Mechanical FAIL!!!!

"Trevor Slattery, ACTOR" (anacostiabikecompany) 10/24/2014 at 11:58 • Filed to: None

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We have all had them. The truth shall set you free. What have YOU or your shop screwed up?

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > Trevor Slattery, ACTOR 10/24/2014 at 12:05

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^that one...

Trevor Slattery, ACTOR > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. 10/24/2014 at 12:08

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I feel you brother. I once replaced my front brake rotors. Got on the road...what the heck is that smoking? WRONG brake rotors. Ruined rotors, pads and carriers.

You gotta match up the parts when you take 'em off!

bradleyjames518 > Trevor Slattery, ACTOR 10/24/2014 at 12:15

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As a tech, I swapped coolant lines with ATF lines and ran the car down the road....I bought a new transmission.

Trevor Slattery, ACTOR > Trevor Slattery, ACTOR 10/24/2014 at 12:17

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Another one from my shop back in the day. A mechanic tripped over the cord for the shop light that was hanging over an engine bay and the light fell and shattered over the engine. The sparkplugs were out because it was in for a tune up. It was a V-12. Horrible words were used.

bhardoin > Trevor Slattery, ACTOR 10/24/2014 at 13:31

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That sounds like the worst day ever. How'd the customer handle it?

Trevor Slattery, ACTOR > bhardoin 10/24/2014 at 13:36

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We were actually able to salvage this one. Shop vacuumed out the engine, then stuck some axle grease on the end of a piece of wire to stick down in the cylinders to get any glass shards that fell in the combustion chamber. Crossed our fingers and fired it up.

Trevor Slattery, ACTOR > Trevor Slattery, ACTOR 10/24/2014 at 14:06

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The Hindenburg of automotive fails.

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > Trevor Slattery, ACTOR 10/24/2014 at 20:20

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davedave1111 > Trevor Slattery, ACTOR 10/24/2014 at 20:54

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I can't say I've ever screwed up anything major. My speciality is breaking minor parts in stupid ways.

My sister took her car into a garage for service, though, and they parked it next to the tank full of old oil they'd suctioned out of other cars, then managed to knock the oil tank over, through the open window, soaking the interior of the car. That one was a fairly embarrassing write-off because it was impossible to clean it all out, and the car was carcinogenic if you sat in it breathing the fumes.

JGrabowMSt > Trevor Slattery, ACTOR 10/25/2014 at 19:26

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So, near death experience ahead, I hope you're not squeamish (I make it sound so much worse)...

Took the wagon in to get the trans fluid flushed after doing the pan gasket and the fluid filter. Filled the trans, but wanted it flushed again just to be sure. I had them put in new trans pan bolts as well, which required removing the transmission support "cradle" (important to note that).

Got back in the car, vibration everywhere. I basically refused to drive the car because I didn't trust it and didn't have the time to pull it apart that day. Parked the car for the day.

Next day, I get under the car, and the "CRADLE" was upside down. Fuck me. It even has "FRONT" stamped onto it, and clearly only fits the car in one way. So I grab a jack stand, two floor jacks, and a wrench, pull the support off, and flip it over. When I go to install it, I had to move the jack a little, so I grabbed the second one so I could feel safer doing so. There are 6 bolts, two in the trans, four that bolt to the frame. I got the two in the trans, and two on the drivers side of the car about 3/4 threaded. Got one bolt for the passenger side about half threaded and BANG! jack sips, transmission drop onto the cradle. Luckily, everything held. My face was about 2 inches from meeting the trans pan. I work very quickly because of this. I didn't take my time at all, if I was a few seconds slower, I'm not sure I would have had the bolt threaded enough to have caught it high enough. The whole reason the jack slipped is because the cross member is shaped different on the front and back, and didn't really have the proper amount of room for me to get the jack under the transmission to hold it up safely. I don't trust too many shops, I have to meet them and get to know them a little before I ever let them touch my cars.

I haven't been back to that shop since. The guys are nice, they do me favors once in a while, but they know I do a lot of work on the car, and wanted them to do things that was just easier for them than me. They could have at any time asked me how the cross member goes on the car, or if it looked right. Nope. I've since found another shop, and will be directing all of the work I can't do to them in the future.

Trevor Slattery, ACTOR > JGrabowMSt 10/27/2014 at 11:44

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Duuuuude!