Working on cars what have you seen that has shocked you
Discussion
Working in a garage i see everthing you would expect but today made me amazed and wounder about the people driving it. Car come in megane 54 plate owner female complained of noise from brake. Took the wheels of and couldnt believe what i saw. The n/s/r bake pads were pretty much gone the discs was about 2 mm thick if that the one pad was 1mm thick and the other pad wasnt there. The other side not that much better at least the pads had some material on it. The owner also said she could see bits of the brakes falling of. Now how can people drive a car like that it pretty much amazes me what some people do, but surrley you would think when barkes make a noise you would get it looked at not let it continue till there is no pad left. If she drove it for a month or more that discs would have shattered. So what have you seen that have amazed you when working on cars?
The, (almost), entire rear wing of a '77 Pontiac Trans Am built from body filler.
It was mine. I bought it in the dark and in the rain. That's my excuse at least.
I started taking it apart to fix it up, as you do, and noticed it was a bit out of shape. So I hit it with a big hammer. The side of the car fell off!
I did try to fix it but it was too far gone.
The naivity of youth huh? MEH!
It was mine. I bought it in the dark and in the rain. That's my excuse at least.
I started taking it apart to fix it up, as you do, and noticed it was a bit out of shape. So I hit it with a big hammer. The side of the car fell off!
I did try to fix it but it was too far gone.
The naivity of youth huh? MEH!
king cardboard box iva cosworth said:
Rust underneath an old Ford 
Yea very true especiially transit had one in for a mot it had 43 faults on it that failed and another 20 adviceries the rear valances was made out of newspaper and silocon. The owner did scrap it thankfully. Thats the most the garage has ever failed on a vehicle anybody beat that.I had a customer who wouldn't pay £475 +VAT for a genuine Mitsubishi towbar for his new £33k Shogun so reused the one from his old truck even though the bolts didn't line up, he used no more nails to secure it.
The scariest bit is he was going to pull an overweight cattle trailer with it!
The scariest bit is he was going to pull an overweight cattle trailer with it!
After working on electricians/plumbers/workman vans, I have seen endless bodges, and examples of very very poor maintenance.
The best one that come in are when they've blatantly tried to fix something themselves, and it's gone tits up, and they come with some poor excuse as to why their car is broken.
The best one that come in are when they've blatantly tried to fix something themselves, and it's gone tits up, and they come with some poor excuse as to why their car is broken.
Seeen countless things but here are the ones that stick in the mind most.
Discovery 3 front pads completley worn away and the caliper knuckle had lost about 5 mm as it was being used as a brake as well as the caliper pistons.
Jag x-type all 4 tyres worn to the steel banding. Customer still wanted to take the car away but was pursuded otherwise
I once saw a old mini with a set of molegrips on the rear flexi as it was leaking at the end
There are many more but they all seem to relate to brakes or lack of
Oh and this came out of a Mondeo there used to be a clutch friction plate amongst the powder
Discovery 3 front pads completley worn away and the caliper knuckle had lost about 5 mm as it was being used as a brake as well as the caliper pistons.
Jag x-type all 4 tyres worn to the steel banding. Customer still wanted to take the car away but was pursuded otherwise
I once saw a old mini with a set of molegrips on the rear flexi as it was leaking at the end
There are many more but they all seem to relate to brakes or lack of
Oh and this came out of a Mondeo there used to be a clutch friction plate amongst the powder
Edited by TRUENOSAM on Tuesday 8th February 22:16
Little 02 plate Micra i bought as a winter hack. Grinding noise from osf wheel so assumed bearing was shot.
Out came trolley jack and tools and discovered....
Bottom arm seized solid
Thread stripped on track rod end where it meets the hub, retaining nut held on with araldite (barely, fell out when i pulled it)
Big ass washer put between driveshaft and hub? Said washer practically destroyed and took bearing with it (hence grinding noise)
Half the rubber missing on strut top, so damper free to move an inch or so
Front anti roll bar missing.
Deathtrap
£50 in parts from local scrappy and all sorted
Out came trolley jack and tools and discovered....
Bottom arm seized solid
Thread stripped on track rod end where it meets the hub, retaining nut held on with araldite (barely, fell out when i pulled it)
Big ass washer put between driveshaft and hub? Said washer practically destroyed and took bearing with it (hence grinding noise)
Half the rubber missing on strut top, so damper free to move an inch or so
Front anti roll bar missing.
Deathtrap
£50 in parts from local scrappy and all sorted
In my Land rover I have an engine with all but 1 engine mount bolt sheared off on one side and that last one is not done up at all, its only the gearbox mounts that keep it all in there, the exhaust drops from the down pipes no matter what you do so rests on the gearbox cross member where it rattles horribly at idle, the oil consumption is a litre per 500 miles from a combination of burning it, leaks and blowing lots of mist out of the breather, the turbo no longer has a functioning waste gate as it went wrong and its far easier just to fix it closed, a power steering belt that can only be changed by taking the pulley off the pump and currently a rear diff with possible no oil in it as the input shaft seals are gone, mainly because it got about an 1/8in movement front to back and quite a bit of sideways play too, still runs a long fine but really sounds bad.
2 Wycked said:
Nissan 100NX.
WTF!?!?!??TRUENOSAM said:
I once saw a old mini with a set of molegrips on the rear flexi as it was leaking at the end
I once submitted an Omega for MOT like that but it wasn't to stem a leak it was because I'd completely overhauled the brakes and forgot to remove the grip after bleeding them.My heart sunk when the tester told me the brakes failed the test, especially as I'd invested a lot of time and effort in upgrading them, but breathed a sigh of relief when he told me what was actually wrong.
GilbertGutbucket said:
wackojacko said:
Stripped a Diff out of an old Rx7 and found it was filled with a mixture of brake fluid and fairy liquid instead of Diff oil 
How did you test the fluid to define your results? ............... I replaced it for a Carbonetic plate diff anyway but still a pretty funny discovery made all the more shocking by the owner sheer Naivety.Seatbelt inertia reel mechanism held on by a metric bolt in an imperial captive nut.
I've since taken the interior out and checked the rest of the car to discover more crap work by the previous owner putting it back together after a repaint.
Still, I've saved it from certain destruction at the hands of him and his brother.
I've since taken the interior out and checked the rest of the car to discover more crap work by the previous owner putting it back together after a repaint.
Still, I've saved it from certain destruction at the hands of him and his brother.
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