DIY Mechanics Fail Stories
Discussion
Opposite of the success stories thread. What have you started and not finished, whether given up completely or taken it somewhere to be done. Or made a little job into a giant one.
My one, embarrassed to say I took a clutch out a car to find it was the slave cylinder at fault which was on top of the box held in by 2 bolts :/
My one, embarrassed to say I took a clutch out a car to find it was the slave cylinder at fault which was on top of the box held in by 2 bolts :/
Zoobeef said:
Opposite of the success stories thread. What have you started and not finished, whether given up completely or taken it somewhere to be done. Or made a little job into a giant one.
My one, embarrassed to say I took a clutch out a car to find it was the slave cylinder at fault which was on top of the box held in by 2 bolts :/
What symptoms did you have of clutch slip? Mine's suffering from clutch slip at the minute (I think) it's the first time I've driven a car with the clutch slipping but I'm 99% sure thats what it is. I was going to try a DIY job on it but with moving house and a few other bits that have got in the way I think I've missed my window of decent weather to get it done. Don't fancy sending it to a garage if its the slave cylinder.My one, embarrassed to say I took a clutch out a car to find it was the slave cylinder at fault which was on top of the box held in by 2 bolts :/
You can literally hear me clutching at straws can't you!
At the beginning of the year my Alfa GTV failed its MoT on a rusty back box, front wheel bearing going and rear brakes not working properly.
Easy fixes I thought.
Slipped new Cherry Bomb tailpipe on the rear, cleaned the rear calipers, un-stuck one of the pistons and put fresh pads on. Next job was to do the wheel bearing.
I went to test the brakes after fitting the new pads, and was confused when the pedal stayed spongy. I looked out the door to see an expanding puddle of brake fluid on the garage floor. Upon inspection I had managed to knock one of the brake line unions where they go into a small cube whilst I was fitting the back box.
I had no way of fixing the union myself on the garage floor, and the car couldn't be driven anywhere to repair it. Faced with an expensive bill to get it towed to a garage, I threw in the towel and flogged it on eBay.
Then there was the time many years ago I went to change the rocker cover gaskets on my Mazda MX-6. When putting the front-bank's lid back on, I found I was one washer missing, so I replaced it with one in my toolbox.
I found it when I started the engine up, it was still inside the block rattling about and making a lot of noise. Pretty much wreaked that nice V6. So it was off to the scrappy with that rusty bucket of bolts!
Easy fixes I thought.
Slipped new Cherry Bomb tailpipe on the rear, cleaned the rear calipers, un-stuck one of the pistons and put fresh pads on. Next job was to do the wheel bearing.
I went to test the brakes after fitting the new pads, and was confused when the pedal stayed spongy. I looked out the door to see an expanding puddle of brake fluid on the garage floor. Upon inspection I had managed to knock one of the brake line unions where they go into a small cube whilst I was fitting the back box.
I had no way of fixing the union myself on the garage floor, and the car couldn't be driven anywhere to repair it. Faced with an expensive bill to get it towed to a garage, I threw in the towel and flogged it on eBay.
Then there was the time many years ago I went to change the rocker cover gaskets on my Mazda MX-6. When putting the front-bank's lid back on, I found I was one washer missing, so I replaced it with one in my toolbox.
I found it when I started the engine up, it was still inside the block rattling about and making a lot of noise. Pretty much wreaked that nice V6. So it was off to the scrappy with that rusty bucket of bolts!
CrispyMK said:
What symptoms did you have of clutch slip? Mine's suffering from clutch slip at the minute (I think) it's the first time I've driven a car with the clutch slipping but I'm 99% sure thats what it is. I was going to try a DIY job on it but with moving house and a few other bits that have got in the way I think I've missed my window of decent weather to get it done. Don't fancy sending it to a garage if its the slave cylinder.
You can literally hear me clutching at straws can't you!
It was more of clutch drag because air was getting in the clutch line.You can literally hear me clutching at straws can't you!
Try pulling away in 4th on a hill is a good clutch slip check. If revs go up but speed doesn't then its looking like it
one of the first times I was working on cars (the Fiesta i cut my teeth on changing rad pipes) I was lowering the suspension, so new springs. Did some research, simples thought me, got the tools and off to my mates to use his garage and brew making facilities. Passenger side all done withing the hour, drivers side ball joint did not want to sit into the hub for love nor money, so used the sicsor jack to lift the wishbone and ball joint into the hub and use a persuader to shock it in 
only problem is it didnt work, pinged the ball joint out sideways and the drive shaft flying around destroyed the diff 
I never did get the car back on the road, left it on my drive to go mouldy for a few months before scrapping it
only problem is it didnt work, pinged the ball joint out sideways and the drive shaft flying around destroyed the diff I never did get the car back on the road, left it on my drive to go mouldy for a few months before scrapping it
Replaced plugs and points, tried to start engine, no spark, scratched head, tried again, checked leads were all on, scratched head a bit more, put hand in pocket, hmm what's that plasticy thing with a metal edge.
Ahh rotor arm, put in pocket to be sure I didn't knock it off the rocker cover and have to crawl underneath to find it.
Ahh rotor arm, put in pocket to be sure I didn't knock it off the rocker cover and have to crawl underneath to find it.
Stupid one...
Simple oil change and service on my old Fiesta. Stuck it in first, jacked it up, did the business and lowered the car.
Neglected to take it out of gear but attempted start it up whilst standing outside the car. Engine turned over and the car started slowly crawling down the road towards my neighbours house... After the car mounted the pavement I managed to jump in and stamp on the brake inches away from their front door.
Simple oil change and service on my old Fiesta. Stuck it in first, jacked it up, did the business and lowered the car.
Neglected to take it out of gear but attempted start it up whilst standing outside the car. Engine turned over and the car started slowly crawling down the road towards my neighbours house... After the car mounted the pavement I managed to jump in and stamp on the brake inches away from their front door.
A Polo GT I used to own. While doing a basic service I drained the oil then proceeded to change the plugs/leads/dizzy cap/rotor arm etc. Once they were all fitted I thought I'd quickly start it up to check the order of the leads etc. Let it idle for 20 seconds and it didn't sound quite as smooth as it had done previously, then noticed the oil light flashing......ARGH! NO OIL!
Schoolboy error that I never did again but fortunately the engine showed no signs of damage and is still being driven now over 7 years later. Silly me though
Schoolboy error that I never did again but fortunately the engine showed no signs of damage and is still being driven now over 7 years later. Silly me though
Years back I crashed a Renault 19 16v that had a set of oz alloys on it. The car was written off and for some reason I wanted the oz wheels back.
Don't know why. Anyway, so I took a day off work and drove to a breakers yard 20 miles away to get some wheels off a normal 19 to swap.
This took most of the morning and it was raining so I was very cold , wet and wished I hadn't bothered.
Drove back 20 miles to the yard where my car was, dragged the other wheels from the normal 19 to swap about 100 metres where mt crashed 16v was sat.
Jacked the car up and finally managed to get the first alloy off. Getting somewhere I thought.
Lined up the first wheel to put back on and of course it wouldn't fit because of the bigger calliper on the 16v , and I had bought normal steel wheels!
I couldn't believe it and swore at the top of my voice hopping about I the pouring rain. I was livid with myself, what an utter t
t. I should have given up at lunchtime and not bothered but my pride wouldn't let me do that. Still embarrassed about it now .
Don't know why. Anyway, so I took a day off work and drove to a breakers yard 20 miles away to get some wheels off a normal 19 to swap.
This took most of the morning and it was raining so I was very cold , wet and wished I hadn't bothered.
Drove back 20 miles to the yard where my car was, dragged the other wheels from the normal 19 to swap about 100 metres where mt crashed 16v was sat.
Jacked the car up and finally managed to get the first alloy off. Getting somewhere I thought.
Lined up the first wheel to put back on and of course it wouldn't fit because of the bigger calliper on the 16v , and I had bought normal steel wheels!
I couldn't believe it and swore at the top of my voice hopping about I the pouring rain. I was livid with myself, what an utter t
t. I should have given up at lunchtime and not bothered but my pride wouldn't let me do that. Still embarrassed about it now .marting said:
Stupid one...
Simple oil change and service on my old Fiesta. Stuck it in first, jacked it up, did the business and lowered the car.
Neglected to take it out of gear but attempted start it up whilst standing outside the car. Engine turned over and the car started slowly crawling down the road towards my neighbours house... After the car mounted the pavement I managed to jump in and stamp on the brake inches away from their front door.
Know of a friend who was playing with the starter motor on his car whilst parked on the driveway. The car was in gear, facing the house and he was leaning over the front with his dads triumph bike behind him up against the wall.Simple oil change and service on my old Fiesta. Stuck it in first, jacked it up, did the business and lowered the car.
Neglected to take it out of gear but attempted start it up whilst standing outside the car. Engine turned over and the car started slowly crawling down the road towards my neighbours house... After the car mounted the pavement I managed to jump in and stamp on the brake inches away from their front door.
Bridged the starter motor and the car jumped forward trapping him between the car, bike and house. He had to be rescued by his mate and both the car and bike were dented and scratched
On my Kawasaki ZXR400 track bike,
I moved the bike after a winter lay up in the garage and it was a nightmare to move, I thought the front brakes were seized/sticky, I ordered new seals and got to work stripping and cleaning the calipers and congratulating myself on a job well done I put them back on the bike to find it was still a nightmare to move.......
The problem?
The rear tyre was flat.
I moved the bike after a winter lay up in the garage and it was a nightmare to move, I thought the front brakes were seized/sticky, I ordered new seals and got to work stripping and cleaning the calipers and congratulating myself on a job well done I put them back on the bike to find it was still a nightmare to move.......
The problem?
The rear tyre was flat.
Worth saying I've had many successes since, but my first true balls-up was a good 'un.
Bought a torque wrench, set it to the correct setting and torqued up the retaining nut on a cam cover (it only has 2 btw) snapped the stud underneath in half... Managed to get it out and ring the local dealer (the only place to get them as they're a weird size), only about a dozen left in the country, the nearest being 100 miles away... :\
Bought a torque wrench, set it to the correct setting and torqued up the retaining nut on a cam cover (it only has 2 btw) snapped the stud underneath in half... Managed to get it out and ring the local dealer (the only place to get them as they're a weird size), only about a dozen left in the country, the nearest being 100 miles away... :\
Never had a major mechanical failure I can blame on myself (touch wood!)
But was once upgrading the footwell lights in my Eunos to LEDs and couldn't get the festoon bulb out, so in my wisdom I prised it out with a screwdriver. Popped the fuse.
After about half an hour of Internet searching and head scratching (the fusebox diagram was of course in Japanese) I found the right fuse.
With the drivers side done and tested and new fuse in place I set about the passenger side.
Only to do exactly the same thing with a screwdriver.
Pop.
Smack. Tw*t.
But was once upgrading the footwell lights in my Eunos to LEDs and couldn't get the festoon bulb out, so in my wisdom I prised it out with a screwdriver. Popped the fuse.
After about half an hour of Internet searching and head scratching (the fusebox diagram was of course in Japanese) I found the right fuse.
With the drivers side done and tested and new fuse in place I set about the passenger side.
Only to do exactly the same thing with a screwdriver.
Pop.
Smack. Tw*t.
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