhere similar 
I have some very large, old, flattened cardboard boxes that I keep in the garage and put on the ground covering the area between the front wheels and extending forward to the front bumper and back to the rearmost part of the gearbox when I do an oil change. Ask me why I do this? eltax91 said:
C4ME said:
Checked and topped Fiat 500 up wth oil ready for 6 hour round trip to airport and had placed oil cap on top of engine whilst doing it. Forgot to replace it and closed bonnet. Drove to airport and then around town for next 3 weeks wondering at the increasing smell of oil (thought I might have overfilled it a bit and it would burn off). Eventually opened bonnet tto investigate to find oil cap still on top of engine (it was trapped there by foam mat on underside of bonnet) and oil everywhere inside engine compartment. And I mean everywhere. That was a messy job to clean up!
Not as messy as this one from my weekend. eltax91 said:
Changed the oil and filter. All good. Started the car, waited for it for 10-15 seconds at idle. Engine started to sound tappy. Switched off to find that mess on the floor.
After removing the Halfords filter, I found the seal that mates it to the block was damaged. It’s now got a Bosch filter and oil from the motor factors and is fine so nothing wrong car side.
So either I damaged the seal or I didn’t notice it was damaged.
And now I have a fked blockwork drive in my temporary rental house. fk
Did a similar thing as a young lad helping my dad service his car before we went on holiday. I didn’t notice the seal from the old filter stuck to the oil pump so when I started the engine the seal blew out and sprayed Duckhams Hyper grade all over him. He was not pleased but Mum thought it was very funny!After removing the Halfords filter, I found the seal that mates it to the block was damaged. It’s now got a Bosch filter and oil from the motor factors and is fine so nothing wrong car side.
So either I damaged the seal or I didn’t notice it was damaged.
And now I have a f
ked blockwork drive in my temporary rental house. fkMy first post, hello all. I've had a few chuckles reading all 29 pages of this thread - thank you.
I was taking advantage of my parents' lovely dry spacious double garage to underseal my 1989 Ford Escort, one Sunday evening prior to a 110 mile drive home for work next morning. A nice easy stress free job. I'd had the car up on axle stands at the rear, and had just jacked up the car to remove the stand and admire a job well done. All tidied up and packed away, and I swung the car out of the garage to hear a CRUNNNNCCCHHH. Got out, looked under the car to see a yellow piss of petrol pouring out of the tank where a forgotten axle stand had punctured a hole in the tank. AGGGGHHH so like the Little Dutch boy from Haarlem I put my finger in the hole while my dad rummaged around in the shed and came out with a tube of my late grandfather's JB Weld, and we rather optimistically slapped a load over the gash. Never in 1,000,000 years did I think it would a) Set and b) Keep petrol at bay for 2 seconds let alone 110 miles back home. Well I was to be proved wrong as not only did it set rock hard and leak free, the following weekend I decided to change the tank as couldn't live with the worry (a horrible job from what I remember). Once I had the old tank off I was amazed at how the JB Weld was almost impossible to remove once set and I am sure my repair would have outlasted the car!
first car i ever had after passing my test at 18 (now 50) was an old chevette, was rough as hell to look at but including tax and insurance and the car cost the sum of 400 quid. , one morning went out to find a flat tyre so had to change it. out comes the jack, was jacking it like mad but it wasnt lifting, couldnt understand it until i opned the car door to find the jack had gone right through the floor. the car was rotten as hell.
jumare said:
hooblah said:
eltax91 said:
And now I have a fked blockwork drive in my temporary rental house. fk
Just cover the rest of it in oil so it matches ked blockwork drive in my temporary rental house. fkAs for my plan for the moment. My FiL is a time served machine tool engineer. He’s given me some industrial cleaner to try. If this doesn’t work I’ll try the suggested non bio washing powder trick.
Many years ago when I was a student, I ran a 2.0 Capri MKIII. It developed two problems. The hinge on the bonnet safety catch wasn't seating right, so bent on the slam panel and snapped when trying to straighten (always remember to use heat!). No problem the main catch was fine. Second problem was a sticky solenoid on the starter. Intermittent and easily cured by smacking it with a 2 ft length of 2x2.
Both were due to be fixed on my next visit home, dad had got hold of a replacement bonnet catch and a starter at the local scrap yard.
Anyway in town with the girlfriend. Click click nothing. Very embarrassed had to get the bit of 2x2 out and smack the starter. Bingo. No problem. In my hurry/embarrassment to get going I didn't close the bonnet properly. Main catch did not engage....... 1 mile up the road as we entered the NSL bonnet wrapped itself over the roof. Bent the bonnet, dented both quarter panels but surprisingly no damage to the roof, windscreen or wipers. Bonnet and underwear needed replacing.
Phone call to dad to go back to the scrap yard and get a bonnet. £20 result! (It was 1993).
Managed to jam the bonnet back into place and tie it there..... drove it 120 miles home a couple of weeks later for repairs
Both were due to be fixed on my next visit home, dad had got hold of a replacement bonnet catch and a starter at the local scrap yard.
Anyway in town with the girlfriend. Click click nothing. Very embarrassed had to get the bit of 2x2 out and smack the starter. Bingo. No problem. In my hurry/embarrassment to get going I didn't close the bonnet properly. Main catch did not engage....... 1 mile up the road as we entered the NSL bonnet wrapped itself over the roof. Bent the bonnet, dented both quarter panels but surprisingly no damage to the roof, windscreen or wipers. Bonnet and underwear needed replacing.
Phone call to dad to go back to the scrap yard and get a bonnet. £20 result! (It was 1993).
Managed to jam the bonnet back into place and tie it there..... drove it 120 miles home a couple of weeks later for repairs
Edited by TriumphStag3.0V8 on Monday 10th September 17:21
not quite on topic as it was at work but
Our fuelling machine has a large grab with hooks that extend to lift the spent fuel out of the reactor. The grab is about 1.5 meters long and about 250mm in diameter. The body casing is in two halves and has a 2mm gap down each side.
On top is a box of accelerometers that measure any impacts to detect for faults, I was trying to work out why they kept failing and was meant to be watching the mech replace it. Being practical, I got involved and started to undo the nuts holding the pack inplace. Removed the last nut, but no washer ?
Maybe it never had one ?, Hum, whats that small round bit of metal wedged halfway down the grab body, just visible through the slit.
Arrgh !!!! WHY OH WHY, i could have just watched !!, sat there, bored but safe, but no I had to 'help'
Now, the reactor is at low power and is costing about £50K an hour to sit at this load waiting for us to repair the machine. So do I, pretend not to see it and carry on, no chance, if it jams the grab when connected to spent highly irradiated nuclear fuel, we would be shutdown for 12 months, do I come clean and tell engineering and get the grab stripped down (two days work and £2M in lost output) or, do I thread this handy nut locking wire through the slit to stop the washer falling any further, then thread another bit down with a hook on the end. All while dressed in contamination C2 overalls and marigold gloves (hence why i dropped it in the first place)
Well, i managed to hook it and pull it up until it was almost our, then it jammed, arrrgh again ! all i could do is give it a real yank and hope it was still on the end of the hook.
boy was i relived when i saw it was still attached.
Swore the mech to secrecy, fitted the new pack and completed the refuelling.
Lesson learnt, when at work, unless its your job, leave it to the fitters
Our fuelling machine has a large grab with hooks that extend to lift the spent fuel out of the reactor. The grab is about 1.5 meters long and about 250mm in diameter. The body casing is in two halves and has a 2mm gap down each side.
On top is a box of accelerometers that measure any impacts to detect for faults, I was trying to work out why they kept failing and was meant to be watching the mech replace it. Being practical, I got involved and started to undo the nuts holding the pack inplace. Removed the last nut, but no washer ?
Maybe it never had one ?, Hum, whats that small round bit of metal wedged halfway down the grab body, just visible through the slit.
Arrgh !!!! WHY OH WHY, i could have just watched !!, sat there, bored but safe, but no I had to 'help'
Now, the reactor is at low power and is costing about £50K an hour to sit at this load waiting for us to repair the machine. So do I, pretend not to see it and carry on, no chance, if it jams the grab when connected to spent highly irradiated nuclear fuel, we would be shutdown for 12 months, do I come clean and tell engineering and get the grab stripped down (two days work and £2M in lost output) or, do I thread this handy nut locking wire through the slit to stop the washer falling any further, then thread another bit down with a hook on the end. All while dressed in contamination C2 overalls and marigold gloves (hence why i dropped it in the first place)
Well, i managed to hook it and pull it up until it was almost our, then it jammed, arrrgh again ! all i could do is give it a real yank and hope it was still on the end of the hook.
boy was i relived when i saw it was still attached.
Swore the mech to secrecy, fitted the new pack and completed the refuelling.
Lesson learnt, when at work, unless its your job, leave it to the fitters
Edited by Gary C on Monday 10th September 19:54
Gary C said:
not quite on topic as it was at work but
Our fuelling machine has a large grab with hooks that extend to lift the spent fuel out of the reactor. The grab is about 1.5 meters long and about 250mm in diameter. The body casing is in two halves and has a 2mm gap down each side.
On top is a box of accelerometers that measure any impacts to detect for faults, I was trying to work out why they kept failing and was meant to be watching the mech replace it. Being practical, I got involved and started to undo the nuts holding the pack inplace. Removed the last nut, but no washer ?
Maybe it never had one ?, Hum, whats that small round bit of metal wedged halfway down the grab body, just visible through the slit.
Arrgh !!!! WHY OH WHY, i could have just watched !!, sat there, bored but safe, but no I had to 'help'
Now, the reactor is at low power and is costing about £50K an hour to sit at this load waiting for us to repair the machine. So do I, pretend not to see it and carry on, no chance, if it jams the grab when connected to spent highly irradiated nuclear fuel, we would be shutdown for 12 months, do I come clean and tell engineering and get the grab stripped down (two days work and £2M in lost output) or, do I thread this handy nut locking wire through the slit to stop the washer falling any further, then thread another bit down with a hook on the end. All while dressed in contamination C2 overalls and marigold gloves (hence why i dropped it in the first place)
Well, i managed to hook it and pull it up until it was almost our, then it jammed, arrrgh again ! all i could do is give it a real yank and hope it was still on the end of the hook.
boy was i relived when i saw it was still attached.
Swore the mech to secrecy, fitted the new pack and completed the refuelling.
Lesson learnt, unless its your job, leave it to the fitters
I think that scared me quite a lot...Our fuelling machine has a large grab with hooks that extend to lift the spent fuel out of the reactor. The grab is about 1.5 meters long and about 250mm in diameter. The body casing is in two halves and has a 2mm gap down each side.
On top is a box of accelerometers that measure any impacts to detect for faults, I was trying to work out why they kept failing and was meant to be watching the mech replace it. Being practical, I got involved and started to undo the nuts holding the pack inplace. Removed the last nut, but no washer ?
Maybe it never had one ?, Hum, whats that small round bit of metal wedged halfway down the grab body, just visible through the slit.
Arrgh !!!! WHY OH WHY, i could have just watched !!, sat there, bored but safe, but no I had to 'help'
Now, the reactor is at low power and is costing about £50K an hour to sit at this load waiting for us to repair the machine. So do I, pretend not to see it and carry on, no chance, if it jams the grab when connected to spent highly irradiated nuclear fuel, we would be shutdown for 12 months, do I come clean and tell engineering and get the grab stripped down (two days work and £2M in lost output) or, do I thread this handy nut locking wire through the slit to stop the washer falling any further, then thread another bit down with a hook on the end. All while dressed in contamination C2 overalls and marigold gloves (hence why i dropped it in the first place)
Well, i managed to hook it and pull it up until it was almost our, then it jammed, arrrgh again ! all i could do is give it a real yank and hope it was still on the end of the hook.
boy was i relived when i saw it was still attached.
Swore the mech to secrecy, fitted the new pack and completed the refuelling.
Lesson learnt, unless its your job, leave it to the fitters
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