Classic wrench turning screw ups

[pocket-rocket]

So Schmieder and I were getting a little OT in his manual swap thread and posted up a few classic wrenching blunders. Let's hear yours

http://60degreev6.com/forum/showthread.php/48003-Looking-to-swap-in-a-Manual-Trans-Need-Help

[86FieroSEv6]

Does mixing up the coolant and fuel hoses on a 1.8 turbo VW (AWP) count? Watching fuel pour out of the coolant reservoir is a serious nut softener!


You may start laughing hysterically . . . . . . . . . . . now

[pocket-rocket]

I laughed, but not hysterically. I'm too tired and worn so laughing hysterically would hurt too bad. The fuel pouring out of the coolant tank is what got me though.

How about watching someone change their hub assembly on their car and not tighten the axle nut and try to go for a test drive. It wasn't me, nor was it my car, but luckily the hub had a warranty as it popped apart since the axle and nut wasn't holding together. Who would have thought that kind of pressure would act like a press and press the hub out of the bearings?

[Killert]

Oil filter wasn't screwed on all the way. Fastest three quarts of oil on the ground I ever see. It ran for a second and i shut it down when smoke poured off the (hot from just running before oil change) header.

[tkoforpresident]

Oil filter wasn't screwed on all the way. Fastest three quarts of oil on the ground I ever see. It ran for a second and i shut it down when smoke poured off the (hot from just running before oil change) header.

Sadly i've been there too ROFL !

also, I routed my serpentine belt on the OUTSIDE of the PS bracket lip and when I started up my car smoke started pouring out of my engine bay!


Smelled like burnt rubber lol. Unfortunately I had removed the belt so that I could install a new alternator and my first thought was that the alternator was on fire! lol

[Schmieder]

Once I was working on a 3400 in a van for someone. He was right next to me talking with me as I was running a tap down the holes in the heads for the LIM bolts chasing the crap out of them. The next thing I know, the stupid little rod that is used as a handle on my tap set slides out (only pinched at 1 end) and down into the lifter valley falling inside the engine. I looked at him and stopped turning the tap as he stops talking, and I take a few steps back in an extreme moment of anger control. Luckily I had to drop the pan either way to change the gasket on it and the stupid thing had fallen all the way down. Now I take a second to wrap a couple layers of electrical tape around the non crimped end before I go near an open engine with my tap set.

AAwww, lol. During my teardowns I cover up the valleys well with clean shop rags mildly soaked in oil. It saved the day when a pushrod jumped out when I lifted the rocker. That was after I wrestled the oil pan back on from piston/rings, ect. I will NEVER remove a 96 Grand Prix oil pan w/ engine in the bay again.

I once forgot to tighten the coolant line to the heater core from mild top end work. First start and it was running good, the turbo was well on the way to it's first gentle drive to test it out. She was at operating temp for a few minutes as memory recalled..... I reved her up and the hose blew off and hit the hot exhaust manifolds and the downpipe.

The hood was up and all I remember seeing is this massive, thick steam cloud jetting from the engine bay. When I shut the car off it sounded like fire, all the coolant flash boiling. The very second my nose got a wiff I knew it was coolant. Can't mistake that strange sweet smell. Almost like almond pancakes.

[bob442]

i did a trans on a '00 winstar, i left the 4 subframe bolts just loose enough to 'wiggle' it all straight and then tighten them, forgot to tighten them and went for a test drive....sure sounded like it needed ball joints lol nothing happened except embarassment.

[robertisaar]

had the firing order wrong on a SBC when hooking up plug wires, incidentally, i just made some Taylor Spiro-Pro wires that were on.

well, had a horrible random backfire due to 2 wires being swapped... well, pulled the boot off while running to see if preventing the cylinder from firing would stop it. it did... then i pulled back too far and instead of arcing to the block, my right arm became the least resistant path to ground. 45,000 volts never felt so bad.

[Schmieder]

had the firing order wrong on a SBC when hooking up plug wires, incidentally, i just made some Taylor Spiro-Pro wires that were on.

well, had a horrible random backfire due to 2 wires being swapped... well, pulled the boot off while running to see if preventing the cylinder from firing would stop it. it did... then i pulled back too far and instead of arcing to the block, my right arm became the least resistant path to ground. 45,000 volts never felt so bad.

45kv dang, thats GM HEI for ya. Like a hammer through out your arm, shoulder and chest. I don't think people truly understand electricity until they've felt a true jolt like that.

When I was about 12 yrs old looking at my Dads 1970 Cougar idling. v8 390 something with 4barrel holley carbs ect ect. Anyways, I put one hand on the frame (ground) and the other I wanted to touch whatever it was (can't remember it) while the engine was off. Just as I reached over he started it again. For some reason my two arms became the circuit and OMFG ALL MIGHTY was I jolted hard. I doubt it was a full short like from a disconnected boot, but it still was something to never forget.

[bob442]

Now that i've heard those two stories i rememeber another, had my 96 Z26 with a 3100, MSD coil packs (they worked great IMO) driving back from alberta to manitoba, 12 hours away from home, i was tromping it pretty damin hard, going between 140-160 for a half hour at a time, then, had to slow down, tromped it again, and it didnt go so fast anymore.... figured something had to be wrong, i had just done my first LIMG swap and tune up on this car not that long ago, so i pull over by a gas station/service station, pop the hood, i could hear a mis fire, so i put one hand on the battery, leaned over to pull off a plug wire and ZAP-BANG! i got electricuted, and the battery blew up basically in my face, got acid in my eyes, ear, i went temporarly deaf, couldnt feel one side of my body, arm, leg chest, everything started to burn, i seen some mud water, i didnt have any water in the car, washed my eyes and face and ears with it, i was panicing. Horrible situation, luckly one of the guys that was working in the service station kinda saw what happened, helped me out, washed up, found out an electrode from a Autolite spark plug fell out, into the motor, it ran ok with a new plug. by the time i got home it ran like shit, parked it, parents co-signed for the monte. later i tore down the motor, and i'll get a picture of the damage was later on today...

[Schmieder]

Now that i've heard those two stories i rememeber another, had my 96 Z26 with a 3100, MSD coil packs (they worked great IMO) driving back from alberta to manitoba, 12 hours away from home, i was tromping it pretty damin hard, going between 140-160 for a half hour at a time, then, had to slow down, tromped it again, and it didnt go so fast anymore.... figured something had to be wrong, i had just done my first LIMG swap and tune up on this car not that long ago, so i pull over by a gas station/service station, pop the hood, i could hear a mis fire, so i put one hand on the battery, leaned over to pull off a plug wire and ZAP-BANG! i got electricuted, and the battery blew up basically in my face, got acid in my eyes, ear, i went temporarly deaf, couldnt feel one side of my body, arm, leg chest, everything started to burn, i seen some mud water, i didnt have any water in the car, washed my eyes and face and ears with it, i was panicing. Horrible situation, luckly one of the guys that was working in the service station kinda saw what happened, helped me out, washed up, found out an electrode from a Autolite spark plug fell out, into the motor, it ran ok with a new plug. by the time i got home it ran like shit, parked it, parents co-signed for the monte. later i tore down the motor, and i'll get a picture of the damage was later on today...

You are very lucky it wasn't worse. Getting electrocuted is one thing but having 80% of the batteries electrical potential short out at once from explosion is deadly. You said your hand was on the battery when it exploded....wow. I can't call that a screw up, you survived a bad situation for sure.

[kwhauck]

Working on a 2000 f450 powerstroke doing general maintenance including planning on topping off the tranny fluid. Dropped an 8mm wrench. Heard a few clinks as it fell, but no cement clink that it made it to the floor. Looked for that damn thing for 2 hours, even started the motor a couple times to try and shake it loose from where ever it was hiding. No dice. Finally we found it, after we dropped the tranny pan.........It had fallen perfectly down the more and into the open fill cap for the transmission.......go figure......

[Schmieder]

When I was more a Noob dealing with the Vavletrain stuff I confused a procedure for another lifter type. I preloaded the lifters and used loctite to hold the rocker bolt in place. It actually idled ok but there was a clear loss of power.

btw, can one get pushrods just slightly longer to add a little more compression on the lifter spring resulting in greater valve lift when the lifter pumps up ?

Working on a 2000 f450 powerstroke doing general maintenance including planning on topping off the tranny fluid. Dropped an 8mm wrench. Heard a few clinks as it fell, but no cement clink that it made it to the floor. Looked for that damn thing for 2 hours, even started the motor a couple times to try and shake it loose from where ever it was hiding. No dice. Finally we found it, after we dropped the tranny pan.........It had fallen perfectly down the more and into the open fill cap for the transmission.......go figure......

Ha, ain't that a PITA.

I could only imagine the crazy things found in the oil/trans pans.

My PCV valve is somewhere in the engine block. After searching for over an hour I got my digital camera and recorded movies while weaving it through the engine bay. Still can't find it but....I learned a neat trick.

A quality camera that records movies can go places your eyes can not. Upload it on your PC and view the movie on a large screen.