Dumb Things Done While Working On Your Car

Hi All,
I decided tha since it is now winter, and most of us are now doing some work on our cars, it might be fun to tell the tales of repairs gone wrong. Not necessarily the the repair itself was bad but that something funny happen while attempting the repair. Here is one, of many, of mine.

This just happened three days ago, so it is a very recent oops.

I was having problems with my brake lights on my 1969 Lincoln Mark III and I had tracked it down to the brake switch mounted on the brake pedal. It was intermittant so I determined that there was a loose wire. Now, I live in Chicagoland and it is cold here now. I also live in an apartment so I park outside. So, me being the smart blonde that I am I decide that after meeting friends for coffee I was going to find out exactly where the bad part is in the wire. It is now 11:30 PM, dark outside and most people are asleep, other than us nightowls. Now, remember, cold, night, OK. So, I decide to leave the car running while I do this since it is cold out and I have all the interior lights on to help me see, I also do have a three cell Maglight to help but it is bulky under the dash. So, I lay across the front seats with my shoulders on the drivers floor while I work under the dash. Everything is going fine and I think I have figured out exactly where the break in the wire is when I slip off the seat. Now, I am completely on the floor, but don't really think anything of it, yet. I'm not that tall, only 5'4" so I'm not really cramped for space, but being winter, I do have on a heavy coat and two shirts. Now, I want to get out from under the dash, but with all the moving I was doing I kinda got stuck. So, I wiggle and am able to open the door and try to push with my feet to get me out the drivers door but as I push I get stuck even harder because now I am stuck with my head out the door and me shoulders wedged between the seat and the dash. Right now I really only have one arm free to do anyting with since the other one is effectively pinned to my side. Now, lucky for me I didn't go in the apartment when I got home, so my purse was still in the car. I am able to swing my leg onto the seat and reach my purse to bring it over to me so I can use my cell phone. I call one of my friends that I just had coffee with and tell him about my situation. As I am telling him he is laughing. It is now Midnight. He had just got home from the restaurant and when he gets there he is laughing as he gets out of his truck. Now I am laughing also since I do know that this is funny. We are both laughing so hard we are crying as we try to extricate me from under the dash of my car. After about tem minutes I was finally free. I have not heard the end of this for the past few days, and I still laugh as I type this.

OK, next story of oopses?

Attached Image. (Click thumbnail to expand)

I would have loved to be there to see that!

ROTFLMAO! Get the brake lights working right again?

Oh, yes, I bought a new switch and installed it the next day. It took me all of 15 minutes to put the new switch in. But, I will always remember getting stuck, plus my friends are constantly reminding me of my blonde moment. OK, now who else has a story to share? Come on, I promise I won't laugh too hard.

VetteGal, nearly thirty years ago, I had a job installing car stereos. Have been in the same position you describe many times. Back then I was 6'2" and weighed 210 with a 48" chest and NEVER ONCE got stuck. (Course now, I weigh a few more pounds and the other stats are different ) Anyway, here's my story.

When I was sixteen and had only been driving a short while, I had borrowed the family car to go somewhere and had a flat tire. First flat I had ever changed, but I managed to get it done even though I was a little nervous that I might do something to mess up Dad's car. Carefully gathered the flat, jack, tire tool, etc. to put back in the trunk. Before closing the trunk, I checked to make sure I had the car keys (I could just see myself closing the trunk with the keys in it). No keys. I searched the trunk. No keys. I searched the ground around where I'd been changing the tire. No keys. I looked in the ignition. No keys. By now, I was starting to panic. Checked the trunk again, the ground, inside the car, my pockets; still no keys. I thought I'd lost the car keys (back then I was so naive that I didn't know there was another set).

By now, I was getting close to tears; just knew I had messed up big time. Figured I'd have to walk home and tell Dad what I'd done. Started closing the car up to begin walking. Closed the trunk lid and there were the keys in the trunk lock. That's when I learned that panic makes logical thought impossible.

I have to agree there Carolina Scotsman! Frustration never helps and here's why...

(this is also why no one should ever half-ass install a car stereo)

I was given a CD player to put into my radio space in my car. I asked a few different people to help for free and that fell through. It seems you can't get nothing done without a price tag these days! Anyway, I did a little research, bought a couple of tools and stereo products...even thought about getting a soldering iron, but didn't thankfully. So I went to set up the car stereo system on two separate occasions...no success. Nothing I bought, borrowed, or built myself ever worked. In my opinion, the car stereo suppliers (and car manufacturers alike) make it nearly impossible for a halfway intelligent person to figure this crap out...these people need to be slapped! Not only did I try ten-thousand different radio adaptor things (I don't even care what they're officially called!) but I asked numerous people who were successful in installing their own car stereos what to do.

So the third and final attempt did prove successful...for a minute, anyway! I had my radio working, everything grounded out properly, tunes blaring. I was happy. I took my wife for a quick cruise to test out the stereo. We turned here, we turned there, fine. All of a sudden, I heard some fizzling and clicking noises from the fuse box on the dash. We get to a stop light and to investigate the situation I shut off the car. To my dismay the car did not start, the ignition did not spark, nothing! I was so pissed, to say the very least. I got out, flagged traffic around me, and pushed the car into a parallel parking space.

We got the battery and alternator replaced and now the heater is not working. It's winter!

All I have to say is, frankly, all that trouble for a simple freakin' stereo.

When it rains it pours, man.

Long ago, in a world far, far away I was a young man with more time than money. Oh I also had a 61 Chevy with a "283 and 3 on the tree" that needed a clutch replacement. I put the piece of s..... fine automotive technology up on jack stands and struggled like you wouldn't believe to drop the tranny and change out the clutch. Put everything back together, fired the puppy up and shoved it into gear. It shook like a 6.3 earthquake but wouldn't budge an inch. I messed with it for a good 5 minutes, cussed it for ten, and figured I'd have to start all over from square one.

I stormed into the house and explained the situation to my dear mother. She walked to the garage to check things out and started laughing. She advised me in her kind, motherly way that it might work better if I took it off the jackstands first.

S

PS - She was right.

Let me guess, Sir Haldur: You are Scottish.
It usually pays to PAY to have the work done, if you don't know EXACTLY what you are doing.

As a young man, I decided to do a valve job on my car. I did a GOOD job. It ran beautifully, after I had the new engine installed.

Maisky, not for sure about the Scottish thing but if I'm anything, it would be Scottish! (made mental note to research geneology of the Felty family!)

Yeah, I've decided that the most pressing matter first of all is the heater. Winters are bad no matter where you are (unless you're in Hawaii or Tahiti!). We had a pretty bad ice/snow storm the other night so the area's been pretty wintry. We've had a white Christmas, which is great, but I think it's effected the thaw factor because my door still won't shut. Gonna get it checked out by a mechanic on Monday, thank goodness!

All is well on this Christmas day! All is well.

Or Panama *nudge* nudge*

Exactly! Of course one of my uncles who lives in central Ohio said they had 14 inches of snow this week...it was the reason they couldn't come down to Kentucky for a holiday visit.