Top car DIY tip

Author
Discussion

Ian974

2,927 posts

198 months

Friday 25th May 2018
quotequote all
Always double check and think about what you're doing, even if you've done it a few times before.
That will avoid you installing an engine and gearbox, getting halfway through connecting everything up again and then realising you've forgotten the clutch release bearing...

boyse7en

6,671 posts

164 months

Friday 25th May 2018
quotequote all
When replacing the intercooler on a turbo diesel, make sure the bottom hose clip is done up properly, in case it comes loose 5 miles from home putting the car in to limp home mode so it will only do about 20mph and creating a smokescreen for several miles behind it that a WW1 dreadnought on full flanking manoeuvre would be proud of.

Speed addicted

5,561 posts

226 months

Friday 25th May 2018
quotequote all
When assisting with an oil change on a mates car, on his (extremely houseproud) parents drive, ensure that the sump bolt is actually in the sump rather than sitting on top of the engine when you re-fill.

This will prevent a hurried trip to the nearest petrol station for more oil, then a trip to the local supermarket for loads of fairy liquid to clean the drive, then a 20 year coverup.

A coverup that was utterly ruined by the mates brother/best man at his wedding and involved an extremely hard stare from the mates mother...

B'stard Child

28,321 posts

245 months

Saturday 26th May 2018
quotequote all
InitialDave said:
swisstoni said:
Do not be tempted to Hot Rod your angle grinder!
Even though you have run out of the small disks and only have big disks left to finish one last bit of metal cutting.
The unfamiliar amount of torque may make the tool rear up and make a fair attempt at slicing your sternum.
Though I have got an actual helpful tip on that front, even if that isn't the spirit of the thread: A 9" disc, once worn down to the point of uselessness on the big grinder, fits nicely on a 4.5" machine.
And in the spirit of helpful tips Slitting discs on an angle grinder become useless before they are fully worn out which is slightly annoying

I bought an air powered cut off tool - It came with a 2mm thick cutting disc so after that one died I looked at my slitting disc wastage

Trouble was they didn't fit

So an adapter was needed



Adapter shown removed



Also shown full size 1mm slitting disc - a worn one that I can re-use and a fully used one for comparison purposes



My biggest issue is I don't use it enough and my stock of discs is probably a bit excessive



In fairness the stock of discs was down to me doing this to my track car



Edited by B'stard Child on Saturday 26th May 11:41

wack

2,103 posts

205 months

Saturday 26th May 2018
quotequote all
It's advisable to carry a spare litre of oil for top ups , however placing it on top of an already full front door pocket isn't a good idea, especially if just after parking nose first into the workshop it falls on the floor and you don't notice, then when leaving there's a loud POP as you reverse over it spraying 1l of oil in a very fine but very fast mist covering the 2 mechanics stood in front of you with oil and leaving 2 man shaped clean silhouettes on the wall behind them

swisstoni

16,850 posts

278 months

Saturday 26th May 2018
quotequote all
Quality.

QBee

20,904 posts

143 months

Saturday 26th May 2018
quotequote all
wack said:
It's advisable to carry a spare litre of oil for top ups , however placing it on top of an already full front door pocket isn't a good idea, especially if just after parking nose first into the workshop it falls on the floor and you don't notice, then when leaving there's a loud POP as you reverse over it spraying 1l of oil in a very fine but very fast mist covering the 2 mechanics stood in front of you with oil and leaving 2 man shaped clean silhouettes on the wall behind them
rofl

AWRacing

1,710 posts

224 months

Saturday 26th May 2018
quotequote all
Ian974 said:
Always double check and think about what you're doing, even if you've done it a few times before.
That will avoid you installing an engine and gearbox, getting halfway through connecting everything up again and then realising you've forgotten the clutch release bearing...
hehe been there, done that too!
It was only when my uncle piped up asking if this (the clutch release bearing) was required - he’d waited quietly, knowing full well i’d forgotten to install it, until i was about to refill the coolant system before commenting...

Fastpedeller

3,848 posts

145 months

Saturday 26th May 2018
quotequote all
Working on a 1972 Vauxhall Viva HC ......Testing for good spark whilst engine is running, removing a plug lead and the high tension is earthed by the wedding tackle touching the wing of the car!!

QBee

20,904 posts

143 months

Sunday 27th May 2018
quotequote all
Fastpedeller said:
Working on a 1972 Vauxhall Viva HC ......Testing for good spark whilst engine is running, removing a plug lead and the high tension is earthed by the wedding tackle touching the wing of the car!!
Top tip - always test spark plugs with your clothes on yes

CDP

7,454 posts

253 months

Sunday 27th May 2018
quotequote all
Plate spinner said:
tr7v8 said:
Plate spinner said:
Never let the battery go flat on a 986 Porsche Boxster. Ever.

The key will open the door to let you in. But the battery is in the boot, which needs the electrics to open. So to get to it you’ll have to take the whole mechanism apart along with most of the drivers side door sill.

Madness, utter madness.
Or use the emergency cable?
Car was parked up tight against a wall on the passenger side.
And anyway, the jack to get the wheel off was... well, you know where it was.

Edited by Plate spinner on Monday 9th April 08:31
Couldn't you have botched up a (fused) charging lead that goes into the cigar lighter socket or even an interior light? That way you'd get enough power to the car to activate the boot latch?

You can buy chargers that plug into the 12V socket these days. I wouldn't expect a fast charge but it would certainly help under these circumstances. I can't help thinking for a lot of owners it would be far more convenient too.

Justin S

3,637 posts

260 months

Sunday 27th May 2018
quotequote all
When doing an oil change for the first time in your ownership on a diesel 535 Beemer, dont assume that the usual 5ltr drain pan will have enough room to accommodate 7 to 71/2 ltrs of oil .
Always keep cat litter in the garage to mop any black oil off your white concrete drive and not be 30 mins away.
Luckily a mate did this all on his own.

Berkshire bred

985 posts

74 months

Sunday 27th May 2018
quotequote all
Another one from me, recent I'm shamed to admit. When jacking a mk2 mx5 to carry out brake refurbishment do not put your trolley Jack on a hot tarmac driveway and attempt to up the car. The car will not move but you will end up with a perfect imprint in your driveway of the underside of your Jack.

Also when spray painting remember that all of the paint does not magically stop at the object you are intending to paint. It in fact covers everything behind the suspended object and makes a complete fking mess.

Finally slightly OT but when faced with a conjealed tin of linseed oil do not them think 'no problem' grab your wax melter with large flamed candle in and sit linseed recepticle on top. This will result in an impressive explosion, fairly unpleasant burns up both arms and a permanent reminder of your idiocy/incompetence everytime you walk past the oil stains 7ft up on the wooden garage door.

CDP

7,454 posts

253 months

Sunday 27th May 2018
quotequote all
wack said:
It's advisable to carry a spare litre of oil for top ups , however placing it on top of an already full front door pocket isn't a good idea, especially if just after parking nose first into the workshop it falls on the floor and you don't notice, then when leaving there's a loud POP as you reverse over it spraying 1l of oil in a very fine but very fast mist covering the 2 mechanics stood in front of you with oil and leaving 2 man shaped clean silhouettes on the wall behind them
Excellent.

clapclapclapclapclapclapclap

My top tip is to remove the carpet from the area on the other side of the bit of floor you are welding. Or at least have plenty of water to put out the ensuing fire....


mph999

2,714 posts

219 months

Sunday 27th May 2018
quotequote all
After draining oil, put sump plug back in before refilling. oh and do not grasp hold of HT leads on a running engine ...

Edited by mph999 on Sunday 27th May 13:12

phazed

21,844 posts

203 months

Sunday 27th May 2018
quotequote all
McFarnsworth said:
tr7v8 said:
Plate spinner said:
Never let the battery go flat on a 986 Porsche Boxster. Ever.

The key will open the door to let you in. But the battery is in the boot, which needs the electrics to open. So to get to it you’ll have to take the whole mechanism apart along with most of the drivers side door sill.

Madness, utter madness.
Or use the emergency cable?
Or hook up starter cables to the spare terminal located in the fusebox under the dash? (not sure a 986 has that though, a 987 definitely has it)
I made up a simple poss and neg fly lead from an old phone charger.

Just plug it into the cigarette lighter and connect your trickle charger for an hour. You will have enough power to open up everything.

Did this many years ago on my TVR as it has an electric boot release and the battery is in the boot!

mebe

292 posts

142 months

Sunday 27th May 2018
quotequote all
It is always wise to fix a problem when it first appears, particularly if the problem is an auto gearbox oil leak from the union where it meets the cooling radiator on a 1978 Granada 2.8i.

Under no circumstances should you ignore the problem and get into the habit of topping the oil up. I would particularly recommend not ignoring the fault for 6 months in case the weekly large top up amount becomes an ingrained habit.

Avoid also, noticing joyfully that if you apply a little bend to the union you can reduce the rate of oil loss substantially. If you must do this please factor this into your topping up schedule.

If you can, refrain from adding that final litre of auto oil upon leaving work in Milton Keynes before creating immense and dangerous dense clouds of smoke on the M1.

At this point you should probably avoid pulling onto the hardshoulder to debate how to get the excess oil out in order to continue your journey. Never listen to the voice in your head that says "well if I just bent the union the other way a bit it would start leaking again, surely that will help?".

If you must do this, do not attempt this "repair" with the engine running whilst lying under the front of the car to see what you are doing and definitely do not apply such enthusiastic force that the crack in the union opens properly, coating your face hair and most of your clothing in hot, pressurized and extremely smelly gearbox oil. Walking a couple of miles to the services with oil dripping from your hair and face and attempting to clean it in the gents before calling a recovery truck is also to be avoided.

Pica-Pica

13,621 posts

83 months

Sunday 27th May 2018
quotequote all
Ian974 said:
Always double check and think about what you're doing, even if you've done it a few times before.
That will avoid you installing an engine and gearbox, getting halfway through connecting everything up again and then realising you've forgotten the clutch release bearing...
That is the mechanic’s version of the carpenters’s ‘measure twice, cut once’ commandment.

MB140

4,027 posts

102 months

Sunday 27th May 2018
quotequote all
medieval said:
When slamming the bonnet shut always make sure you have not left anything on top of the rocker cover/cam covers/ radiator/ insert as necessary...
Yep I know this one. My first ever car 1994, finished a service and changed the air box/filter setting over to winter.

Dropped bonnet from a great height as the bonnet catch was crap late at night and dark.

Missed the screwdriver I had left on top of the air filter housing. Que lots of swearing and a nasty screwdriver shaped dent in the bonnet.

MB140

4,027 posts

102 months

Sunday 27th May 2018
quotequote all
Helped a mate replace the steering box on his old vw camper van and do a front end sub frame refresh.

Top tip don’t fit the subframe with the steering arm not above it.

Vw in their wisdom designed the system so that if the nut were to come off there isn’t enough room for it to jump out (hits the floor pan before the ball jointed bolt can come out. Brilliant safety idea but if you forget you have to drop the whole front subframe again to get it in place.

Pissed off we were not.