Dumb things you've done working on a car?

[jas98]

I made up a tool the other day to hold the crank balancer with while undoing the crank balancer bolt.

I used an old motorbike clutch basket holding tool modified to suit. It had a 10mm round handle so I thought ok it should be strong enough. Then I proceeded to bend the handle like a piece of licorice while trying to undo the nut. So I looked up the workshop manual to see what the torque settings were.... *270-325 Nm... Hahah !!! then I gave up cause my torque wrench only goes up to 200Nm so it was pointless trying to take it off when I cant torque it up agian. The car is booked into a mechanic for next week to get the crank seal changed... :P !

most mechanics just tighten them up as best the can...it aint gonna come off....i have done heaps and never tightened them up that much just enough to make it tight as when the engine is on its always tightening the bolt...if you know what i mean lol

[gemini]

I remember once when i had my VB, i installed an electronic fuel pump. I would ALWAYS forget to turn it on ( had a secret switch ) and run out of fuel half way up the street lol.

I ended up ****ing it off.

Another time, me and my brother inlaw were doing the head gaskets and when it came time to torque the bolts up, they kept snapping way before the magic number. We found out we were reading the wrong format. We had to do them up in Nm but used something else ( not sure what ) but we were over tightening them by 5X!!!

Rebuilt the quadrajet only to have forgotten to install the damn floaty thing. Happened a few times lol.

[ucwepn]

Was servicing my vl ready to fit new filter and oil and WHOOPS wrong bloody filter LOL, had to scab a lift to ricebarn oh the shame

Fitted tacho dash to vl auto and the new cluster didn't have speedo sender circuit coz it was from a manual car lol, had to pull it all out again as it wouldn't kick down at all, fitted my orig speedo to new cluster and plugged it in LOL

[Cheap6]

I made up a tool the other day to hold the crank balancer with while undoing the crank balancer bolt.

I used an old motorbike clutch basket holding tool modified to suit. It had a 10mm round handle so I thought ok it should be strong enough. Then I proceeded to bend the handle like a piece of licorice while trying to undo the nut. So I looked up the workshop manual to see what the torque settings were.... *270-325 Nm... Hahah !!! then I gave up cause my torque wrench only goes up to 200Nm so it was pointless trying to take it off when I cant torque it up agian. The car is booked into a mechanic for next week to get the crank seal changed... :P !

most mechanics just tighten them up as best the can...it aint gonna come off....i have done heaps and never tightened them up that much just enough to make it tight as when the engine is on its always tightening the bolt...if you know what i mean lol

At the risk of getting off topic: The tool that Holden used to suggest dealers make or to have made to hold the balancer while removing or replacing the bolt is based on a length of 25mm square, 5mm wall thickness RHS. That should be an indication of the strength required of it.

The way to use a torque wrench with a maximum range too low to reach ~300Nm is to mark the bolt and the balancer before you undo it then loosen the bolt before retensioning it, using the torque wrench, to a nominal value within the range able to be measured. Then measure the difference in angle between the marks on the bolt and the balancer.

When putting the balancer on, tighten the bolt up enough to seat the balancer on the end of the crank before torquing the bolt up to the nominal value from before. Then tighten the bolt so as to either match the marks up again (old balancer refitted) or add the same angle as was measured before (new balancer).

(The balancer keyway should be cleaned and have sealant applied to it also so as to prevent a leak.)

[sixshooter]

Cheers cheap6 ! I'll remember that !

[jas98]

At the risk of getting off topic: The tool that Holden used to suggest dealers make or to have made to hold the balancer while removing or replacing the bolt is based on a length of 25mm square, 5mm wall thickness RHS. That should be an indication of the strength required of it.

The way to use a torque wrench with a maximum range too low to reach ~300Nm is to mark the bolt and the balancer before you undo it then loosen the bolt before retensioning it, using the torque wrench, to a nominal value within the range able to be measured. Then measure the difference in angle between the marks on the bolt and the balancer.

When putting the balancer on, tighten the bolt up enough to seat the balancer on the end of the crank before torquing the bolt up to the nominal value from before. Then tighten the bolt so as to either match the marks up again (old balancer refitted) or add the same angle as was measured before (new balancer).

(The balancer keyway should be cleaned and have sealant applied to it also so as to prevent a leak.)

yesss....the correct way jks :P either way they (harmonic balancers) are a bitch haha

[Callie6lt]

LMAO nah people are coming around with the stripes. Its a cult following i tells ya!! Im thinking ill take them off and put thunder bolts over it next HAHAHAHAHAHA

lol what are thunder bolts???

[LightningVP]

The worst thing I have done was try to take off an oil filter...besically my first time touching a car....mum told me it unscrewed anti-clockwise....tried as hard as i could, wouldn't loosen, ended up getting a screwdriver and hammer and smashing the screwdriver into the filter and trying to take it off like that...wouldn't budge...about 10 mins from the time I started, the filter was nearly in 2 pieces and my step dad comes out and tells me im going the wrong way...So I try the other way again (I had tried earlier bt didn't do anything) and eventually got it off :|

next: Today I was changing brake pads, when 1 bolt wouldn't undo (Ye I was doing it the right way...first time the bolt has been off for AGES...well 25$ and 2 ratchets later (Snapped the tip off the first one, the destroyed the plates in the second so it just spins around without stopping) I got it off...

[vnv8driver]

i heard a rumor when i was 14 or so that wrapping copper wire around your 02 sensor yields a bit more power, im a bit wiser than i was then!

[Callie6lt]

bought the girlfriend a skyline a few months back, 1 day the passenger window would not wind down, after checking the fuses (3 different fuse boxes) pulling the door trim out twice got 3 different m8s to check it out (including a 3 year auto sparky) i got the manual out and turned off the passenger window lock!!!

[Cody]

i left my phone on the roof of my car the other day when i was cleaning the carpet in my boot i think, anyway i drove home from the car wash and couldn't find it anywhere so i tried ringing it and hear it outside, went outside and it had slid off my roof, down my back window and it was wedged between my boot spoiler and my boot lol, lucky

[LightningVP]

gotta love those spoilers :P

[HRVATSKI_VOJNIK]

repainting the car hood, the paint didn't come out even (some flat and gloss spots)
so i bought a spray can of gloss from super cheap, sprayed the hood
that just made it worse, i prayed polishing it would make it all gloss finish, that didn't help either

then my dad came home and told me i had to sand it all off,
he said he'll repaint (he used to paint cars for work experience), that was 4 months ago

[Deutscher]

haha, mann I love hearing these stories aye! makes me feel better knowing I'm not the only one.

[Sabbath']

next: Today I was changing brake pads, when 1 bolt wouldn't undo (Ye I was doing it the right way...first time the bolt has been off for AGES...well 25$ and 2 ratchets later (Snapped the tip off the first one, the destroyed the plates in the second so it just spins around without stopping) I got it off...

This is why you use spanners, not ratchets

[LightningVP]

This is why you use spanners, not ratchets

don't have any spanners

[jas98]

dunno if i have already posted this but when i was replacing the rear wheel bearings on me VN, i had one side done and was on the other side...got old bearing off etc....put new bearing and retainer on and checked....then pressed it on and thought "yeh it will be done in about 20 min now....lol until i saw the axle retaining plate sitting beside me on the bench....lol new bearing and retainer later all fixed and running haha

[wildss]

lol yeah you have, pg 5 i think

ive never done the sump plug thing or laft anythign in th eengine bay but i always seem to forget to pu tthe plastic liner on before the door trim, done it a hundred times i reckon lol

[LightningVP]

went to drive my car, for the first time in like a week...Lol woldn't start... then realised it was in reverse :P, went to move, put my right put on the clut.....lol oh yeah, it's an auto :|

[f1tzy]

lol yeah you have, pg 5 i think

ive never done the sump plug thing or laft anythign in th eengine bay but i always seem to forget to pu tthe plastic liner on before the door trim, done it a hundred times i reckon lol

lol. i will never touch another door trim that has manual windows. The amount of times ive pulled of the little clip and just heard a 'ting' and never found it is phenomenal.

[LightningVP]

lol. i will never touch another door trim that has manual windows. The amount of times ive pulled of the little clip and just heard a 'ting' and never found it is phenomenal.

Lol... hate it when that happens...good thing is you just go to a wreckers and grab one off another car...they wouldn't make you pay for it...it's like taking one screw...

[jas98]

lol yeah you have, pg 5 i think

ive never done the sump plug thing or laft anythign in th eengine bay but i always seem to forget to pu tthe plastic liner on before the door trim, done it a hundred times i reckon lol

lol haha im lazy so yeh couldnt be bothered going through it haha but its the stupidest thing i have done as i actually looked at it for a few mins makeing sure everything was on lol

edit: it was page 6 lol

[f1tzy]

Lol... hate it when that happens...good thing is you just go to a wreckers and grab one off another car...they wouldn't make you pay for it...it's like taking one screw...

lol i just left the winder off

[jas98]

Lol... hate it when that happens...good thing is you just go to a wreckers and grab one off another car...they wouldn't make you pay for it...it's like taking one screw...

lmao...the wreckers here will get the cops onto you if they see you pick up a washer and not say u have it.......neither know they have about 500+ vb-vz commodores. (hoden wreckers)

[LightningVP]

lmao...the wreckers here will get the cops onto you if they see you pick up a washer and not say u have it.......neither know they have about 500+ vb-vz commodores. (hoden wreckers)

lol...the GUYS at Pick-A-Part (Cambelfield) let you take take something if its under like $5...anything not "car" parts they will give for free (ie. Anything left in car that not to do with car, as well as thing like car seat covers and "novilty" stuff...) but the chick that works there is a tight ***...will make p her own price for something not car related...could be a shoe...and she wold still make you pay for it...