Whats your worst wrenching mistake?

[coolblue]

Punched myself in the face.
I was 16 and bought a '66 Chevelle convertible with a 350 small block that was getting water in the oil. (Gray muck all on the dipstick). Pulled the heads and swapped them for a known good set (194 junior Fuelies), hoping the crack was in the heads and not the block. While breaking the head bolts I had a stubborn one and while reaching over the fender pulled on the breaker bar for all it was worth with a curling motion. Socket slips off bolt head; POW right in the jaw. Of course that didn't work, Murphy's law it was the block (someone left plain water in it during winter with no antifreeze before I bought it). PLUS the good heads were my brother's so I had to take them off the motor again to give back, THEN I had to put the original dog heads back on to keep the car at least mobile.
'LOTTA work for a swollen jaw and waisted motor. LOL.

 

[jroyk]

Punched myself in the face.
I was 16 and bought a '66 Chevelle convertible with a 350 small block that was getting water in the oil. (Gray muck all on the dipstick). Pulled the heads and swapped them for a known good set (194 junior Fuelies), hoping the crack was in the heads and not the block. While breaking the head bolts I had a stubborn one and while reaching over the fender pulled on the breaker bar for all it was worth with a curling motion. Socket slips off bolt head; POW right in the jaw. Of course that didn't work, Murphy's law it was the block (someone left plain water in it during winter with no antifreeze before I bought it). PLUS the good heads were my brother's so I had to take them off the motor again to give back, THEN I had to put the original dog heads back on to keep the car at least mobile.
'LOTTA work for a swollen jaw and waisted motor. LOL.

Me too! Until reading your post, I had forgotten that I punched myself in the face when I installed a JHP short shifter in my ‘04 GTO. The stock shifter knob is held on with an adhesive, and the way to remove it was to pull up really hard with both hands. Even though I was aware of the possibility of bashing my face, I still managed to do just that when the knob let loose. Embarrassing as hell, but luckily I was alone.

 

[71SixPack]

Sixteen years old. First time ever changing oil on first car. Dad’s driveway. Drain oil, remove old filter, install fresh filter. Add oil. Oops, forgot to reinstall drain plug. First two quarts all over gravel driveway. Had to walk to gas station for more oil. Cleaned up mess before dad got home. Lesson learned. That was a long time ago and I still double check drain plugs.
Interesting side note. When I recently changed oil in the WBRE I found the oil filter had a misty oil film. It was spun on but barely finger tight. No wrench needed to remove. And to think we put 2600 miles on it in one road trip. Yikes. Dealership had changed oil before we took delivery because car had set for 6 months.


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[Slows2k]

Forgot to release transmission cooler line clamps and started a thermal event. Rapid oxidation producing heat and light.

 

[Chuck]

Once I was working on a engine (I’m a auto tech) finishing up and thinking to myself things I need to do top off oil and radiator I’m sure you can guess what happen.

 

[72 440 Barracuda]

Sorry , I got nothing , I'm a pretty good mechanic , the rest of yall need to tighten up !

Tightening up is right!!!
I swapped a set of wheels and tires on my cuda and I was anxious to go out for a test drive - come to find out I left some lug nuts loose. Came around a corner and I heard some "rocks" bouncing down the road...
It wasn't rocks - it was the lug nuts coming off. A quarter mile down the road I lost the front wheel... destroyed the fender as the tire shot off - bouncing into the woods.

 

[Av8ing1]

I've done the slip off a fastener and take a wrench to the face a few times. Last time was with a 3/4" drive ratchet, almost lost a tooth and enjoyed a nasty split lip for a good while. Kept working though, I wasn't getting out from under the thing until the job was done.

Years ago I failed to remove the old oil filter seal before adding the new filter on my Z28. Next day driving home from work I got an oil pressure light. Shut her down as soon as I could clear traffic. Oil everywhere. After my grand dad showed up with a set of ramps and more oil I had to start her up and drive up the ramps. Freaked me out but that car ran great when I sold her many miles and years later.

 

[hellno]

Here’s one that just happened on Wednesday, I was replacing an oil pressure switch on a 2014 Chrysler 300 during the installation of the switch I broke the cooling port which is part of the oil filter/coolant housing
Unfortunately this was a wholesale account I was only getting paid 298.48
The new housing assy cost me 196.50
The intake gaskets 35.52,oil pressure switch 39.99 which couldn’t be returned because I already installed it and new housing came with it of course 272.01 out of pocket not including 2 hours labor , plastic parts sometimes suck but I can’t blame anyone but me 😐
Unfortunately in this business mistakes will happen and it can be very costly to a shop

 

[Mean Cat]

Here’s one that just happened on Wednesday, I was replacing an oil pressure switch on a 2014 Chrysler 300 during the installation of the switch I broke the cooling port which is part of the oil filter/coolant housing
Unfortunately this was a wholesale account I was only getting paid 298.48
The new housing assy cost me 196.50
The intake gaskets 35.52,oil pressure switch 39.99 which couldn’t be returned because I already installed it and new housing came with it of course 272.01 out of pocket not including 2 hours labor , plastic parts sometimes suck but I can’t blame anyone but me 😐
Unfortunately in this business mistakes will happen and it can be very costly to a shop

That sucks when it comes out of pocket, but you have the integrity to take care of it where a lot of shops would pass that F up cost on to the customer.

 

[Mean Cat]

Tightening up is right!!!
I swapped a set of wheels and tires on my cuda and I was anxious to go out for a test drive - come to find out I left some lug nuts loose. Came around a corner and I heard some "rocks" bouncing down the road...
It wasn't rocks - it was the lug nuts coming off. A quarter mile down the road I lost the front wheel... destroyed the fender as the tire shot off - bouncing into the woods.

Man , I bet you was PO'd at yourself for that one. That's prob. the most common mistakes is forgetting to tighten up something or over tightening & breaking a bolt.

 

[Purerock105]

These are hilarious, mostly because if you have wrenched, you can easily envision all these mishaps. 🍻😁

 

[coolblue]

Here’s one that just happened on Wednesday, I was replacing an oil pressure switch on a 2014 Chrysler 300 during the installation of the switch I broke the cooling port which is part of the oil filter/coolant housing
Unfortunately this was a wholesale account I was only getting paid 298.48
The new housing assy cost me 196.50
The intake gaskets 35.52,oil pressure switch 39.99 which couldn’t be returned because I already installed it and new housing came with it of course 272.01 out of pocket not including 2 hours labor , plastic parts sometimes suck but I can’t blame anyone but me 😐
Unfortunately in this business mistakes will happen and it can be very costly to a shop

Dude.......stick to transmissions!. Seriously, sh&* happens to even the most experienced guys. I brought an old van I had, in to get some brake work done at my local guy. It was winter, cold and shi^&y out and didn't want do it in the street outside. Long story short, won't bore you with details, he does it while I wait and I hang out in bays while he's working. Something breaks while he's working on it and we both look at each other. He say's "dude I'm glad you were here to see that you wouldn't have believed that". I said, "no I wouldn't". He says "you know freak shit happens like that and then the customer's never gonna believe it, or they say "you ruined my car, your just try'n to charge me extra!" so sometimes you just gotta eat it.

 

[hellno]

Dude.......stick to transmissions!. Seriously, sh&* happens to even the most experienced guys. I brought an old van I had, in to get some brake work done at my local guy. It was winter, cold and shi^&y out and didn't want do it in the street outside. Long story short, won't bore you with details, he does it while I wait and I hang out in bays while he's working. Something breaks while he's working on it and we both look at each other. He say's "dude I'm glad you were here to see that you wouldn't have believed that". I said, "no I wouldn't". He says "you know freak shit happens like that and then the customer's never gonna believe it, or they say "you ruined my car, your just try'n to charge me extra!" so sometimes you just gotta eat it.

I’ve been the only one in my shop since December 20th , I hate doing anything other then transmissions but I’ve learned two things since my guy are off during the holidays
1. Its tough working under the hood again
2.they need to speed their ass up because this old fart beats the book time easily 😂😂

 

[Jimmy N.]

This thread brings up some bad memories.

Like when I used a basic floor jack under the cross member to raise the front of a little sports car in preparation of a simple oil change. Well, I did it on gravel since there's always a little spillage.

I thought about the potential of the jack pad slipping since the jack was on gravel, and as you can imagine, it did.
On the last stroke.

In retrospect, the radiator did look kinda funny afterwards, with the jack-induced bow having transferred to the top tank, too.
Also on the positive side, the aluminum hood was open, so it escaped injury.

 

[Hickster]

Hey,,,,, I got it. Interesting. Mine was letting my neighbor borrow a nice set. That good?? Never saw either one again.

 

[Detroit Muscle]

Too many to list, but I have learned from everyone of them. 😊

 

[1971demon]

Too many to list, but I have learned from everyone of them. 😊

Me too....I quit wrenchin….

 

[1971demon]

Tightening up is right!!!
I swapped a set of wheels and tires on my cuda and I was anxious to go out for a test drive - come to find out I left some lug nuts loose. Came around a corner and I heard some "rocks" bouncing down the road...
It wasn't rocks - it was the lug nuts coming off. A quarter mile down the road I lost the front wheel... destroyed the fender as the tire shot off - bouncing into the woods.

Now that's funny

 

[Demon1]

I had a really nice 327 that needed a refresh and a little head work. I put her all back together, fired it up, gave it a little rap and she stopped dead in her tracks. That one little freakin valve keeper destroyed an entire engine. When you’re in college and that’s your only wheels it’s a sickening feeling.

 

[Hpindy]

My biggest mistake was helping a good friend change a intake gasket and radiator on his mid 80's rustang . I refuse to work on Ford's but he WAS a good friend and he didn't know the difference between a ratchet and a toilet plunger. The job went as well as could be expected. The real problem was every time something broke in the car it was some how my fault ....... The rear tail light burns out its some how my fault because I touched the batter and wiring under the hood . Brake pads wore out it was my fault they wore out to quick . Etc he also told the guy that he sold the car to call me when stuff breaks because I probably had something to do with it .
We are not friends any more lol

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