I thought it may be entertaining to share stories you may have of silly things you've done / mistakes you've made when working on your car (or anyones car). I've got 3 to share for now.
My brother told me this one yesterday:
He used to have a friend that was really good with cars. But one of his friends didn't know anything. One time he went to change his oil and he didn't know how much oil went into the engine so he poured an entire 5 quart jug in. Afterwards, he decided to read the manual and found out he put way too much in. So what did he do instead of draining the oil and starting over? He pulled out the dipstick, wiped it, put the dipstick back in, pulled it back out, wiped it.....and did that for like 5 hours until the oil level read the correct level. At least that's the story. Can you imagine doing that?
I helped guide my brother through replacing his brakes 2 weeks ago. He wanted to do it and have me watch just to be sure he was doing everything right. Well we finished 1 wheel and when we got to the next wheel, I started moving everything over to the other side and he said he'd start taking off the caliper. I get over a few minutes later and he goes, "man why is this bolt getting tighter???". I look at the 1 bolt he took off on the ground and it was snapped in half. I show it to him and told him he snapped it and goes DAMN!. Luckily I stopped him before he snapped another one. He thought that all bolts on the car spin in the same direction (relative to the car) when removing/installing them. Had to leave his car on jackstands overnight and we replaced the bolt the next day.
A couple years ago, my dad said he would do my oil change and I told him that I'd rather do it. I'm picky when it comes to who works on my car since I'm mechanically inclined and anal about getting stuff done right. Let's just say my dad isn't the most handy person in the world. Well he ends up changing my oil while I'm still asleep in the morning. I walk out after he's finished pouring my oil. I told him to start the car and let it run for 15 seconds to get the oil to cycle through before reading the dipstick. So I turn the car on, turn it off, he reads the dipstick, empty. He puts it back in, pulls it out, reads it again, empty. I look underneath and ALL the oil was on the floor. Turns out he double gasketed (if that's a word?) the oil filter.
My brother told me this one yesterday:
He used to have a friend that was really good with cars. But one of his friends didn't know anything. One time he went to change his oil and he didn't know how much oil went into the engine so he poured an entire 5 quart jug in. Afterwards, he decided to read the manual and found out he put way too much in. So what did he do instead of draining the oil and starting over? He pulled out the dipstick, wiped it, put the dipstick back in, pulled it back out, wiped it.....and did that for like 5 hours until the oil level read the correct level. At least that's the story. Can you imagine doing that?
I helped guide my brother through replacing his brakes 2 weeks ago. He wanted to do it and have me watch just to be sure he was doing everything right. Well we finished 1 wheel and when we got to the next wheel, I started moving everything over to the other side and he said he'd start taking off the caliper. I get over a few minutes later and he goes, "man why is this bolt getting tighter???". I look at the 1 bolt he took off on the ground and it was snapped in half. I show it to him and told him he snapped it and goes DAMN!. Luckily I stopped him before he snapped another one. He thought that all bolts on the car spin in the same direction (relative to the car) when removing/installing them. Had to leave his car on jackstands overnight and we replaced the bolt the next day.
A couple years ago, my dad said he would do my oil change and I told him that I'd rather do it. I'm picky when it comes to who works on my car since I'm mechanically inclined and anal about getting stuff done right. Let's just say my dad isn't the most handy person in the world. Well he ends up changing my oil while I'm still asleep in the morning. I walk out after he's finished pouring my oil. I told him to start the car and let it run for 15 seconds to get the oil to cycle through before reading the dipstick. So I turn the car on, turn it off, he reads the dipstick, empty. He puts it back in, pulls it out, reads it again, empty. I look underneath and ALL the oil was on the floor. Turns out he double gasketed (if that's a word?) the oil filter.
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