Your biggest DIY screwups

Jeffblue · 10-19-2011, 12:12 PM

Lots of us work on our own cars and on this forum it ranges from people who change their own oil, to installing their own GTM twin turbo kits. Needless to say we all make mistakes so i figured this would be a funny place to post the results/mishaps (With pictures if you have them) or just tell the story of what you did wrong. I guess i'll start.

I had to install different springs in my BC coilovers because the original ones it came with were too short and i couldn't get enough preload on them. After finishing and installing everything, i forgot to take this vice grip off. It stayed there from november until march.

no harm done, since the suspension and wheel all move as one, but it was funny to see it there.

toxik · 10-19-2011, 12:16 PM

Not on the Z, but I installed rear springs on my last car upside down. Don't have a pic, but again... didn't even know until I swapped them for OEM 2 years later.

Red__Zed · 10-19-2011, 12:17 PM

...

tjlazer · 10-19-2011, 12:17 PM

OK i'll bite:

Demon Bolt fun!

Had a heck of a time getting one of the bolts off during my HFC install. Had to resort to extreme measures. Cut the cat in half to get access to the bolt. Fun times

6MT · 10-19-2011, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tjlazer

OK i'll bite:

Demon Bolt fun!

Had a heck of a time getting one of the bolts off during my HFC install. Had to resort to extreme measures. Cut the cat in half to get access to the bolt. Fun times

Never seen one that bad, but not to worry.... you're not the first.

Jeffblue · 10-19-2011, 12:19 PM

then of course theres the old, 'forgot to put oil filler cap on and get oil all over your engine bay.' luckily i realized after only one commute to work which was 10 miles so it wasn't so messy.

joshs09slvrZ · 10-19-2011, 12:21 PM

After I installed my HFC and CBE, I went out for a test drive and heard all this rattling going on and then through my rear view mirror I saw these two metal pieces flying out. Of course I stopped to make sure none of the seals broke lose; which they hadn't. Luckily my friend was behind me so he stopped to grab whatever flew out and it turned out to be a 14mm deep well socket and a 3/8" extension haha.

Jeffblue · 10-19-2011, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joshs09slvrZ

After I installed my HFC and CBE, I went out for a test drive and heard all this rattling going on and then through my rear view mirror I saw these two metal pieces flying out. Of course I stopped to make sure none of the seals broke lose; which they hadn't. Luckily my friend was behind me so he stopped to grab whatever flew out and it turned out to be a 14mm deep well socket and a 3/8" extension haha.

hahah that's what i'm talking about !

b1adesofcha0s · 10-19-2011, 12:23 PM

Luckily I don't have any of these. I have Kirk do/overlook all my work.

MightyBobo · 10-19-2011, 12:29 PM

Ohhh, plenty. Was helping an Ex GF change her oil on her car. It was getting dark, so I was rushing and not paying attention. Finished up, started 'er up (the car), and she asks, "Should there be stuff all over the ground?". Sure enough, giant puddle of oil on the ground. I forgot to make sure the O-ring came off w/ the old oil filter *sigh*. Luckly we noticed fast and no harm done, but what a PITA it was having to go get MORE oil just for that...

Also, a common cheap/free mod for LSX vehicles was to delete the EGR/AIR systems. This of course involved removing some hoses from the exhaust manifolds, and using a plate to cover the holes w/ some liquid gasket. Well, I forgot to trim down 2 of the bolts and I was REALLY rushing to finish it before the auto hobby shop closed. So I put the cap on, and figured it'd hold for a day or two until I had a chance to pull the bolts out and shorten them so they'd actually hold the bracket down.

Fast forward a YEAR or two later (yes, that long), and on a cold night near Thanksgiving in Omaha, I was showing it off to a friend and floored it to let him feel the mad siq tork. Suddenly, some loud pinging noise that went w/ the rev's of the motor. My heart immediately dropped, and I assumed a lifter had just died on me. I didnt drive it again that winter, and I just assumed I'd have to change a lifter...and when you change a lifter in that motor, you just change the camshaft out with it since it makes sense. So I got about $2000 in parts for my whole cam swap...and literally DAYS before my install happened, I was digging around my engine bay.....and find that I'd forgotten to shorten the bolts, and the stupid plate and liquid gasket finally came loose that night and was simply bouncing freely. For ***** and giggles, I shortened it up, and it never pinged again.

I still did the cam swap :-p

mpusch · 10-25-2011, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MightyBobo

Ohhh, plenty. Was helping an Ex GF change her oil on her car. It was getting dark, so I was rushing and not paying attention. Finished up, started 'er up (the car), and she asks, "Should there be stuff all over the ground?". Sure enough, giant puddle of oil on the ground. I forgot to make sure the O-ring came off w/ the old oil filter *sigh*. Luckly we noticed fast and no harm done, but what a PITA it was having to go get MORE oil just for that...

Haha, no way. I just did this a week ago. Only thing I did different was in addition to my car losing all of its oil, when I was backing up my car off the two ramps, one of the ramps kicked out and hit the bucket I had used to catch all the old oil. So...two huge puddles of oil.

Once is all it takes to never do it again

Ron · 10-19-2011, 12:42 PM

My dad was changing the oil on my sister's Audi... somehow, he drained the transmission oil instead... that resulted in an empty transmission and double the amount of engine oil... yeah transmission seized and engine smoked like crazy..crazy bill too from the dealer lol.

MightyBobo · 10-19-2011, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron

My dad was changing the oil on my sister's Audi... somehow, he drained the transmission oil instead... that resulted in an empty transmission and double the amount of engine oil... yeah transmission seized and engine smoked like crazy..crazy bill too from the dealer lol.

Ouch....winner so far I think...

Mt Tam I am · 10-19-2011, 12:55 PM

My multitude of stories are from years ago. Bel Aire, Corvair and 280Z DIY accidents.

The 280 had the oil filter mounted on the side and I would take it off first, before drianing the oil pan, spill oil all down the side of the engine onto the ground.

But the part that sticks with me is, I did it more than once.

Ah to be 18 again.

radaz · 10-26-2011, 07:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron

My dad was changing the oil on my sister's Audi... somehow, he drained the transmission oil instead... that resulted in an empty transmission and double the amount of engine oil... yeah transmission seized and engine smoked like crazy..crazy bill too from the dealer lol.

Laugh...............

10-19-2011, 12:12 PM	#1 (permalink)
Jeffblue A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: NY Age: 37 Posts: 9,192 Drives: Z32TT & 335xi Coupe Rep Power: 38	Your biggest DIY screwups Lots of us work on our own cars and on this forum it ranges from people who change their own oil, to installing their own GTM twin turbo kits. Needless to say we all make mistakes so i figured this would be a funny place to post the results/mishaps (With pictures if you have them) or just tell the story of what you did wrong. I guess i'll start. I had to install different springs in my BC coilovers because the original ones it came with were too short and i couldn't get enough preload on them. After finishing and installing everything, i forgot to take this vice grip off. It stayed there from november until march. no harm done, since the suspension and wheel all move as one, but it was funny to see it there.

10-19-2011, 12:17 PM	#3 (permalink)
Red__Zed A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: window seat Posts: 28,940 Drives: Mostly on two wheels Rep Power: 120	... Last edited by Red__Zed; 12-03-2013 at 03:39 PM.

10-19-2011, 12:17 PM	#4 (permalink)
tjlazer A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Tacoma Age: 53 Posts: 2,496 Drives: Z34, R35 Rep Power: 20	OK i'll bite: Demon Bolt fun! Had a heck of a time getting one of the bolts off during my HFC install. Had to resort to extreme measures. Cut the cat in half to get access to the bolt. Fun times __________________ 2009 370Z Monterey Blue,Nismo Conversion,RE-11's, K&N Typhoon intakes,Blue Kickplates,Homelink,FI 18" CBE,ERZ HFCs,Hotchkis sways, Swift Spec-R, EVO-R Highwing, UPREV

10-19-2011, 12:21 PM	#7 (permalink)
joshs09slvrZ Track Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Spring Hill, FL Posts: 547 Drives: 09 7AT 370Z Rep Power: 17	After I installed my HFC and CBE, I went out for a test drive and heard all this rattling going on and then through my rear view mirror I saw these two metal pieces flying out. Of course I stopped to make sure none of the seals broke lose; which they hadn't. Luckily my friend was behind me so he stopped to grab whatever flew out and it turned out to be a 14mm deep well socket and a 3/8" extension haha. __________________ Stillen Gen3 CAI\|Berk HFC and CBE\|UpRev\|15mm H&R front spacers\|20mm Ichiba rear spacers\|Stillen front and rear sway bars\|Yokohama S. Drives\|Swift springs\|JDM Blinking Fog\|8000k HIDs\|9% window tinting, 47% on full windshield

10-19-2011, 12:23 PM	#9 (permalink)
b1adesofcha0s A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: MD Posts: 40,963 Drives: HypeTrain Choo Choo! Rep Power: 142	Luckily I don't have any of these. I have Kirk do/overlook all my work. __________________ Project: b1adeZmobile (2009 370Z) \| Uprev Tune by AAM Competition \| Berk Exhaust Project: b1adeZmobile 2.0 (2014 C7 Z51) \| Corsa Xtreme Exhaust

10-19-2011, 12:19 PM	#6 (permalink)
Jeffblue A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: NY Age: 37 Posts: 9,192 Drives: Z32TT & 335xi Coupe Rep Power: 38	then of course theres the old, 'forgot to put oil filler cap on and get oil all over your engine bay.' luckily i realized after only one commute to work which was 10 miles so it wasn't so messy.

10-19-2011, 12:29 PM	#10 (permalink)
MightyBobo A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 8,465 Drives: No cars; only bikes Rep Power: 53	Ohhh, plenty. Was helping an Ex GF change her oil on her car. It was getting dark, so I was rushing and not paying attention. Finished up, started 'er up (the car), and she asks, "Should there be stuff all over the ground?". Sure enough, giant puddle of oil on the ground. I forgot to make sure the O-ring came off w/ the old oil filter sigh. Luckly we noticed fast and no harm done, but what a PITA it was having to go get MORE oil just for that... Also, a common cheap/free mod for LSX vehicles was to delete the EGR/AIR systems. This of course involved removing some hoses from the exhaust manifolds, and using a plate to cover the holes w/ some liquid gasket. Well, I forgot to trim down 2 of the bolts and I was REALLY rushing to finish it before the auto hobby shop closed. So I put the cap on, and figured it'd hold for a day or two until I had a chance to pull the bolts out and shorten them so they'd actually hold the bracket down. Fast forward a YEAR or two later (yes, that long), and on a cold night near Thanksgiving in Omaha, I was showing it off to a friend and floored it to let him feel the mad siq tork. Suddenly, some loud pinging noise that went w/ the rev's of the motor. My heart immediately dropped, and I assumed a lifter had just died on me. I didnt drive it again that winter, and I just assumed I'd have to change a lifter...and when you change a lifter in that motor, you just change the camshaft out with it since it makes sense. So I got about $2000 in parts for my whole cam swap...and literally DAYS before my install happened, I was digging around my engine bay.....and find that I'd forgotten to shorten the bolts, and the stupid plate and liquid gasket finally came loose that night and was simply bouncing freely. For ***** and giggles, I shortened it up, and it never pinged again. I still did the cam swap :-p __________________ I don't own a car anymore.

10-19-2011, 12:42 PM	#12 (permalink)
Ron A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 3,009 Drives: TT '11 PW Nismo #113 Rep Power: 22	My dad was changing the oil on my sister's Audi... somehow, he drained the transmission oil instead... that resulted in an empty transmission and double the amount of engine oil... yeah transmission seized and engine smoked like crazy..crazy bill too from the dealer lol.

10-19-2011, 12:55 PM	#14 (permalink)
Mt Tam I am A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: California Posts: 10,709 Drives: 370Z T/S/N 6MT & XKE Rep Power: 3843	My multitude of stories are from years ago. Bel Aire, Corvair and 280Z DIY accidents. The 280 had the oil filter mounted on the side and I would take it off first, before drianing the oil pan, spill oil all down the side of the engine onto the ground. But the part that sticks with me is, I did it more than once. Ah to be 18 again. __________________ "Does the carpet match the drapes? NO!!! I don't date bald women." Nissan Motorsports 34R Oil Cooler. Stillen CBE. Hotchkis Sport Sway Bars. KW Variant 3 Coilover System. Stillen Gen3 CAI. Michelin Pilot Super Sport. Stillen Brake Ducts. Carbotech™ XP10/XP8 Pads. Z1 Front Rotors. Z1 Stainless Brake Lines. Two degrees of camber

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