What is the worst mistake you made doing your own wrenching?

VG33? Those came seals can eat me. There is no step to say its in all the way, if you install it too deep you have to remove the cam to retrieve it

 

When I was 16 I lowered my 2000 Honda Accord and didn't know the lower shock bolt had a nut on the other side ha

Long story short I was stuck with a broken cv and ball joint on top of a bridge and sundown. Horrible experienc. Now I check and make sure I have everything right

 

Yeah they can suck it! It slid on to easily. I had a gut feeling it was going to leak, I don't why I left it on

 

Had a 2001 Crown Vic I changed the two front lower control arms. Failed to torque them under suspension load and blew the bushings out within 200 miles and had to do the job all over again.

 

The steering in my old Land Rover Discovery was a little loose but didn't think anything of it. I came to realize I hadn't torqued my lug nuts enough when in mid-turn the entire driver front tire fell off and rolled a half mile into downtown. Somehow I managed to find the five lug nuts in the ditch, fetched my tire, and made it home.

 

Back when I was learning to work on vehicles without my Dad looking over my shoulder anymore:
-Tried to change sparkplugs on an 86 Honda accord with a hot engine/aluminum head - cross threaded the #3 sparkplug hole
-Learned not to change the oil on the same Honda while its hot
-Learned not to ear-tune the timing on a VW beetle to "smooth idle"
-Learned to put the oil fill cap in the drivers seat, or somewhere else I cant miss when changing oil. Burned down an 86 Mitsubishi MightyMax (only owned 2 weeks)

I probably have more, but those are some of the most painful ones.

 

That is correct, I had an 88 that was speed density. Put an E cam in it and had to covert to mass airflow with a computer from a California car. My dad had an 89 that was mass airflow.

 

Doing a 63 swap on my current Tacoma. Tack welded the shackle hangers to the frame and decided “yep that looks good”, then went weld crazy. Bolted up the leaf springs, set the truck down and......oh shit. The back end of the leaf springs came in contact with the frame. Shackle hangers were too far forward.

Cost me a few more hours of cutting, grinding, re-measuring and re-welding. Only the second time I set the truck down to make sure everything was good to go before going weld crazy. The price you pay for not double checking measurements.

 

Not Doing it sooner

 

Replacing fuel injectors on a BMW Z4 forgot to disconnect battery/ cover the ports. Squirted fuel all over.

This was today

 

Worst I almost did.....

Had an M3 with bad RTABs. I was pissed when I went to replace and found cheap rubber bushings on a $90k car.

So looked online for some premium bearings to replace the OE rubber bushings.

As I am finishing up, my dad stops by and asks what I'm doing...I explain.

"German engineers are smarter than you" he says, "probably worried that stiff bearings will transfer too much power to the wheels and break the differential mounts and subframe welds".

A quick look on Google confirmed this is exactly why the M3 had bushings, and the 325 had bearings. Wow, what a lucky break.

 

Yep Class of 86.

 

Was doing a cv joint on an old Jetta and had the floor jack under the a-arm. When I released the strut from the lower ball joint the a-arm pointed straight in the air and the vehicle fell on me. No shit. Luckily my shoulders were pointed squarely at the ground and toward the sky and I was able to hold the car's weight while screaming for my nephew to come downstairs, throw the floor jack under the car and get it off of me. Came out totally unscathed. Had I been flat on my back I would probably have been killed. Be careful out there folks! It happens.

 

HS! Now that’s serious...

 

Once did not torque the driveshaft on a 1989 Ford Ranger (think it was after body lift). One day while riding down the highway, shifter started vibrating like mad and a second later clank bang. Cracked the transmission in half, which is a big deal on a $2500 vehicle. Owned that truck for a year, replaced five power steering pumps, one alternator, cracked two heads, that transmission, and vowed to never own a Ford Again. Joined the Army, never learned my lesson and bought a junker F-150 and later Dodge Ram before I was forced to go Tacoma after more maintenance troubles and never looked back. We will see how the Gen 3 holds up, still kicking myself I sold my 2nd gen.

 

part of the oil pan gasket set...the older ones were in pieces...the newer ones are a one piece for the oil pan.

Prob the worst things are manifold header flange bolts...I broke 3 on my plow truck this past week, had to drill and tap them back out. The passenger side nuts actually came off.

 

With stellar decision making that includes both buying Fords and joining the Army, I’m happy to welcome you back to the third gen Tacoma family.

Coast Guard takes prior service, by the way.

 

Did a brake job on a company Nissan pickup when I was 14 or so. Accidentally put the brake pads in with the fiber side out. Parts guy took off after they were installed and came back after 15 minutes with rotors toasted.

I think that was the year that I also found out that you can't use a styrofoam cup as a funnel for gasoline. That thing melted away and went down the filler tube on the same truck.

 

I broke off a spark plug in the block of my Trans Am. And if that wasn't enough part of the electrode and ceramic insulation went down in the cylinder I don't think that plug had ever been changed. Took out all Champions, that one was AC/Delco and a bitch to get to!

 

Had a Ranger before the Taco. She had a Probe. Started Nickel and Dimeing me. Some very large Nickels and Dimes too. Both of them! I won't buy another Ford unless it's a project car (Not much chance of that!) Much to my FIL disappointment. All Fords for him!