Car DIY Errors

[fossyant]

Following on from my post in car DIY, have you ever made any botches when doing cars.

I've sheared the odd bolt, but it's common on many cars. I don't think I've done anything major, may have dropped the odd bolt, never really damaged anything.

One bit of stupidity my BIL and his brother did very recently. Planned a road trip to Italy, BIL riding his motorbike, his brother driving a camper, pulling a motorbike trailer, so if BIL was knackered they could hitch it up.

Trailer was borrowed from BIL brother's neighbour - it's been stored outside.

BIL bikes it to Dover, BIL's brother takes camper. Bike goes on trailer for the ferry. On other side they drive off the ferry, and before they have even left Dunkirk, bike falls off trailer as apparently the straps gave way. Bike potentially written off.

What transpires is the webbing straps were old, and neighbour told them to buy new ones, due to them being aged and left outside. They did this, but didn't bother learning how to secure with the new straps, and used the old ones instead, which snapped, as you would expect. BIL is gutted as the bike is a quite rare Ducati - a touring bike rather than a sports bike. Also transpires they just used one set of webbing round the handle bars to secure it. I know I'd be using several given the weight of these things.

 

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

Nothing on that scale.

I think my worst experience was cross threading a spark plug into a cylinder head.

Oh and there was that time I drove off having left the locking wheel nut key on one of the locking wheel nuts. Which I had left there as I'd intended to torque the wheelnuts to the correct spec once the car was back on the ground. That could have ended much worse than it did.

 

[Drago]

I once changed the brake pads on my sisters Escort. I'd been on nights and was tired, should probably have put it off until another day.

Job done, down off the ramps, reversed out the garage onto the driveway and straight into the closed gates. In my haste to get the job done and get my head down I'd forgotten to pump the pedal and there was nothing there when I tried to stop.

Car had some minor scuffs that T cut fixed but the gates were borked.

 

[november4]

I once fixed a work vehicle bent fender myself to keep employment. Had the added thrill of getting away with it.

Was a literal fender of a pickup, bent it in one of those pull through car washes which can take pickups, with care, of which I didn't do properly that time.
Got a Chinese pattern part and whistled while I worked.

 

[simongt]

When I had my first car, a '64 Austin 1100 and being a smartarse 19 year old, I spent some days shall we say 'tinkering' with it.
On the way back to my job in Gloucestershire from Norwich, I heard a horrible drumming noise from the area of the engine as I thought.
As the car was a bit past it's best, I though the big ends had had it, but no - !
Going round a gentle bend, I saw a car wheel go past me and I though har har, until I realised it was my front nearside wheel - !
I watched it bounce off the road into a nearby field and the car came to a very rapid halt as the stub axle dug into the road surface.
As it was in the days of hubcaps, the wheel nuts had stayed within the unit so I was able to retrieve said wheel and put it back in the car.
Moral of the story, when you put a wheel back onto the car, always retighten the nuts after you've dropped the car back off the jack - !

 

[Badger_Boom]

Lots when a Minor was our daily transport:

• Decided to refurb the carburettor over a weekend because we'd had a few fuel leaks caused by perished rubber components. I couldn't get it all back together and working on the Sunday and had to borrow my mother's car to get to work for the week.
• Disconnected all the wiring behind the dashboard to fix something and only discovered that I'd cocked it up that evening when the police stopped us on the M62 to ask if we knew our tail lights weren't working. A quick check showed that we could get taillights and front sidelights together and they were generous enough to escort us to the A650 where we could legally drive on the lit roads to our destination. A quick check of the connections the following morning sorted it out.
• Electrocuted myself (several times) thanks to the unshielded ends on the original spark plug leads.

 

[Fastpedaller]

Nothing on that scale.

I think my worst experience was cross threading a spark plug into a cylinder head.

Oh and there was that time I drove off having left the locking wheel nut key on one of the locking wheel nuts. Which I had left there as I'd intended to torque the wheelnuts to the correct spec once the car was back on the ground. That could have ended much worse than it did.

Ah yes, the locking wheelnuts! I did the same (having done the final tighten though, so even more absent-minded) and left the adaptor in when I drove around the block. Despite searching, it couldn't be found (of course). All was not lost, as I had the original box with the key number. I contacted the company (Trilock) and explained my plight. Alas they couldn't supply the key as they 'don't make that one anymore' Hmm.... strange for something which is meant to be 'almost unique' and unable to copy - Maybe I'm totally incorrect there and they all are indeed Unique? (entirely, as per definition of unique ). Anyway, they supplied a new set and key FOC. Still the problem of removing the old. It then became apparent how easy it was for a thief....... The 3 pins on the new key weren't a million miles off the old positions, so just drilling two of the holes a little bigger in each old wheel nut meant the new key fitted, and hey-presto they were easily removed.

 

[Badger_Boom]

Ah yes, the locking wheelnuts! I did the same (having done the final tighten though, so even more absent-minded) and left the adaptor in when I drove around the block. Despite searching, it couldn't be found (of course). All was not lost, as I had the original box with the key number. I contacted the company (Trilock) and explained my plight. Alas they couldn't supply the key as they 'don't make that one anymore' Hmm.... strange for something which is meant to be 'almost unique' and unable to copy - Maybe I'm totally incorrect there and they all are indeed Unique? (entirely, as per definition of unique ). Anyway, they supplied a new set and key FOC. Still the problem of removing the old. It then became apparent how easy it was for a thief....... The 3 pins on the new key weren't a million miles off the old positions, so just drilling two of the holes a little bigger in each old wheel nut meant the new key fitted, and hey-presto they were easily removed.

The 'approved' method for Land Rover locking nuts is to Dremel or chisel off the outer case, hammer a socket onto the splined nut, and remove as normal. The outer part has a habit of corroding free from the inner making it impossible to remove them any other way.

 

[tyred]

There was play in the steering rack of my MKI Golf. Mr Haynes said it can be adjusted so I thought I'd do that rather replace it.

Drove up on ramps, undid the tricky to access lock nut and used a short flat headed screwdriver on one of the most inaccessible screws ever seen and tightened it until there was no play at the wheel.

Reversed straight off the ramps, out of the garage and discovered I couldn't physically turn the steering wheel but could only go back or forward as I'd overtighten it...I had to repeat the procedure to back it off a bit!

 

[screenman]

How much time have you got, I have spent 53 years in the motor trade.

 

[biggs682]

Trouble is what some people call a bodge is an approved repair.

 

[dicko]

Not me but my work friend has. In the 90s it was common to replace cam belts by DIY. My friend and I both had 1.6 Ford Sierras with the OHC Pinto engine (one of the simplest cars to replace the cam belt on). My friend told me he replaced his cam belt last weekend and found he had
previously replaced the belt ONE tooth out. He then told me the car now has never run better!

 

[richardfm]

I was welding a patch in to a rear wheel arch of a rust Land Rover Discovery and at neglected to remove the carpet inside.
I got to use my fire extinguisher....

 

[Drago]

How much time have you got, I have spent 53 years in the motor trade.

Friend of mine used to be an MOT tester. He's seen DIY brake pipe replacements where the new cunifer pipe went straight up the trailing arm without the benefit of a flexible, and the tab fixing for the pipe screwed into the fuel tank.

 

[fossyant]

The 'approved' method for Land Rover locking nuts is to Dremel or chisel off the outer case, hammer a socket onto the splined nut, and remove as normal. The outer part has a habit of corroding free from the inner making it impossible to remove them any other way.

Top tip - VW locking nuts are made of cheese - or at lease the 'key' is. Son had issues with the keys chewing up easily - just slipping and that's it. Anyway a quick google came up with a solution to keep the key firmly pressed onto the nut.

Park your car near a handy wall - in our case the house. Get out a scissor jack from your boot and a couple of pieces of wood. Fit locking key to nut and choice of spanner. Wind out jack so one end is on the wall and the other is pressing the spanner/socket onto the nut (use a bit of wood between jack and spanner/key to allow rotation). This extra force keeping the key in place allows you to easily undo the nut.

Cost us two locking keys over the space of a year until I found this hack. Needless to say, those locking nuts have been changed.