I've overtorqued quite a few bolts, but the best is when I got a new grease gun, it didn't come with flexible hose, so I decide to jack up my truk on the front crossframe, right behind the draglink. Well, the draglink is a little lower than the crossmember, so I put a scrap 2x3 on the jack so I don't crush the draglink. Well, all in slow motion, I watch the 2x3 topple over, crushing the draglink on my newly aligned front end. $125 later, and a whole day wasted fixing my mistake, I decide to spen the $4 on a flexable hose. Ya know though, I think I realigned the front end petter than Pep BOys did though.

 

worst mechanic screwup i saw was on my crysler leberon i was changeing the struts and i put one side of the car up on a jack stand then i gave my buddy the jack to jack up the other side he told he knew where to put the jack, he put it under the floorboard and stated jacking it up next thing i knew there was a hole in the floor of the car

 

Had a C4 Trannie in a 79 F150 that was leaking oil all over the place. Brought it in and had the rear seal on the tail shaft replaced, they then went on to tell me they had also adjusted the bands. Paid them, drove it out of the shop and didn't have second gear. Brought it back in and they put it on the lift the next morning - said the intermediate band was broke - cost over $300 to repair. I told them they must have broken it when they adjusted it because it worked when it went in - said they wouldn't warranty their work (or damage) because the truck was so old. Costed me $85.00 to have them ruin my transmission - replaced it myself a week later.

 

Another story...I didnt do this one!

I worked in a dealership body shop, and the mechanics shop was right next door, heres just a few things that happened when I was there.

1. on more than one occasion a mechanic improperly set the arms on the lift (single post style) and I know of at least two brand new cars that toppled off the lift, one landed on its roof! the other landed right on another brand new car in the next stall.

2. this one mechanic was known to drink beer on his lunch break...a LOT of beer, well he forgot he left a diesel running, and it sat there and burned up the engine...it was also a brand new vehicle!

 

I had a very intersting experience working at Hertz rent-a-car. I was a lube jockey on rental returns and did about 30 oil changes a day, as well as answer the phones after hours (I think ya'll can tell where this one going). It was about 8:30 in the evening and I had a bright shiny red 93' mustang in for service (with only 7000 miles on it). I put it on the lift, drain the oil, change the filter, then set it back on the ground, then the phone rings with some old lady that locked her keys in the car. I made her a new key and had it delivered to her. Then I go back to the car give it a once over and put it on the ready line and head home. I get to work the next day and my boss says "did you happen to service a red mustang last night?" and with a lump in my throat I said "Yes." Then he tells me "Maaaaan, are you in deep doo-doo!!" Then he tells me that the engine burned up, I then knew what happened( I had forgetten to add oil) so I tell him what went on and he said he was joking about me being in hot water but the engine did burn up. He said don't worry about it it is expected for you to loose about 6 engines a year. He then tells me that ford will warranty the engine and claim it was a faulty oil pump (he said that since Hertz does about $50,000,000 of bussiness a year with ford that a $2000 engine is nothing). I sweated that for about a month and nothing was ever mentioned again.

 

OH MAN! That would suck! You got lucky!

Anyways, this isn't a big deal but at the time I was frustrated.

My dad has a 89 F150 with a 4.9L I6. The thermostat needed to be replaced so I took the old one out and put the new one in. Well, some of you know the the thermostat doesn't go on topof the engine, it goes in front. SO when I put the new one in then put the housing back on top I tightened it up and the housing cracked because the thermostat slipped out! It was made of aluminum. So, I went to the junkyard and got a replacement. Put in the thermostat and tightened it up and it cracked AGAIN! I was ticked now! So, I went to Ford to get a new housing (the junk yard didn't have anymore,.....I wonder why!?! ) They had PLENTY in stock. The guy behind the counter told me to get some sealant and put a little on the corners of the thermostat and it should hold it in place. Did that and it worked like a charm! I can't wait until next time.......I'll be done in 10 minutes!

-Matt

 

Glad to see I'm not the only one who suffers from cranial rectumitus.
Some years ago, I had a 71 F250 with a 390. Had a leaking intake manifold gasket so picked a Sunday to replace it. The intake had a plate between it and the carb that had a heater hose hooked to the front and rear of it. Next to the rear port was a similar sized vacuum port with a hose. You can guess where this is going.. It was getting dark and I got in a hurry; first mistake. I filled the radiator when I got her back together and wondered where it all went. Second mistake, should have investigated. Tried to fire it up and the motor turned about 90 degrees and stopped dead. Antifreeze doesn't compress....... I had swapped the heater hose and vacuum hose on that plate and the antifreeze filled the intake, the cylinders, and the oil pan. Took another 2 hours in the dark to get it all flushed out, the oil changed and fired up. My Dad still uses the truck on his farm, so didn't hurt anything but my feelings.

 

I had 1980 f150 me and my buddy threw together out of parts. What we did that was stupid was the prevouis owner had banged up where the rear u joint goes into the rear yoke. the u joint wouldnt come out so in our wisdom we tack welded the keeper pins to the drive shaft and it worked for all of 3 miles i drove from the shop to the car wash left the car wash on my way to friends house he wosnt home so 1/4 from his house i gased it and sure enough that u joint broke and took me a minute of flloring it to realise i wasnt moving. A dominos pizza driver stoped and helped me push it out of the intersection and gave me a ride home.

 

I'm sure I've done worse, but last year I stripped my oil drainplug........ After 6pm on a sunday.

 

A dealership I worked at out of techschool, the mechanics dropped a lot of vehicles off the lifts, keeping us body guys busy. Worst thing I did there was I painted a big f250 farm truck and cut it a little to soon and scraped the side of the vehicle. It was really stupid how they had the booth set up so you couldn't get a straight shot in and out of it. Another mess up was when I was working on my truck and didn't have a lightbulb around for my trouble light. I put in a heat lamp. Didn't watch where i set the lamp and burned up the clutch line which is dealer only $50.00 part. At the dealership I worked for walked into the bodyshop one monday morning and there is 4 brand new cars all smashed up. I am wondering wtf? Turns out one of the salesman that saturday smashed a car into 3 other ones. He said the gas pedal stuck, Ahh ha. I bet he was screwing around. Did you at least buy a pizza big?

 

The one that sticks in my mind is "grade eight bolts"....

A Torino I owned had some extra parts....

Lots of grade eight small bolts for pan gaskets.

I didn't twig on it until I was putting the pan on a brand new machined out, 357 (yes, the number is correct) Modified Cleveland four bolt main....

There were oil pump bolts on the bench...

So I stirpped the pan off, only to find the right bolts were on the pump...

(heavy sigh)

I put it back together. And while I was fishing the distributor down the hole realised there was no shaft in it!

I got so distracted I forgot about the hex shaft and cir-clip during the oil pump re-install.

One more pan gasket set....

I never forgot that motor.