Simple fixes turned nightmare
Posted by XxJabba666xX@reddit | cars | View on Reddit | 40 comments
We have all been there. A simple job that went horribly wrong for no reason. I was having some VVTI issues on an old E90 I had. Went to take off the solenoid to inspect and dropped an O-ring balls deep into the head.
Ended up having to do a full valve gasket cover job. Never got the VVTI fixed. What 3 hour job turned to 3 days for you guys?
rc1024@reddit
Pinion seal on my land cruiser. "Just pull it out with a screw." I had to form a loop of wire and weld it closed to get something strong enough to pull with then slide hammer it out. And it sprayed me in the face with oil.
RoadtoAbdom@reddit
I owned an 8th gen civic si for a bit and shortly after purchase, I upgraded the front brakes for a custom setup -- Acura RL 4 piston calipers & pads, 350 Z Track Pack Rotors. The brakes developed a heavy squeal due to the pad & rotor not being aligned perfectly with the pads having a small shelf to them now. I thought it was my driver caliper seal causing the issue, so I replaced the entire caliper and during the reinstall/ bleeding process broke the bango bolt. Autozone & similar stores didn't have a specific match so I resorted to facebook marketplace.
I also owned a CX650C for like 2 months. Bike never ran after I bought it due to throttle snapping and other various problems. I was in process of replacing the water pump seal which sits behind the water pump which is threaded to the camshaft, and after torquing it down to the very small measurement I snap the thread/ camshaft. I pretty much sold the bike for a small loss after that.
Ok_Blueberry_1068@reddit
Wife's crv was burning oil so she wanted to check the PCV valve just in case since it was easy to get to. I told her it probably wasn't the cause but she insited. Got it off, checked it over, and it was fine. Wanted to make sure I didn't cause any issues by under tightening it, and Google came up with several sources that said 20 ft-lbs I get to about 10 and ..... Snap. Oh fucking great. Called Honda and it's 8 ft-lbs. Thanks Google and your fucking hallucinating AI based search system. So we go to oreillys to get a new one and an extractor. Get back, and the extractor is the wrong size. So we go back and get a smaller one. This one works, cool. Problem is, I can't hammer it in because the fucking core support is in the way. Pull some shittery to lever it in there, twist the old one out, cool we're getting somewhere. Go to put the new one in aaaannnd the fucking washer slips of and disappears to God knows where. So I go back to O'Reillys, get another washer, get back, put it in. Finally done. What should have taken a couple minutes turned into 3 hours of bs for a part that wasn't broken to begin with.
natesully33@reddit
I was installing a crank pulley on an LS1 in a project car. Since I was young and dumb(er) I used the ARP fancy crank bolt to pull the pulley on to the crank.
Never do this. Use the special pulley install tool.
Invariably, that bent the threads in the crank so the bolt jammed, in such a way that it could turn neither in or out. After fiddling with it a bunch, I just sent it and broke it off in the crank, then spent the next day and a half drilling it out, veeeeerrrry slowly, because it's a fancy ARP crank bolt made from some crazy hard steel and it was jammed so bad that no easy-out or extractor would ever turn it.
Somehow, after chasing the threads with a tap, they were good and it ran fine for years after I installed the pulley and a new bolt. Using the tool.
The_Duke2331@reddit
Not the worst but definitely up there.
Went to change the torque tube on my buddies corvette c5 And while we were at it, change the rear main seal.
Got ourselfs some new flywheel bolts and everywhere online i found out that the steps were 20Nm/50Nm and a final 100Nm pass (all converted from imperial and tripple checked the values)
At the final pass of 100Nm i broke a bolt flush the crankshaft...
I had to take a mental break when that happend.
Eventually we got out the welder and over the course of 3 hours we welded nuts etc onto the bolt and kept trying to turn it out (while dousing the surrounding area with cool water to protect the crankshaft and new seal right next to it.
We ended up welding a tower of flux on it which we grabbed with pliers and gave us about half a turn before it snapped off agian. But we got half a turn, we kept going until i could grab the bolt and undo it.
Afterwards when it got out we went and got new bolts and after the 50Nm pass i just grabbed a wrench and just gave it a bit more and sent it.
So far its holding up, no rattles, no oil leakage so we fixed it...
But damn that was a horrible evening.
SamsonFox2@reddit
Aren't there kits to take out bolts that use reverse grooves? I've had a similar one for wood screws, it worked mostly fine.
The_Duke2331@reddit
We tried drilling a hole in the bolt but they were 10.9 grade so it dulled every drill bit we threw at it. Even being meticulously carefull with drill speed and keeping the bit cool.
I knew the bolt wasnt that stuck because we cleaned everything and it was a new bolt but drilling wasn't a option after 15 mins of trying and getting nowhere...
Glass-Narwhal-6521@reddit
Could you have just used a Dremel to cut a slot in the bolt for a straight edge screwdriver?
The_Duke2331@reddit
I wish i could but we had no dremel on hand at the time and the bolt broke flush with the crankshaft so i would cut into the crankshaft aswell which i wanted to avoid.
TheDirtDude117@reddit
Not sure if it helps to hear this but we did the same thing on mine when doing the LS7 clutch kit.
r_golan_trevize@reddit
Swapping the radiator in my 2012 Silverado and replacing all the coolant hoses.
The heater hoses use quick disconnects where you slide a tool in the end of the hose to release the tangs that lock it on the fitting. One side came off first try, no problem. The other side used a different sized fitting, I guess so you couldn’t mix them up, and it would not come off for anything. I had three different sets of the release tools in different styles and none of them worked. I ended up having to saw it of carefully with a hacksaw blade, the whole time knowing if I messed up, I’d be replacing the heater core too and turning a simple job into a week long ordeal of pulling the dash (or, rather, I’d probably rig up a janky workaround with hose clamps.
The radiator has an oil cooler on one side and a transmission cooler on the other. The oil cooler line fittings didn’t give me any trouble but the transmission line fittings just did not want to seat and lock for anything. I finally had to swap the fittings over from the original radiator. Pro tip: only take one fitting out at a time because they’re the only thing holding the heat exchanger inside the radiator in place. It worked but I was sweating whether it would seal against the radiator body correctly since they’re didn’t look exactly the same, but it seems to be fine.
It still was only and afternoon job but it was a longer afternoon than I would have liked and it was, like, a million degrees out side (that’s about a half a million degrees Celsius for the rest of the world) and the potential for disaster was high.
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Replacing valve stem seals on my Mustang. Taking them out was easy. I had a special OHC valve compressor tool so I could do it with the heads on the engine in the car, just take the valve covers off. Putting them back in was a total bitch. The little bastards did not want to go back where they belonged, they kept falling off my magnetic tool, spinning the wrong way at the last second, shooting out like a tiddlywink when I released the valve spring. What should have taken part of one day ended up taking all weekend and a trip to the store for extra retainers that yeeted themselves into another dimension.
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A long time ago with mobile VW Fox wagon. I’d done some work on the cooling system, I can’t remember what now, but I always had a problem getting the lower hose to stay on properly the first time you put it back on. You’d drive a bit, it’d get hot and blow off, you’d pull over reattach it, refill the radiator, and it’d be fine until the next time you needed to do something to the cooling system. I had just wrapped it up and needed to go get one more thing and I knew I still had to go through the hose blowing off routine before it was safe to drive again so I told my girlfriend, “whatever you do, don’t drive the Fox” and she said “OK, no problem, I don’t have anywhere I need to go anyway”. The second I got down the road, she drove the Fox (to my grandmothers house to steal drugs). She beat me back and when I got home, she confessed she’d driven the Fox (not about stealing drugs from my grandmother though, I didn’t figure that out till much later) and it’d gotten hot and then by the time she’d got back it was starting to sound funny. I went out to crank it and it sounded like the pistons had welded themselves to the walls. So that turned into an engine swap and I think a cleaning lady might have got fired, or at least my grandmother talked very nasty about her behind her back.
MrThunderMakeR@reddit
Spark plugs on a 2003 F150 5.4L.
If you're familiar with this truck you already know how much of a pain in the ass the rear plugs are. They are basically up underneath the dash. And they are in a vertical cavity about 4 or 5 inches down from the top of the motor. You can't see them at all, have to do everything by feel. I got the rear driver out with only a little bit of cursing and a nice daisy chain of pivot extensions. But I could not for the life of me get the rear passenger plug out. The socket just wouldn't grab on the plug. Finally I got the borescope out and shoved it down there to see what the problem was.
Turned out the missing cap from the fuel rail had made its way down there and wedged itself between the plug and the wall of the engine block, preventing the socket from going over the plug. To make matters worse the cap is plastic so couldn't fish it out with a magnet. And the heater hoses run directly over the cavity so couldn't get a shop vac on it. So I spent the next 3 hours with the borescope and hangar wire trying to fish the cap out. It would alternate between getting stuck between the wall and the hex head of the plug, or just dropping all the way back down to bottom of the cavity. Its so confusing trying to guess which way to manipulate the wire to get it to move where you one on the shitty little screen. I'm pretty sure I'm qualified to be a surgeon now.
Broke one of the shitty plastic connectors for the heater hoses and spilled coolant everywhere. Eventually got the cap out but it turned into a whole weekend ordeal.
Oh yeah, fuck Ford
r_golan_trevize@reddit
I love how easy plugs are on my 2V 4.6L Mustang - right on top with straight shot at them once you get the inlet tube off (just one screw clamp basically) and you don’t have to worry about burning your fingers on exhaust manifolds or cutting them on heat shields and trying to get threads started at a weird angle like my Silverado.
But yeah, stuff that motor in a truck where they put half of it under the dash… that’s a different story.
manesag@reddit
Needed to do brakes on my civic, went to break the bolts loose on one of the wheels and it doesn’t feel right. Full huh.exe in effect. Well we had a job to do so we just said screw it and broke the bolt so we can keep going. Sure enough we discovered that when I took my car to a body shop, they whizzed that bolt on with an impact and cross threaded the fucker on. Trying to replace the bolt was also a debacle
FMJoey325@reddit
I will go to war with my torque wrench meanwhile my dad will impact the tits off of every bolt. It’s a frustrating conversation every time because he usually does know what he’s doing.
manesag@reddit
See I don’t care about impacting them off. It’s the fact it was impacted on and probably not torqued right
FMJoey325@reddit
Nonono, sorry I should have been more clear. He impacts everything on. Full beans GATGATGATGATGAT. There is no consideration for anyone ever trying to remove a bolt in the future. Fuck ‘em, it’s good enough. 🤦🏻♂️
manesag@reddit
😐yeah that’s not helpful. I know I’ll zip them on to get them close but yeah that’s not ideal LOL
FMJoey325@reddit
He has a lifetime of experience working on cars and I am always learning but how do you argue with a man with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and the sound of 1000 ftlbs of torque on a caliper bracket lmao
Glass-Narwhal-6521@reddit
What hope do you have when they know everything and youre just a "know-nuthin' little punk that needs ta keep his mouth shut and respect his damn elders boy!".
manesag@reddit
It’s funny because I feel the same with my dad, the older he gets the less fucks he gives, so I’ve seen it haha
Der_Dampfhammer@reddit
Wanted to swap out a coupling rod, as I saw that it was worn out during a tire change. When I had it in my hands, I saw that the wishbone bushings were torn as well, on both sides. After removing them, I saw that my front axle had a FAT hole right next to the bolt that fixates the steer
TheDirtDude117@reddit
I was err... Servicing a Touareg TDI downpipe and the stud snapped on the top front most stud trying to remove a nut.
This resulted in removing the intake manifold to remove the EGR pipe going to the turbo to remove the engine hoist bracket to get a 90⁰ adapter on a drill to drill out the stud. Sadly 3 drill bits, all the penetrating fluid, a torch, and 3 different style of extractors later none of it worked. I used a final extractor and it budged slightly. I drilled it out more and more and it finally was out.
I ended up changing the oil cooler gaskets, some coolant pipes, cleaning all the carbon buildup from the EGR issues, and replacing some hoses. Not a real fun job that's for sure.
GANG_SIGNS@reddit
Ooh I got a couple.
1) Trying to change starter cables and knocked over the brake fluid reservoir while reaching over. The car was old so the reservoir rubber grommets just crumbled to pieces. Leaking brake fluid made the car undrivable, took nearly a week waiting for a $2 part to arrive
2) Float ball fell off the fuel sender assembly and into the tank when trying to change the fuel pump, so my gauge wouldn't work. Ordered 2 more and dropped another in the tank before finally getting it right. There are like 3 floating in there currently.
3) Accidentally destroyed my master cylinder when trying to bleed the brakes because I pushed the pedal too far and cooked the seals.
Good learning experiences
Zealousideal-Loan655@reddit
I wanted to replace my radio to something modern
I fried the computer and ended with dead weight
XxJabba666xX@reddit (OP)
Holy fuck dude. What vehicle was that?
Zealousideal-Loan655@reddit
Pontiac G6, 2008 I think?
ducky21@reddit
A good reminder that there's a reason they tell you to disconnect the battery when you do a radio, but we've all gotten lazy with how good current protection systems have gotten and start doing cowboy shit.
Zealousideal-Loan655@reddit
But I did!
The strange part was after I put everything back, while the car was OFF, the radio was playing music and would not turn off until I disconnected the battery again. I felt something was off about that but didn’t think twice until the next morning 🥲 when I had to uber to work
Pro-tip: don’t do anything when you can’t afford anything
rudbri93@reddit
right now its bleeding brakes on my olds. You can bleed all the air out, pedal feels great. Then two stop signs later the brake pedal is low and squishy. Go back to rebleed, bunch of air in rear lines. Unable to locate how its happening.
gdnws@reddit
Went to change the serpentine belt. The belt runs through a bracket that holds on the upper torque mount. When it came to reinstalling it, I found that one of the previous people to work on it over tightened the bolts to the extent that it pulled the threads out of the cylinder head. Two of the bolts live below the level of the frame rail and even undoing an engine mount and jacking up one side of the engine just barely made the holes accessible for drilling and tapping new threads.The problem, the fix.
penguinchem13@reddit
Changing a starter on a 91 S10 4x4. Got it all disconnected but could not remove it without dropping the front axle. My uncle's a mechanic and he said the easiest way is to cut off the top of the pinion shield, then it fits.
Antofuzz@reddit
I'm in the midst of what should have been an easy clutch master/slave cylinder replacement and has turned into a a lot more.
FMJoey325@reddit
Pouring one out for you 🫡
Antofuzz@reddit
Thank you. I knew I was in a bad spot when I had to cut a hydraulic line...
piercerson25@reddit
Newer generation jeep. We had to change the spark plugs, which required taking a ton of stuff apart in the rain.
drakitomon@reddit
Every 1 hour job is one broken bolt away from a 3 plus day ordeal.
69generic-username69@reddit
Go out for a drive at night, all is normal till I get a flat. Limp the car off the highway, go to look for the wheel-lock key, that got stolen 48 hrs earlier in a break-in…
End up having to wait till 4am for a tow, friends brought tools to try and break it off, no luck. Towed it home, went and bought a huge breaker bar and got it off.
Tire was unrepairable, and the puncture happened at highway speed & bent the wheel too while it was low/no air
SirMoistalot@reddit
Changing a water pump on a mercedes e class in the dead of winter outside. Resulted in a trip to the emergency room for my friend who developed frostbite on his toes. Genuinely mental.
Minimum_Persimmon281@reddit
This job could have turned into a hours of work, but it turned into a 10 minute ordeal (pheww).
I was installing the egr pipe going to the throttlebody on a 1.6 16v Golf. Anyone who has taken it out and then gone to reinstall it knows how terrible it is. Anyways, it has ”hanger” in the middle of the pipe to support it. Anyways, moms boyfriend helped me and tried to get the bolt stsrted, but accidentally dropped it. We couldn’t find it anywhere. Than i look and see this hole with the lid open on it on the transmission, which i later learned is the inspection hole for the flywheel to see the timing. For some reason, the shop that had done the timing belt had just left it open. And you guessed it, the bolt was in there after we sent in a camera, Luckily, it was on some type if a shelf, so we attached a magnet onto the camera, webt in like surgeons and got it out. Pheww.