Dumb things you've done working on a car?

[matty88]

I hate it when you lie under a car working on it and a big chunk of oil and dirt decides to fall into your eyes. Not happy

[Tom_1569]

I hate it when you lie under a car working on it and a big chunk of oil and dirt decides to fall into your eyes. Not happy

Had that happen to many times, and with contact lenses its a pain in the ass, caus you gotta take em out and clean them and your hands so thoroughly, then get back to the car

[DANNY8]

Haven't yous heard of safety glasses? lol

It use to happen to me a lot as well.....it really sucked, especially when ya couldn't get the crap out and you'd have to work with one eye until it sorted itself out haha.....but yeah I use safety glasses now

[feistl]

Got a couple of stories (Ill start with stories of other people...)

Was helping my GF service her car, and too her credit she was trying hard and was geniuinely interested.... Anyway after draining the oil and changing the filter i had to go inside to take a phone call, i left her in charge of filling the oil up.

I came out 20 minutes later to find she had the exact right levels, but she had filled it up via the dipstick pipe. Had taken her 20 minutes with a funnel. I didnt actually have the heart to tell her at the time....

Ive done a couple of silly things, starting the car in gear (with a new battery the car really jumps foward). Broken the pully tensioner (didnt know it was reverse thread).

Few weeks ago while trying to change the fuel tank on my VR i was trying ot get the car on the wheel ramps. Im not sure how hard it is with an auto, but with a manual it was proving difficult. On the 3rd attempt i gave it a little much, the wheels spun around and shot the ramps out from under neith, and the car dropped 30cm. Sitting in teh drivers seat watching 2 ramps go flying past on either side was interesting, luckily no damage done.

A while back my car had some damage and i hadnt driven it in a while. Anyway the battery went flat so i thought id roll start it. Did the usual trick going down the hill and the damn thing wouldn't start. So had to push the car back to the top several times... Finally gave up and purchased a new battery. Still wouldn't start, turns out the battery in the key had gone flat and the immobilizer was preventing the car starting.

Cant remember too many other stupid things, I'm sure ill think of some (or do stupid **** in the future).

[Pimpn1]

loving these stories, i was undoing sump plug on L300 mits express 83 van (metal stone guard) well lets say hand slipped sliced finger knuckle open, 3 stitches later. done the push start thing, forgot to turn key to "ON" position.
the other day i changed engine mount on 323 mazda, forgot to tighten it up, take off and bang. cracked rubber engine mount

[sixshooter]

I remember another thread started along the theme of this...

I let a mate swap a clutch in an old Torana and he put the clutch plate in back to front and it stuffed the flywheel.

Same mate also used a gas flame thrower to paint strip the wheels on his motorbike... I rode it after it was all repainted, the heat had buckled the wheels and it tankslapped at anything over 60km/hr...

I remember one thing I did that was stupid... I overinflated the tyres (retreads) to 40kpa on a crapbox corolla to improve fuel usage... the tyres buckled on the rims and it rode down the street like a clown car... mate said it looked like the wheels were about to fall off from behind.

[pow3rslave]

my pop used to be a mechanic on planes during the war, and i gotta say, some of the stuff i saw him do to his corolla, i'd never want to be in the sky in something he'd worked on.

2 of the ones that come to mind were had his car up on bricks as axle stands, under it, they gave way and the car fell on him, i reckon if there had been more travel in the suspension he'd have been a goner, but fortunately he somehow managed to get out of it with a broken nose (that's where it landed)

and the second was just that he had a huge problem with never wearing goggles when doing dremel/ grinding work and got metal filings in his eyes a couple of times, apparenlty they pulled them out (the eye nerves must have some slack) to clean round the back, because there was risk of the shards cutting his optic nerves.

oh and there was the time his throttle cable had too much slack, cut it and tied it.

all good until the thing wouldn't go when he was out driving, good thing no on the freeway

[shaunzo101]

I've also done a few silly things too...
At the fuel station one night i decided to check the level in my cooling system of my vr because i noticed there was no coolant in the overflow tank, i thought it had plenty of time to cool down so i confidently started unscrewing the radiator cap and bang! The coolant shot out and soaked my shirt with coolant so i was standing there with hot coolant all over me and a green water fountain coming out of my car. I learned my lesson and i shake when i take it off now.

Also when i was replacing the throttle body gaskets to fix a vacuum leak just today, i took my while taking it all off and taking out the old, flat broken gaskets then re-assembled it all again. As i hop back into the car to start it up to see how she goes, right there on the passenger is the new gaskets i bought sitting in the packages. Sigh!

[jas98]

Also when i was replacing the throttle body gaskets to fix a vacuum leak just today, i took my while taking it all off and taking out the old, flat broken gaskets then re-assembled it all again. As i hop back into the car to start it up to see how she goes, right there on the passenger is the new gaskets i bought sitting in the packages. Sigh!

hahaha your stuff up made me laugh......but yeh i cant say that i have never d one something similar though so don't feel bad

[DANNY8]

Well tonight we got my VK wagz running for the first time since the rebuild. Wasn't getting spark.....turns out I forgot to put the rotor arm in lol.

[maginoodle]

Well tonight we got my VK wagz running for the first time since the rebuild. Wasn't getting spark.....turns out I forgot to put the rotor arm in lol.

ive done that before

[Victimiza]

bit hungover, decided to change my oil on my sloped driveway using ramps.... the ramps slid out from underneath the wheels and the car was being supported by my fibreglass sideskirts!

had to jack the car up to get them out, and until this day the side skirts are damaged

[Jesterarts]

Forgot to tighten a shock bolt once...

Only did it up hand tight and forgot about it once I did the other shock...

Bolt fell out shock dropped and grinded of abit of the Mounting ring meat.

Went I went back for the bolt there was a 6 car pile up and my bolt had a lil yellow police tag next to it so i figured I would jst go and buy a new one...

[Sabbath']

Got a nice lovely tingly/warm feeling in my hands and feet when a bonnet fell and cracked me over the back of the head because the bonnet stay wasnt there so wedged a piece of wood in there and it came loose

[jas98]

Forgot to tighten a shock bolt once...

Only did it up hand tight and forgot about it once I did the other shock...

Bolt fell out shock dropped and grinded of abit of the Mounting ring meat.

Went I went back for the bolt there was a 6 car pile up and my bolt had a lil yellow police tag next to it so i figured I would jst go and buy a new one...

haha dam!!...turn around and ..DON'T look back

but yeh how did ya know it was the bolt that had the tag beside it?

[part_time_hero]

locked my keys in the car while i left it running to check for crack in head gasket, stupid thing is i didnt even think to disconnect the battery.

[Jesterarts]

I don't know it was the bolt for sure!! like i didn't get off my bike pick it up and check the part number...

Ok, rephrase:

There was a bolt and washer that looked EXACTLY like a rear shock bolt from a VX commodore laying on the ground with a lil police tag next to it... lol

[HyperVR]

lol now i don't feel quite as dumb heh I changed my front and rear brake pads last year took me an hour to do the first one (had never seen it done b4) anyways after the front drivers side was done i rushed to the next ones finished the job brakes worked GREAT but i could hear a strange grinding noise now and again the next day driving to work it went on for 2 days till i cracked it and took drivers side centre cap off only to have an entire stud with nut fall out onto the ground and the rest of the nuts loose and about to fall off lmao i drove for like 3 days or so at speeds upto 110 with a wheel done up by hand i forgot to do the damn things up after dropping it back down heh 45 bucks later shes all sweet! (sorry for the long story lol most people get a laugh outta it heh)

[UNKNOWN]

Think I knocked myself out the other day! Was doing the front bushes, tryin to undo the radius rod/control arm bolt with my torque wrench when... BAM.. realize I have my head in my hands with my wrench in my lap! Shook it off, then few min later I wipe some sweat off of my head then look at my hand and think 'oh crap, must've cut myself'! wipe it and nothing! Wipe my head again and whadaya know! Bust it open! Haha, was sore as for a few days after!

[jas98]

I don't know it was the bolt for sure!! like i didn't get off my bike pick it up and check the part number...

Ok, rephrase:

There was a bolt and washer that looked EXACTLY like a rear shock bolt from a VX commodore laying on the ground with a lil police tag next to it... lol

lol haha yeh well a new bolt sounded like the best option there:P

[96VS]

Years back on my first car (a hyundai was a hand-me-down). I decided the shockies needed replacing with the help of my dad. I was undoing some bolts underneath the shocky, while dad undid the bolt up top under the bonnet. He succeeded and the whole spring whipped into action and gave my hand a nice whack and a gash.
Years later when I got my VS, the shockies needed doing again. My neighbour has the exact same car and is generally a mechanical whizz. Not this time. With his help, I was at the point where the link bar had to come off and dutifully undid the nut but found it quite hard, and stuck my hand in there to see why it wouldnt slip of the last bit of thread. It came off alright, pinning my thumb under the wieght of the front end. Turns out he forgot to actually jack up the other side (the jack was there...just not raised). Lost the nail for a good 6 months, but kept the thumb.
I am scared of working on front suspensions now...and my sway bar bushes need replacing ... any volunteers?!?!

[Emackulation]

Once I left my engien cover bolts ontop of the headlight and then closed the hood and took her for a strap! When I came home and went to put the covers back on I realised what I had done with the bolts and they were gone forever!

[sleek_vp]

nah iv never done anything dumb to do with cars coz i dont like to fix stuff ups so i try to remember to do sh!t right the first time

[cxcxcxvcvcvc]

In addition to electrocuting myself with a modified power drill:bash: i once locked myself in the boot of my vs calais (scared the witts outta me) i was installing an amp for my subs, and the boot struts where worn and i didnt have anything to hold the boot lid up as a safety measure and the lid stayed up most times by itself ect ect.. so i started installing my amp and my concentration lapsed and next thing...THUD>>:S boot lid was closed, no keys on me so couldnt unlock with remote button, and it was pitch black, oh and very very quiet(as the calais has sound deadening in the boot) started to yell out to the missus !!HELP!!HELP!! but i knew she wouldnt hear me, and i could feel that claustraphobia creepin on up..especially when i could here my breathing in the quiet darkness kinda like what it would feel like to be burried alive anyway my eyes focused a little and i looked and realised that if all else fails i could kick the middle part of the back seat in to get out so i felt relieved!! but the i thought WAIT i might be able to get out with the boot cable so i started to pull the moulded carpet of the boot lid felt inside the boot and found the cable, then pulled it and CLICK!! WAS FREE but overall lesson learned;thumbsup: but a very scary way to learn! i spose i was lucky the car was parked under the garage and not in the sun!

[JD]

Ive done a few stupid things and had a few stupid things done to me.

Being a wheel aligner and loosing off a tie rod end, the amount of times ive hit my hand against the hoist would be in the thousands.

I have a permanent dent in my RH middle finger-nail thanks to me crushing my finger against a spare tyre and the mounting spot for the jack in a magna.

Also on my RH middle finger i have a permanent lump because the new guy at my old work decided to raise the hoist while i was still putting the rubber blocks under a car to raise it, its suprising how much blood can come out your fingers in 5 seconds