Fixed my trunk latch! User error was the problem..

"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
09/16/2015 at 08:16 • Filed to: None

So the last couple of days I had my trunk bungee corded closed since I could not figure out why it would not latch shut (ignore the white circle in this stock photo). Well in the middle of the night last night, I awoke with a revelation of what was the issue. Silly me had not thought about the trunk release lever inside the car. Apparently my tire pressure gauge was stuck beneath the lever and was not allowing the trunk to properly latch. After fretting about my broken trunk for the last couple of days, I am glad it was a simple case of user error at play here.

Anyone else have some really dumb “user-error” car repair stories?

DISCUSSION (11)

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/16/2015 at 08:34

I once installed a brake pad backwards........I caught the noise immediately. But yeah that was embarassing to see.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
09/16/2015 at 08:40

Haha yeah I have done that but the caliper wouldn’t close so I was able to quickly realize that I had mixed that up.

LongbowMkII > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/16/2015 at 08:43

I didn’t tighten the front wheel after doing the rear brakes (I had planned on replacing all 4). Panic on how I fudged up a simple pad replacement, then moment of clarity. *sigh*

I replaced a bent caliper bolt so it wasn’t a complete waste.

jariten1781 > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/16/2015 at 09:20

Um...infinite. I regularly manage to bone something up.

A good one was when I was doing a waterpump...buttoned everything up and started the car then whammo, limp mode and bouncing idle. Checked everything I could think of and figured I boned something up down deep. Took everything back apart paying super close attention and finding nothing wrong. Reassembled and same symptoms. Resigned myself to needing to take it in to have a shop fix whatever mistake I couldn’t find. Pulled it out of the garage to await path forward and I hear a strange rattling.

Scope it out and it turns out the plug for the MAF had fallen into the back and I never noticed I hadn’t plugged it back in. So I basically did the labor for an additional water pump job and drain/fill out of pure stupidity. Oh, and it's like 3am when I finish and work starts at 7. Not a happy day.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > LongbowMkII
09/16/2015 at 10:35

good thing you didn’t have something like this happen then: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z220Dp…

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > jariten1781
09/16/2015 at 10:37

oh man that sucks. When I changed my thermostat recently, I neglected to change the thermostat gasket before bolting everything back together. Was leaking coolant all over the place when I turned the car back on. Really annoying to empty all the coolant again and then do it right. Lessons learned!

Svend > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/16/2015 at 11:24

Is that your fuel filler car release and boot release in the centre console arm rest? What if you put something and it depresses the fuel filler cap release of boot release?

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Svend
09/16/2015 at 14:14

Yes, both the trunk release and fuel cap cover release are located in the center console arm rest. I believe this is the same on all NA/NB miatas? Both are pull levers, not push so it is more difficult for it to accidentally get pressed. I had loaded mine way too full though which is why my trunk lever was stuck. This is not a picture from my car in the post, but it is nearly the same.

DarrenMR > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/16/2015 at 22:12

I had this exact thing happen in my miata with a pen. I just opened it with the manual release in the trunk for a few days.

Edit: My Miata isnt as fancy, I dont have a trunk release. My gas cap release is what I meant in my comment.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > DarrenMR
09/17/2015 at 14:44

There is a manual gas cap release in the trunk?

DarrenMR > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
09/17/2015 at 16:42

There is a small push button on mine right underneath the actual cap.