I decided to check my oil tonight (after seeing low coolant today and a 900 mile road trip last weekend). It was about a quart low (5K miles, better than usual). I go to the shelf and grab the 5 quart bottle of mobile 1 (my wifes car holds 3.2 quarts, so I usually have 1/2 a jug around or so). I start pouring it into the car when it hits me, this is used oil. Somehow, I put a jug of used oil on my shelf (and moved it to the new place, no less) and managed to add about 1/3 quart or so to my car tonight. It is mobile 1, it is probably out of my car, but I still feel pretty dumb for pulling that off.

Just thought I'd share the stupidity, somebody has to.

:stupid:

Nice.....

Once while reassembling my motor, I left a red shop rag in the oil pan. Low and behold, I had a weird mysterious low oil pressure problem. And as everyone knows getting the pan off of an LS1 is a bitch. Now I number all my shop rags, this way I can inventory them after clean-up.

At least yours could be fixed in 15 minutes.......

I think the dumbest car thing I did was to try and swap my oil pan without pulling the motor. The old pan wasn't correct for the car so the front part was too low and it wouldn't slip out past the crossmember. In all of my infinite wisdom I decided to bend the front of the pan wtih vice grips. The new pan was obviously much shorter in that area. All was going well until the vice grips slipped... I drew a little blood, a bunch of pain but I got that damned oil pan out.

The worst part was that I wound up pulling the motor instead of putting the new pan on because I found a whole bunch of broken plastic in the pickup. Turns out the umbrella seals were crushed when I was having so much trouble setting up the valves.

Yeah... that was the weekend I should have stayed in bed.

I had a spare cam laying around, So one night my good friend and i were bored, so we descided to slip it in.

About the time we are putting the timing cover back on, i remebered that i had to pass emmisions again in a week. needless to day, i did 3 cam swaps that month.

I think snapping a stud off my '97 Trans-Am trying to a get a stuck lugnut off there was in this category!

I've got a friend that owns an Auto Shop, let's me use it occasionally on weekends and after hours weeknights. A few months ago he was doing some work on his own vehicle on a Saturday, so I brought my car in to change the oil. I put it up on the lift. I drag the oil reservoir under it. I pop the drain plug off and plop it in the bottom of the catch basin. I walk away. A minute later I hear Gino.

Hey Joe, you're making a bit of a mess over there.

I look over, the oil reservoir was full, and is now overflowing. I run over, but there's nothing to do about it. The drain plug is in the bottom of the basin, really hot oil is everywhere. I actually attempt to fish around for the drain plug, but I only got my fingers in the oil to the first knuckles before the stupidity of that thought hit me, and promptly removed any thought of plugging the oil drain with my thumb as well. finally just grabbed a 5 gallon bucket with probably a quart of antifreeze in it to catch the rest of the oil, which at that point ended up being not much more than a quart left. So about 5 quarts of used oil all over his oil resevoir and shop floor.

A 10 minute oil change turned into a 10 minute oil change + half an hour cleanup. And this particular resevoir even had a little capacity gauge with a big red FULL warning when it was full.

How about leaving a lug lock key ON a lug and driving off. Of course it fell off and I didn't have a spare. Oh, I also had a Pro Solo the next day and a practice that afternoon....

OR

leaving the t-top latch unlatched and having it blow off at 70 mph....

OR

getting the main caps out of order during a rebuild...

Should I go on??? :stupid:

While changing the air filter on my Dmax, I had one of those red rags stuffed in the duct to make sure nothing fell in the engine. My wife came out in the garage and started hounding me to take the family out for dinner, so I quickly slapped the new airfilter on there and we hit the road. Accelerating up the on ramp was fine then this "thunk" sound and no power! I instantly recalled leaving the rag in the duct and limped home at 15mph. That red rag had some interesting circles burned into it by the turbo wheel!

Another time the same truck fell off the lift with me under it and I ducked quick enough to avoid being killed . . .

Pulled the Camaro too far up the ramps and went over the side; SLP SFC's prevented damage. After this I welded fences on the ends of the ramps.

Just yesterday I dropped a pointed punch "somewhere" into the engine compartment. It was dark and I couldn't see it with a flashlight, so I finished the job making a mental note to look for it later. Mental note was lost and I heard the punch hit the road going around a sharp corner on the way to work this morning, lucky it didn't blow a tire.

And of course, the flying T-top act at 75 mph, T-top was scratched but still useable. :stupid:

I rebuilt and replaced an engine in my old S-10 while in high-school. I left a red rag on the exhaust manifold and drove to my friends house about 15 miles away.

The rag caught on fire and luckily he saw the flame through the grill as I drove up and we grabbed his water hose and put it out with absolutely no damage.

===============

I recently change the oil in my dirt track car and replaced the oil filter. I didn't notice the rubber gasket from the old filter was still stuck in there and when I cranked car oil spray everywhere.

Jeeze there is an entire list.....


How about the time I tried to change a mechanical fuel pump on my K5 Blazer.

As many of you know the mechanical pumps run off a push rod that rides on the cam. You have to push that rod up, and get the fuel pump in there before the rod falls down.

Well to get to the pump I had to remove the fan shroud and fan.

Well I installed the thing about 15 times, and I KNEW that I was doing it right. But I kept getting this banging noise, so I kept 'double checking it'. After one lost screwdriver, TONS, AND I MEAN TONS of swearing and throwing things, my wife says, I think the noise is this pulley.

It was. Banging the water pump, since the fan was no longer holding it tight.

:stupid:

Whew, guess this means we're all human.

I can remember putting on the track tires at an event at the Glen, then getting called to an instructors meeting. After the meeting and the student assignment changes, I went out to instruct for the first session. Got back and had a request to drive a students car, with the student, around the track.
Finally got my car out in our session. And something just didn't feel quite right. A little more loose than normal. Came in after a lap and headed for the garage, after a mental checklist review during that lap to realize I had not torqued the freakin' wheels. They where just where I left them, snugged.

I was breaking in the cam on my first new motor. I'm sure most of you know the feeling of hearing your first motor come to life. The happyness didn't last long as my neighbor watching and gave me that 'calmed panic' look as we both saw smoke coming from the driver side by the fire wall. The fire extinguisher was on my side of the car and a quick shot was all it took to put it out.

Turns out the hydralic clutch line was pretty close to the header and burst... brake fluid is VERY flammable. Now I was stuck with a brand new motor that was spotless except for the dry chemical residue, and the smell that goes with it.

That was the same motor that blew the umbrella seals I talked about above.

I had a 79 Ford PU many years ago and installed a monster 428 SCJ. It was a beast!

The wife and I were turning into a parking lot when it started puking power steering fluid out of the steering box and onto the headers.

The ensuing blaze freaked me out and I was throwing all kinds of stuff onto the flames trying to get them out ... including a nylon jacket. Stupid act #1

My wife reached over and turned off the motor ... the flames died rather quickly after that ... Stupid act #2

I backed over a floor jack in my garage (cramped for space) throwing the handle into the rear fender of my car. It's amazing what paintless dent repair can do.

Actually, I backed over dad's floor jack with a 1977 3/4 ton Chevy. The jack handle now touched the ground when you pumped it up. It just bent an "s" in the handle. The jack did still work. And, yes, I replaced dads jack (a few years later, but I did buy him one).

Oo. Talking about trucks...

Sophomore in High School. My dad was working LONG hours. Starter went in his F250, so he asked me to swap it out the next day after school. I said sure, no problem, and he leaves me the money to pick up the new starter.

I get home after school with the new starter (heh, the bus actually stopped at the auto parts store so I could pick it up, I had already called ahead and told them to have it waiting for me, one of the very few benefits of living in a small town I guess), and start to work.

It was far more of a PITA than I figured it would be, plus I was still just a pretty scrawny High School teen. Banged up my hands good a few times. Very frustrating. Took me two hours to get the new starter installed. (Oh, and I had originally forgetton to disconnect the battery, so had a brief light show under there as well).

Anyways, my dad gets home a couple hours later. I tell him it's all installed and ready to go. He asks if I started it up. I said no, but everything's hooked up right, it'll just work (I was a typical cocky teen, of course). He tells me to go start it to make sure. He doesn't want to find out first thing in the morning.

I get an attitude. Ok, fine, I'll go show you it's all set. Grab the keys. Go out to the garage, jump in the truck, insert key into ignition, turn to start, and....

proceed to launch the truck right through the back wall of the garage. It was left in gear, without the e-brake on, and I had not disengaged the clutch.

In my defense, I did not have my drivers license yet.

My father comes running into the garage about 5 seconds later. The drivers door is even with the door going into the garage, which is right in the back corner. My head is on the steering wheel, I'm bracing for the verbal assault of my life, and he says, Well, I guess the starter works. I never could tell when my father would be pissed off at something.

Steve, You're not alone there. I did the same thing and of course only a few days before an autocross. I ended up ordering replacement lugs 2nd day air from Summit. Not to mention it took forever to get the locking lugs off, between finding the right crummy old socket (POS old 12-point 13/16 I got from somewhere) to then getting them out of that socket, so I could go on and get the next one off.

My car does not have locking lug nuts anymore!

-John

...like fill the race car too full with gas and almost burn it to the ground.....TWICE!?!

Or how about the time I just finished my "Cal" Bug......massively modified and lowered till the frame dragged the ground Volkswagen Beetle for those NOT from California....dual carbs, race clutch, skinny little tires...all just bolted in...told my friend to "Jump in lets go for a ride".....

I can still to this day remember the look on his face as we spun WILDLY out of control on a major boulevard, as I had to slam on the brakes to avoid a grandma pulling out DIRECTLY in front of me....she was going ZERO....I was going 85 MPH +....seems in my haste to hit the road, I forgot to reconnect the brakes on one side of the car!



:drive:

I was going to change my oil one day. Got out the old ramps (metal ones) put them in line with the tires. Got in the car, drove up on the ramp....and off the side of the other. It bent the ramp like a crumpled sheet of paper. Luckily, it landed on the K-member That was fun to explain to the wife.

On my old S10, I had just bought a new set of wheels for them. The tire place told me to re-tighten the lugs after 100 miles. I thought, yeah, right (I was 16 then, I knew it all!) Didn't retighten them, but I went back to the tire place because the truck was vibrating so bad. He came into the store after looking at it & said ALL 4 wheels lugs were loose! DAMN! That could have been bad. What can I say, I had the typical drive-the-piss-out-of-it teenager attitude. :drive: Now I know better most of the time.

I've also done the aforementioned drop-oil-plug-in-scalding-oil, attempt-to-fish-out-with-hand trick a couple of time. Okay, so maybe I don't learn from all of my mistakes.

Been there, done that...

Got home, wanted to do my brakes, and started thinking "now where did I leave that darn lug key"...then it hit me That was fun hammering a socket on to break them off

I grab a magnet on a stick for that one....

Good idea. Too bad I didn't think of that before deep-frying my fingers!

you guys made me laugh.
anyone want to help me hallogen fluid change ?

Change whells and tires on the then new SS..........Wife,hurry up we are late ......me ok I will snug the lugs for now and torque them when off the jack. Well we are coming back from the party, and I am all pissed about the wheels vibrating, yup 20 loose lug nuts

No talking to me anymore when changing tires/wheels!

Gary