This is why you can't trust anyone to work on your car.

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Most here are straight out of UTI or some other school. I have had my fair share of run in's with UTI student screw ups.
 
When I was still a teenager, my mother took an after work course on car maintenance, taught by one of the men that worked with her. Then she did her own oil change at home and guess who was the next person to use her car. As I was driving from Philly to the shore in NJ, on a double date, halfway there I see a smoke trail following us! I worked in a gas station, so I knew that an oil filter won't seal if you've left the old rubber O ring stuck to the block. After borrowing a filter wrench, I see that is exactly what she did. What an embarrassment! Not to mention the burns I got on my hands and arms trying to fix this on a 100 degree plus day!
 
I bought my 71 torono GT from the original owner in 1990 with 83,000 miles.

No one had ever set the timing in those 19 years!

If you're familiar with the Cleavland engine design, there's a low spot in the casting around the dist. This allows water to pool there, esp with a shaker hood.

I broke the bakelite spring tower trying to change the points...

It literally took six men, an engine hoist, a welder and a drill eight hours to extract that distributor!!!!

We had to remove the hood, weld a used head bolt across the top of the shaft, attach the engine hoist, and I had to drill holes in the flange of the dist, being careful not to nick the block or guts.

Unbelievable.....but true.


Ask me about changing the water pump on a cleveland without a balancer puller.....2000 miles from home.
 
IMO, Stuff happens. No ones infallible. I remember when it took me a quart and a half of oil before I realized I forgot the drain plug.:eek:ops:.... #-oThat was a mess!
I'm sure many here have had do-overs in there dealings with cars.

A six point box end combination wrench and dead blow hammer if needed works for me on removal of the oil pan plug.

Had an instance last year the local Chrysler dealer leaving an oil filter loose on our Sebring. They were more than happy to make it right and no waiting to get in...........
 

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here are some momentos from an oil pain repair i did years back.

the savages at quick-e-lube must have stripped the drain plug (aluminum pan) and wailed in a fine thread bolt they had laying around. i wound up cleaning up the hole and making my own tap out of another drain plug, then used that same plug and saved the guy from a costly repair.

 
One of the worst jobs I got into was on my sisters vette.
She has a low mile 40K stingray.
She asked me to change the oil.
The filter was so tight, a oil filter wrench collapsed the housing.
I had to cut the filter off and spin the mounting plate off with an air chisel.
 
Sedanman said:
Most here are straight out of UTI or some other school. I have had my fair share of run in's with UTI student screw ups.
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My son went to UTI and we are very disappointed in them. Too much books and not enough hands on to teach them how to fix stuff...

Hindsight - go to Wyo Tech...
 
sireland67 said:
One of the worst jobs I got into was on my sisters vette.
She has a low mile 40K stingray.
She asked me to change the oil.
The filter was so tight, a oil filter wrench collapsed the housing.
I had to cut the filter off and spin the mounting plate off with an air chisel.
Click to expand...

We used to use large channel locks on those kind of filters when I worked at a 10 minute oil change place in high school...

Or poke a screwdriver through the housing and use it to turn the filter off....
 
krazykuda said:
We used to use large channel locks on those kind of filters when I worked at a 10 minute oil change place in high school...

Or poke a screwdriver through the housing and use it to turn the filter off....
Click to expand...

Destroyed every piece of the outer housing, screwdriver just ripped the sides out.
It was really tight, it took air chisel to finally get out the part that screws on to the motor.
 
As they say, the first thing to wear out on a new car is the drain plug.

This is why.

I have a 2012 Cruze and the dealer did a warranty repair on my car for an oil leak (valve cover)...well they nearly rounded off the drain plug in ONE oil change, where I had done it at least 10 times before. Thankfully it still came out. Just had to buy a new drain plug.
 
In 1970, went to the local garage to get an oil change on my uncle's 1967 GMC 283 c.i., ''granny'' transmission. About half a mile later, the transmission was whinning like a pig!!......Yep....8 quarts in the engine...no more oil in the manual transmission....
 
Needed lower ball joint in the '84 Chevy diesel P/U so took it to a place that had done other work. 250 miles later, towing a race car to Maine on I-8 in PA, the truck starts wandering BAAAD. Looked under and the press-in ball joints were backed out and wobbling around. They had not pressed them in to the LCA's properly.

Now I own a press....
 
Norway-dart said:
well, as a mechanic, I actually see People that should not have wrenched on they own cars as well! Im not defending shortcuts here..
Its not just the mechanics that destroy Things... :) another thing is that at home you may have time to wait for that spare to show up, at work, everything takes time, and Labour is something the customer doesnt want to pay...

that said, we had a Young gun at Our shop that used the impact wrenc on a aluminum oil sump bold....I must say he was shocked when the Complete sump cracked in several pieces..LOL not so happy customer
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True, it takes practice- which typically means screw-ups for most people to realize what they need to do.

ragtopfury said:
Few years ago I got new tires on my truck at Goodyear. Being raised by a mechanic I just knew they overtightened the lug nuts with the impact gun, so I figured I'd break them loose with a breaker bar before going anywhere else after I got it home. I was 1/2 right - the rears were way tight, but all the fronts were finger loose and 1 was a different size. Tightened them up, removed the odd nut out and took it back to them for the correct one and told them about the loose ones. Service manager asked the gopher next to him what *** hole goes home and checks his lugs. I responded with a smarter one than the one who runs the shop. His face turned red and he was about to say something - I cut him off and asked if I'd been better to drive it until the wheels fell off and then I would own the shop. He walked away.

We all forget something sometimes. We are human. But at least own up to it.....lol
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That's amazing. I had a similar one recently that reminded me that I need to do what I can and not let anybody sorry-assed charge money for anything that I'll end up needing to fix.
 
Rainy Day Auto said:
had a few customer cars like that.

if you have room, you can stab the oil filter with a huge screwdriver and use it to turn the filter off.

Makes a huge mess but gets it done in 2 minutes.
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I have had this work but I have also had this end up making tears in the metal which just made for more work. I have a vice grip style oil filter wrench that has never once failed me.
 
krazykuda said:
Most drain plugs use a nylon, copper, or rubber gasket...
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Yes, it had some type of rubber gasket mated to the flange in a slightly recessed ring. Either way, I'm glad it's off and the threads weren't stripped in the pan. I've seen plenty of DIY people screw **** up too. But I've almost always heard of or seen work a shop had done and it wasn't pretty. It just baffles me everytime. It shouldn't by now though. Haha.
 
This other time I had ordered a set of mid controls off of Ebay. I'm assuming the guy I bought them from switched to forward controls. Anyway I get them him and I get the bike up on the jack take the forward controls off and go to put the ones I bought on. Every single bolt for that assembly had the star bits hammered out to accept a Allen key. I was so Pissed off they were all stripped and messed up. Then the brake linkage had a snapped eyelet (kindof like a ballpoint) and the nylon socket just popped in and out. I had to cover it in grease and weld the socket back together and then clean all the grease off and wire brush it and file and repaint it. If I could kick that guy in the mouth I would do it in a second. That Pisses me off too. Someone attempting to do a job without the proper tools and everything is all Jimmy rigged or broken or both.
 
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