stupid things you've done!!!

thepharcyde

thepharcyde

thepharcyde

Soldato
Joined
17 Mar 2004
Posts
8,259
So I've had my car nearly a year and from a month after picking up my Civic the brake pedal had a slight squeak worse some day than others, non existent in the rain. Roll on yesterday was driving up to London from Dorset in the afternoon. Having just had 4 new tyres fitted driving home I arrived on my drive and thought I would tackle this once and for all. Pushed the seat back and had a nosy under the pedals. I had previously dismissed the noise for an issue on the drivers front caliper hence no noise when it rained must have lubricated the squeak. But obviously with the engine on (diesel) too noisy to check with the engine off the pedal would lock up after a few depresses. Anyhow....yesterday with the seat rolled back the noise would be there wiggling the pedal slightly and audible inside the car. I then thought maybe master cylinder but kept on fiddling cutting hands to pieces in the interim. Then I noticed a push switch in front of the pedal hidden by the dash shroud. Eureka pushing this was making a slight sound so I started with the disassembly and loaded the spring with wd40. Replaced the shroud that extended under whole steering area and side so the door had to be opened. Clip it back thump the clips back in place etc. Key in, press starter button.....Check ABS, Check VSA, Check Airbag, EML. ********. Thought the worse had I shorted out and broke the switch with the WD40??? Took it all apart disconnected switch tried again same thing. Starting to panic three hours till I have to go to London wife anxious etc. Call AA, will be 40 minutes. Whilst I was waiting I tried disconnecting battery and leaving till everything reset. Same thing. Went online and thankfully seems quite a common occurrence when people fit hands free and the like. Fuel cut off switch had deployed. Drivers side from when I was replacing shroud thumping it in place. Yep pushed the button all was fixed.

What a morning!!!!!

Anyone else had similar experiences of home Car DIY gone wrong?
 
1) Reversed into a bolt sticking out of a post in the dark. I saw the post and made sure I missed it. But I hadn't counted on a black bolt sticking out of it several inches.

2) Kerbed the nearside front alloy on a car I'd only owned for two hours and had 5 miles on the clock.
 
Fitting the parrot on my civic, very carefully, took me 4 hours managed to leave the connections the wrong way round so it was on even when the car was off. Didnt realise till it was all back together some hours later. Thankfully battery was ok but it did mean I had to dismantle the thing again in the dark. Only took an hour the second time round :)

Hawker
 
Spent ages custom building a turbo for my beetle. Couldn't get it to work.

Only after dismantling it all and putting the engine back to normal, have I got this nagging thought that I may have had two of the HT leads round the wrong way. :o
 
Attempted to drive from leeds to northampton (135 miles) after forgetting to put the expansion bottle cap back on.

Boiled every last drop of coolant off by the time I pulled over, waited 10 mins for it to cool and filled it up with diluted robinsons blackcurrant to drive it to a petrol station to drain it and refill with anti-freeze
 
Mk3 Capri Changed the single carb to a Twin choke Webber off a 2L cortina. Didnt notice the new carb had a fuel return.........Not noticing = Fire...lol





Nearly wrote off my SLK55AMG within 30 sec of driving off the forecourt. Dealer next to m/way. Road slightly damp put foot down a little bit more than maybe I should have. Got a proper wiggle on from lane 1-3. The mrs was not impressed.

I made it look like I meant to do it. Although I went pale.

Mental note 130bhp diesel to a 360BHP 2 seater V8. Change how you drive
 
Had just cleaned the iacv on my car, I reset the ecu. You have to leave it idling to learn the idle again.

Hadn't realised I'd left the car in gear. I had the window wound down and stayed the ignition from outside the car. It jumped forwards and started up.

I quickly done in through the window to push the brake pedal with my hand until it stalled. It was about 30cm from ploughing into my mum's garage door :D

Really hurt my shoulder in the process
 
Went to refuel a nigh-on brand new diesel Insignia hire car on the way to work one morning, before handing it back to the rental company. In my early morning dopey state I managed to put £10 worth of unleaded in it before realising my mistake.

I then proceeded to panic, pay for the fuel, drive off the forecourt to a nearby car park, panic some more, then decide that rather than admit to my error and risk humiliation in the office just fill the rest of the tank with diesel and pray nobody notices :)

The car drove fine on the 2 mile journey back to the office and I never did hear anything more about it. It was a nerve-wrecking couple of weeks that followed though, wondering if I'd get a phone call!
 
When I was 17 I had a Hillman Hunter as my first car.. I went speeding down the Parkway at about 90mph (flat out) and joined the slip road down to a roundabout before braking (Bretton north).

The brake pedal hit the deck !!

oooooh sheet !

I yanked the handbrake on (bl00dy good handbrakes on hunters) but still went onto the roundabout at about 60mph. Miraculously nothing was coming.

Lesson learnt. NEVER assume anything will work as it should especially if it's a bucket of **** in the first place !
 
Moving from a 140bhp 318is to a 230bhp 330i without fully appreciating the power difference was probably the stupidest thing I've done.
Driving back home one cold and frosty night (only had the car about 2 days) and approached a roundabout over an underpass, got onto the roundabout which had no other cars on it, as I was coming around I saw a guy in a Micra decide he was able to cut through the gap in front of me, I knew differently and didn't think I'd be able to stop in time so hit kickdown whilst still going round the roundabout. The back end stepped out on me so I was facing 45 degrees (which incidently meant all I could see was the railings and the drop below). Thankfully traction control kicked in and saved my sorry ass!

That night I learnt to appreciate the power delivery and realised how quickly I could get myself into a mess so I've taken it fairly easy since then
 
At around 17 and having recently passed my test, Idecided it would be fun to turn the ignition off and "coast" down a hill on a quiet country lane at night. But I managed to engage the steering lock on in the process. yikes! Never tried that again.:p

I didnt find any ditches or hedges though, not on that occassion anyway.
 
Trying to re-start a stalled auto while still in drive and wondering why it wouldnt start! Called breakdown, only to then immediately realise the problem!
 
Blagged a test drive in an e39 M5 a few years ago, noticing the road was damp, I thought it would be fun to turn off the TC and give it some around a roundabout.

I executed a perfect power slide around the roundabout, passing a copper waiting at one of the exits.... :o

Thought it would be less hassle to move a loaded trailer without bothering to connect its air lines, just release the trailers brakes via what's called a shunt valve. I hadn't appreciated it was as heavy as it was and promptly jack-knifed, right outside the transport office...

Turning an artic around in the service yard of a retail park at night, in the dark, misjudged the length of my trailer and knocked down the rear wall of one of the retail units, I could see right into the shop!


Trying to fix the fuel gauge sender on an XR3i Escort, I unscrewed it, cue full tank of petrol draining all over me....

5th to 2nd gear at great speed (again, in my XR3i) one blown engine.

Deciding to light a cigarette whilst pulling a part of a car in a breakers yard, cue one rather large fire.

I could go on....... :o
 
rodenal said:
Pulled a coolant hose off a warm, still pressurised system once.

Wont do that again, took months for my hand to heal!
Click to expand...

*Winces*




OK so own up, who's gone to refill their oil after draining it, before putting the filter / sump plug back on? ;)


Not me, I hasten to add, but most threads like this contain a few people who have. :D
 
Howard said:
*Winces*




OK so own up, who's gone to refill their oil after draining it, before putting the filter / sump plug back on? ;)


Not me, I hasten to add, but most threads like this contain a few people who have. :D
Click to expand...

Sort of similar, did an oil change on the ZS in the back garden, old oil drained into a washing up bowl. Forgot to remove the washing up bowl full of oil from under the car, drove forward, 5L of oil straight onto the grass.

Still hasn't grown back!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom