what is the worst mistake your mechanic done to your car ?

[Hood-G6]

^^^

[KiwiJohn]

My HT Holden ute had done about 20K when a Standard Vanguard came through a stop sign, spun me around and left the ute lying on its side.

She had hit a rear wheel and did a lot of damage to the back axle and diff.

When I went back to pick it up (a month or two later and an 8 hour journey by bus) the workshop manager was a bit sheepish and showed me the rear axle out on the floor with the cover off the diff, the insides looked like someone had been in there with a welder. Apparently one of the 'staff' had 'borrowed' it for a weekend and been giving it a bit of stick, which would not have mattered so much if they had put oil in the diff after the repairs from the crash!

[duaned]

Worst a mechanic has done to one of my old vehicles was to fart in the driver's seat. It hit me as I opened the door. Apart from that I have had no issues with mechanics, surprisingly.

[Werd.]

Went in for injector orings, 400km later leaking fuel throughout engine bay..

Although not a big stuff up, fuel leaks are a pretty major thing.

[strobe]

Telling me that the old alfa I wanted to buy was in good condition in a pre purchase inspection. What was I thinking?!

[MAD]

Had a Gas research setup fitted and 'tuned'.
They were having trouble with the cruise mixtures being too lean, they machined a ton of material off the metering rod, using what looked like a drill and a flat file, to richen it up.

I took delivery of the car after a couple of weeks; broken dipstick, broken steering column shroud, and car that nearly died just off idle every time you take off. I think I got 170kms out of the first tank.

I did some inspecting and found they had used the wrong nipple on the carb and had left the cruise mixture nipple open to air. idiots. They were compensating for the lean cruise by adding a ton more through the metering rod.

A nice letter later and I was refunded all labor costs.

[snowcone]

Had my company VP Commodore serviced and tuned at a local dealer in Newcastle and then drove it to the Snowfields for a weeks holiday with the family.
Car was really sluggish and had no guts.
got to Canberra and took it to another dealer to check and they coudn't find anything wrong with.
Finished up driving it the rest of the way and at Berridale I decided to have a closer look myself.
Found the air filter element had been installed with the plastic still on it.
Poor Commodore had been sucking real hard for the last 800 kms trying to get it's breath through the plastic.

[The Yeti]

Originally Posted by snowcone

Had my company VP Commodore serviced and tuned at a local dealer in Newcastle and then drove it to the Snowfields for a weeks holiday with the family.
Car was really sluggish and had no guts.
got to Canberra and took it to another dealer to check and they coudn't find anything wrong with.
Finished up driving it the rest of the way and at Berridale I decided to have a closer look myself.
Found the air filter element had been installed with the plastic still on it.
Poor Commodore had been sucking real hard for the last 800 kms trying to get it's breath through the plastic.

Thats impressive, did it suck the top film of plactid off the filter in to the air flow meeter

[ebxr8240]

2500k to upgrade ECU ands tune..
It run real rich when cold..
Raw fuel cam out exhaust..
Found out #5 injector was swapped with idle control..
It burnt out #5 injector and was 100% open..
We fitted new injectors, sorted wiring all is fine...
What annoys me the guy who fitted ECU didn't want to know anything about it ...
He's up in Queensland now...

[Mesa]

We had a VC Commode back in the eighties which had broken an engine mount. We took it to the local Holden dealer and asked could they give it a service as it was near due too. We get a phone call later that day telling us the engine ' had suddenly jumped through the radiator at idle'... Turns out they didn't have engine mounts in stock so they went ahead with the service first. They'd been out road testing the vehicle (with a broken engine mount) when the other engine mount let go. After a lot of swearing and cursing at the service manager who said he wouldn't charge us for the parts just the labor,they replaced the radiator, fan and shroud for free. We picked the car up and took of for a weekend in the mountains. About an hour into the trip, the car wouldn't go over 80k and was ****ing fuel everywhere. Turn out they put the wrong needle and seat in the carby too.....

[LOW_NL]

this happened last week, dads girlfriend rings an says her car is making a noise, so told her to take it to the dealer and the next day they told her that she needs a second hand motor at a cost of 4k because it spun a bearing.

this car is a month out of warranty and has 90,000km.

so he said how did they come to that conclusion did they pull it down, so he rang them asked a few questions an in the end said nah you can replace the bearing cheaper than that.

in the end they tried to say for $1200 they will replace the timing belt and service it and see what happens.

anyway after arguing with them for a few days he tells them to pull it down and to find the problem and stop guessing.
he gets a phone call today saying all is fixed they serviced it and replaced timing belt and that will be $900.

when asked what the problem was they said it had air in the oil? so we don't actually know what the problem was but its fixed 3k cheaper now anyway

[Mitch_]

took my car into fulcrum cause I wanted a wheel alignment before I went on a road trip - instead of doing a wheel alignment I returned to a quote of $3000 to fix "issues" with the car... laughed it off and have been taking the car elsewhere.. apparently I need a new power steering rack cause it has a shudder... i've never noticed it!

[K93George]

This thread really makes me think twice about taking my new falcon back to the dealer for a service. After all, they did fill my radiator overflow to the brim of the cap. Sigh... You would think that the MAX lines would be a good indication of where to stop. I am thinking of getting my car serviced at my clients, the theory is, I do top notch work for them, I would HOPE they do the same back.

It reminds me when I went to get some work done on my car, I go in out of my work uniform, got the usual boring not interested response from the guy. Next day go in with my work uniform, speak with the same person. "Oh, I didn't know you worked for such and such!" Started talking like no tomorrow and gave me a discount, turns out that he had a problem of some sort he wanted me to help him with.

[comagutsa]

i always walk over my cars and look under bonnet if i give my car to someone to fix/service
have found oil caps off, wheels not done up correctly, scratchs on my mags from where they were told not to use rattle guns, scratches in paint
and you need to make sure you find this stuff before you leave coz they wont believe you once you go

but the worst i did once while an apprentice went to start the car through the window and the other bloke working inside the car knocked it into gear and yep guess it, it jumped foward and smashed into the work bench smashing headlight and scratching bumper...

[Franco Cozzo]

I accidentally jammed my arm in the power windows trying to get the key out of the ignition without opening the door.

I reached in and put the window up and tried to quickly grab the key out of the ignition but couldn't get it out quick enough and it jammed my arm in the window.

They can push up with some force those bastard window motors.

Another time I was under a car on the hoist using an air blower for something, anyways I directed the air blower blowing under the car and put it right into this little hole and made one hell of a loud whistling noise and made my ears ring for a good 5 minutes.

I'm pretty damn good at hurting myself when I'm doing something on a car.

[Phil B]

Not a mechanics problem but a DIY fail by a bloke from my work (we are both apprentice aircraft engineers!) He has an old diesel hilux, forgot to tighten the oil filter after he changed it. Dumped the oil and seized solid a few hundred meters down the road so he towed it back to our work.

Filled it up with oil, towed it with the forklift and dumped the clutch in 4th to try to free it up, with no joy. Tried again a few times, then with hitting the starter at the same time. Got it to turn over and it dumped all the oil for some reason. Put new oil in it and it goes now! Thats all he did...

On a side note, if you fly regularly, don't read the flight safety magazines, youll be horrified at what some licenced aircraft maintenance engineers do...

[danmc]

When I was an apprentice chippy I had a 1 tonner with a 307 chev in it.

It used to start in gear sometimes, sometimes not start at all unless you messed around with the shift. I took it to an autosparky to fix it.

I looked through the waiting room window in time to see my car - with no one at the wheel, start up flat out and spinning its wheels like no tomorrow. Then it slammed into reverse, still at max revs, then into forward, then reverse. Smoking it up like it was summernats.

I went out and there was the little apprentice sparky, white as a ghost- a bit green actually. He had laid down and gotten his arm jammed onto the accelerator so he could reach up into the wiring. He had accidentally started it and was stuck being dragged back and forth so all he could do was reach up and drag the column shift back and forth trying to find neutral. Pretty quick thinking for someone too thick to disconnect the battery.

I complained to the manager - his comment was that I was lucky - they had put a car right through the front of the workshop that way before.

[OLDFORDNUT]

Originally Posted by danmc

When I was an apprentice chippy I had a 1 tonner with a 307 chev in it.

It used to start in gear sometimes, sometimes not start at all unless you messed around with the shift. I took it to an autosparky to fix it.

I looked through the waiting room window in time to see my car - with no one at the wheel, start up flat out and spinning its wheels like no tomorrow. Then it slammed into reverse, still at max revs, then into forward, then reverse. Smoking it up like it was summernats.

I went out and there was the little apprentice sparky, white as a ghost- a bit green actually. He had laid down and gotten his arm jammed onto the accelerator so he could reach up into the wiring. He had accidentally started it and was stuck being dragged back and forth so all he could do was reach up and drag the column shift back and forth trying to find neutral. Pretty quick thinking for someone too thick to disconnect the battery.

I complained to the manager - his comment was that I was lucky - they had put a car right through the front of the workshop that way before.

Man what a crack up, times you wish you had a video running,lol

[OLDFORDNUT]

Originally Posted by OLDFORDNUT

Man what a crack up, times you wish you had a video running,lol

Just reminded me about working on the black XY in my avatar,
when i first dropped motor in i was in a home garage just wide enough to fit car in, made sure auto was in park and started engine with its lumpy cam sounded tough left it running with door open and went outside to help mate move his trailer when he looked past me with look of horror ,i spun around and saw my xy reversing with short bursts of speed from the lumpy cam till it hit garage door with the drivers open door peeling it backwards around the front guard where it stalled ,

[LOW_NL]

Originally Posted by OLDFORDNUT

Just reminded me about working on the black XY in my avatar,
when i first dropped motor in i was in a home garage just wide enough to fit car in, made sure auto was in park and started engine with its lumpy cam sounded tough left it running with door open and went outside to help mate move his trailer when he looked past me with look of horror ,i spun around and saw my xy reversing with short bursts of speed from the lumpy cam till it hit garage door with the drivers open door peeling it backwards around the front guard where it stalled ,

made me think of the time my dad and i went to look at a 351 xd that was for sale, it's sitting there idleing when my dad pops his head under the back wheel and the thing jumps in reverse.

hand brake didn't work and no one was hurt but the owner did have to chase it down the drive way.

my dad just had a giggle and says my old one done that a few times and nearly got me aswell hahaha

[danmc]

I guess I can admit to having another holden ute. This one had a yellow sticker on it. My boss at the time refused to give me any days off unless I could bring 3 medical certificates proving I was dead. Even then I would have had to make it up on several Saturdays, so I hired someone out of the paper to get the yellow off.

They quoted me 350 bucks. It needed;

new headlight fitted
Headers had been crushed in front of the gearbox crossmember - I asked them to see if they could use an expander to open the crushed bit.
New steering column - I supplied one that All Holden wreckers had rebuilt.

After about 6 weeks, still no go. I had been using the bosses xd ute (legendary!) and managed to get a yellow on that for him so time was running out. I went to see them.

They told me they had to rebuild the steering column, and showed me a receipt from All Holden wreckers. I laughed a lot. Then they said they had to replace my headers and that would cost an extra 550. I had a look under and they had cut slots thru the gear box crossmember to fit them.

I pointed out that they would never get it licensed like that. They also had problems with the brakes but I forget the details of that except that I ended up with a brazed up brake line.

Anyhow, after much shouting I left, thinking no way they would get it over the pits. Amazingly they did. I went round with the original amount of cash. They wanted the extra for the headers and the column but I just said give me the keys. It got a bit heated and they called a few mates in to block me in. But back then I was pretty much putting up an entire roof by myself. I was built pretty heavily. They all moved their cars. No one stopped me taking the ute.

A couple weeks later I got another yellow. I couldnt believe it. I went into the pits in welshpool and said loudly " I'm here to talk to this guy - I read out his name off the original form- about the kickbacks he must be taking to license cars". The place literally cleared out. I waited, about 20 minutes lately a guy sidled in and asked me what was going on. I repeated that I wanted to talk to the guy that had licensed it last time. That guy was on holidays apparently, but he could help me. He went out and got me to bypass the line of cars and go through the truck bay. I went underneath the car and pointed out the cut crossmember - no problem. I pointed to where the handbrake cable was marking the driveshaft as the gearbox slowly sunk lower - no problem. I mentioned that I had to stop and jack the crossmember up on my way to the pits when the handbrake got too tight - suddenly deaf apparently.

I pointed out where they had actually brazed a brake line rather than replacing it - no probs.

He took it for a drive. When he got back he was sitting in the seat and messing with the seat belt. He said something like "seems to be broken". I leaned in and said well mate, you must have ****** that up since that was the only thing that worked on the car when you guys passed it last time"

He quickly scribbled on his pad and it was passed.

[danmc]

Actually gotta check my memory for details - that ute must have been the same chev powered WB as I recall the headers were chev, I asked why they cut the crossmember and it turned out they used some they had lying around rather than ones that fit properly. The rest, far fetched as it sounds is correct.

[danmc]

Whoops double post.

[svo supporter]

Originally Posted by danmc

When I was an apprentice chippy I had a 1 tonner with a 307 chev in it.

It used to start in gear sometimes, sometimes not start at all unless you messed around with the shift. I took it to an autosparky to fix it.

I looked through the waiting room window in time to see my car - with no one at the wheel, start up flat out and spinning its wheels like no tomorrow. Then it slammed into reverse, still at max revs, then into forward, then reverse. Smoking it up like it was summernats.

I went out and there was the little apprentice sparky, white as a ghost- a bit green actually. He had laid down and gotten his arm jammed onto the accelerator so he could reach up into the wiring. He had accidentally started it and was stuck being dragged back and forth so all he could do was reach up and drag the column shift back and forth trying to find neutral. Pretty quick thinking for someone too thick to disconnect the battery.

I complained to the manager - his comment was that I was lucky - they had put a car right through the front of the workshop that way before.

I'd like to see you disconnect a battery, when you're stuck inside a car like the sparkie was.

You've also got to think.....How do you check if the car starts in the gear selection position required, if a battery is disconnected?

[blueprinted_xr]

mechanic at Park Ford in WA forgot to replace the the power steering return pipe clamp. which caused the pipe to blow off when it came up to pressure, ignite when the fluid sprayed onto the exhaust manifold and burn through the fuel lines. Vehicle was a write off. never been to Park Ford since

[LyleXR8]

worst mistake my mechanic did to me and my car was to move 600km away!!! we all know how hard it is to find a good mechanic that doesnt dodgy his workmanship and empty your wallet and you put a lot of trust in them, then he moves away!!! smallish town i know all the others are thieves or dodgy.

[danmc]

Originally Posted by svo supporter

I'd like to see you disconnect a battery, when you're stuck inside a car like the sparkie was.

You've also got to think.....How do you check if the car starts in the gear selection position required, if a battery is disconnected?

I'm assuming you are kidding, although I could point out that the key is sometimes used for turning off the engine in an emergency, that wasn't what I meant.

- he should have disconnected the battery before he started working on it and then used a multimeter or test light to check when the wiring was correct.

Although, there is probably an argument that if you are leaving the battery in because you can't figure out what all the knobs on the multimeter are for, then at least maybe make sure it is actually in neutral or park?

Another method could be to disconnect the starter and put a test light on it.

I'm hoping that the general attitude isnt that its easier (more profitable for the boss) to just use the battery and a live test than set up test equipment - that kid could have easily lost a leg or worse.

[svo supporter]

Originally Posted by danmc

I'm assuming you are kidding, although I could point out that the key is sometimes used for turning off the engine in an emergency, that wasn't what I meant.

- he should have disconnected the battery before he started working on it and then used a multimeter or test light to check when the wiring was correct.

He still needs power to check things with the multimetre, just to make sure it's operating as it should....Maybe that's the step he was upto when the mishap occurred....Testing the starter doesn't engage when it's in the wrong gear

Although, there is probably an argument that if you are leaving the battery in because you can't figure out what all the knobs on the multimeter are for, then at least maybe make sure it is actually in neutral or park?

I have struck gear selectors that have registered one gear on the quadrant, yet it's in a different gear at the gearbox...Was this the same problem with yours? Sounds like the apprentice was checking other things just to make sure

Another method could be to disconnect the starter and put a test light on it.


I'm hoping that the general attitude isnt that its easier (more profitable for the boss) to just use the battery and a live test than set up test equipment - that kid could have easily lost a leg or worse.

Yes, the poor bugger could have suffered more serious injuries...Thank christ he didn't....I'm sure he will re-think his steps when the next car rolls in with the same problem, just to make sure it doesn't happen again.

[danmc]

Well, I didn't end up finding the problem myself or fixing it so I'm not sure what he was trying to do. But I can't think of any reason why he would need to risk his life to fix my car. If I need to accept that some young kids are occassionally going to be dragged around the workshop by my cars I'll start riding a pushy.

I'm pretty sure that a method to test wiring function without the ability to start the car can be devised for what is probably a pretty common scenario?

Isnt it simple enough to test when the shift lever opens or closes the circuit, make it correct then test with the starter live and battery connected when you are in the seat with the brake on?

Im sure I might have made the same mistake in a hurry myself at that age, but a workshop that does this kind of thing a lot - and has seen the danger before - should have been a bit more concerned with the safety of their staff.

[danmc]

Originally Posted by svo supporter

Yes, the poor bugger could have suffered more serious injuries...Thank christ he didn't....I'm sure he will re-think his steps when the next car rolls in with the same problem, just to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Sorry , I 'll try to be clearer - my point is this kid will probably do dozens of jobs with the same risks, as well as dozens of other kids in his situation. It just strikes me as odd that they weren't taught a safe way to do it. Instead, as you say he will probably rethink his steps. But what about the other new apprentices and the ones that havent been dragged around by Dans dodgy ute? Isnt there a standard way that auto sparkies deal with this scenario or are they really all just hoping they don't get caught out with their elbow on the gas pedal?