NathanMorris

I'm shocked at the number of ratchets on crank pulleys... not entirely sure how that happens to you guys, but it sounds uncannily common.

Dumbest thing I think I ever did was about 5, 6, 7...ya 7 years ago on my accord of the time, I was installing my first suspension. My buddy who had no car experience but was a construction worker was working on taking off the first couple of bolts, and I misread the instructions and instructed him to take the bolt on top of the strut off first. Next thing I know, I hear a VERY loud POP..... you guessed it, the spring decompressed and was lodged VERY strongly between the body and the lower control arm.

We tried spring compressors but to no avail, couldn't get them on well enough to make a difference, so out came the masonry saw from his dad's construction crew closet, and lots of pretty sparks later..... no more stock spring.

Fun part was, this was all being videoed for a school project and so there's a great video floating around my house somewhere of my reaction to that sound, me looking like an idiot (fully) and then me joking about how it took 3 hours to get one spring off.....and an hour to do the other 3 corners . Oh, and me running and shot putting the mangled stock spring into the parking lot.... classic.

Good times.

Nathan

IN VTEC

iTrader: (3)

A guy I knew once put an OEM strut on the ground facing up pointing at his face as he stood over it, hitting it with an impact gun. It's a good thing that nut was stubborn otherwise he'd be a lot uglier than he already is.

I left the ratchet on the crank pulley for the first time just a month ago. Made a loud bang and lifted the car off the ground when it rotated over. Der der der dumb.

94eg!

iTrader: (2)

Keep in mind that the only way the rachet on the crank pulley can do any damage is if you had it set to rotate the engine backwards (which you should never do). As long as your rachet is only rotating the engine forward, the racheting mechanism will allow the handle to stay loose if & when you start the car...

Leson: Only rotate the engine forward & everything should be fine

BryanPendleton

Hmmm. . . I have a few.

My first screw-up was back in my high school days of car audio installations. I was doing a stealth sub and amp install in the rear of a good friends tracker ( i believe) and was using a lamp with no shade for lighting. While routing wires through the interior panels and under the carpet I catch a whiff of something burning, I look up to find the lamp tipped over and the bulb is melting through the rear of his vinyl seats. Ouch! I felt horrible.

My next was I completed a custom turbo install after very little sleep. Car fires up and is running beatifully. I take her for a spin to put some gas in her and feel out its drivability. Pulling away from a stop sign I goosed the throttle and the boost climbs then POW! and the car dies. I was utterly confused. Car would not start. I made some changes to my MAF calibration and got the car running to make it home, but the car was running like crap. I spent hours combing through the turbo system and everything to no avail. Wore out and sleep deprived I went to bed. The next morning while lying in bed, I got to thinking about the symptoms and the cause. Everything pointed to a boost leak but all plumbing looked fine after 1/2 dozen inspections. Finally I literally started tugging on the turbo plumbing only to find that a coupling had blown loose and was still resting against the mating pipe so it appeared to be properly installed. Refasten the coupling and viola.

The next was my first swap on my civic. The bone stock D16 gave up the ghost while racing into work one day. Being my daily driver I was on a tight time schedule to get a running car. I spent the weekend and several weekday nights some of which were in the rain completing my swap. Needless to say in my work conditions and tired state I condinued to loose various bolts and nuts for a couple weeks, including a brake caliper bolt which allowed my caliper to swing out and contact the rim ID, causing a tremendous drag that brought my car to its knees. Others included various suspension knocks, etc. I finally took a yellow paint pen and went through anded torque everything to spec, marking the nut or bolt with yellow paint to indicate properly torqued. I recommend this for any major engine, transmission or suspension work.

Rosko

iTrader: (1)

I got bit by the ratchet on the crank pulley just the other day, for the first time. I remember looking down at when I was working on my timing belt and laughing to myself about all the people who leave it on there. Then sure enough 5 minutes later, I'm that guy.

cjames235

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Rosko &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I got bit by the ratchet on the crank pulley just the other day, for the first time. I remember looking down at when I was working on my timing belt and laughing to myself about all the people who leave it on there. Then sure enough 5 minutes later, I'm that guy.</TD></TR></TABLE>

yea its funny when you hear that whizzing sound, when you start the car, then give the wierd look of "what the hell is that noise" lol

aholeb18

ratchet on the crank pulley bit me in the ***. i was finishing a lot of work on a civic...timing belt, brakes, axle boots, and was just finishing a valve adjustment. you know it...cranked it over...whack!!. turn the key off, and find my long extention ratchet had torn open the brand new axle boot.

CRX-ZC

Well, i had my valve cover sand blasted... Looked shiney when i got it back, so i put it on and didn't paint it at all. Heh, the saddest thing was that there was still some sand in the cover So i had to dissasamble and clean every part of the motor, and yes, had also to change some bearings.

When swapping from D16A6 to DOHC ZC i somehow mixed injectors from both engines. Well, they look the same, but work only with its own resistor box. So, car didn't fire up, there was no fuel. Oh, luckily i didn't spend too much time figuring out what it was

Oh yes, building bottom end of my ZC, and when tightening crank bolts, crank just didn't want to spin. I think it took me more than a month and more than 10 times of tightening to the specified torque. It just didn't want to spin! Than i had my crank check and all the journals polished. Still didn't want to turn, also put in thinner bearing. Well,one day, don't know how... i figured it out that my torque wrench (cheapo one) was the problem!!! Oh yes, cheap tools suck, from the box it was set wrongly. I know, i should have all precise tools calibrated.

Good luck

CRX-ZC

Oh, and when i was working something around my ITBs, i put paper towels in the velocity stacks so 'drit' wouldn't get in. And yes, i forgot to take those paper towels out when starting the motor. Motor fired up, but when releasing the throttle the motor was still runing at abou 3k rpm. WTF? I turdned it of and check the throttle cable... when i saw those papers sticking out of my throttles.... thanks god they all stopped at the throttles

candy eg

discovered a ticking, kept driving on it. needless to say, 5 minutes later, i had a hole in the block. rod came out

( o )( o )

**HOT OFF THE PRESS**

OMG FTW

the ballast of my garage light just died. run to Ace, get new balast and new tubes.

with the car jacked up and no one here to help i had to replace this **** alone....well lucky me, one of the 4 foot tubes just smacked the hood and shattered FVCKING EVERYWHERE in my engine bay, garage, tools, laundry, hair,

so i'm going to be cleaning glass for days now oh look at this, glass in between the keys of this laptop as i type....

well at the very least i hope some of yall can laugh

hybridpatient95

i was swappin dizzys and i put the dizzy on put all the spark plug wires on.. then went to start the car...

the car wouldnt start cause i forgot to plug in the harness.. did it more than once lol

what a foooooool...

H22A 94Inspire

well i have a couple of them.

1. My friend just bought a twin turbo all wheel drive dodge stealth, He came by my house the following moring to show me. Of course i had to ride in it, so i was sitting in the passenger seat and he started to give it hell. So then i asked him "Did u have to do any mantinance work when u bought it" He said yeah i had to replace the timing belt. 5mins after he said that he floored hit and the turbos kicked in and "POP". The timing belt snapped and bent all the valves.

2. My friend had a 200sx and i was riding with him and we going about 60 and i started to here a awful ratling sound. I told him to pull over and shut the car off. He said hell no (He has no mechinacal exp. what so ever)He then floors it trying to be a billy bad-*** and the BOOM follwed by by grinding metal. He complety Destroyed his motor and now he has no car just because he wouldnt listen to someone who knew what they were talking about.

Mistakes i have made myself.
1. Trying to put civic rims on a accord(i was 16 at the time)took me 2 hours to figuer out that the rim was to small for the car.

2. Just got done changing my oil in my auto. 94 accord and it wouldnt start i was like WTF. Took me 3 hours to relize the shifter was to far towards the dash past park.

Combustion Contraption

I cant believe this thread is still going.

The other day at work i was trying to remove a spring pad from a B head for like 10 minutes before i realized i had left one freaking valve stem seal on and thats why it wouldnt budge.

doh.

Runnerdown

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Combustion Contraption &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

The other day at work i was trying to remove a spring pad from a B head for like 10 minutes before i realized i had left one freaking valve stem seal on and thats why it wouldnt budge.

doh.</TD></TR></TABLE>


Haha, I have pushed the new valve seals on before realizing afterwards that the spring seat doesnt fit over

Combustion Contraption

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Runnerdown &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Haha, I have pushed the new valve seals on before realizing the spring seat wont fit over them afterwards </TD></TR></TABLE>

Thats called a "test-fit"

wezzel19

this was back when i first got my integra.

i was driving to mcdonalds late night for something to eat. usually i let the car warm up for a few min. but this time i was HUNGRY so i just left with out waiting. half way there my lights start to dim and the car starts to sputter and finally dies. i was like ****! i was like 5 mins from home and had no money for a tow truck. so yes, i pushed it all the way home, with the help of my 3 cousins. it took us about 2 hours to push it home...up hills and down hills. i check the battery the next morning and replace it. that wasnt it. so i pull the alternator twice to have it looked at by some guy that rebuilds them. wasnt it either. the third time i pulled the alternator a light bulb went on in my head....check the fuses! well it was the alternator fuse...all that for a fuse! i almost kick myself in the *** for that

GSRCRXsi

numerous slipped wrenches which resulted in in me punching myself in the face.
numerous slipped wrenches that resulted in me slamming/cutting my hand on something
plenty of times when i left something unplugged

never left a wrench on the crnk pulley though.

but one time, i was unbolting the VSS. had a very long extension because i didnt feel like being bent over and working a wrench in a tight spot (note, CRX battery right next to distributor) so im loosening away and the butt of the wrench tags the positive battery terminal. sparks shoot everywhere, and scares the **** out of me. haha. i was certain i fucked something electrically but everything was fine.

another time. i left my track car out in the rain during a week when it rained about 12". my car has a pretty good leak from somewhere. before it rained i was working on the ECU and left it sitting on the pass floor, plugged in. when i went back to work on it i came out to the ECU under about an inch of water. i immediately cleaned up the water. i thought for sure the ECU was fried, but after drying it off it wasnt hurt at all. needless to say i bought a waterproof car cover after that, lol.

im sure ill think of more later

Scott_Tucker

When I was 20 I was working in an import repair shop called Made In Japan. I had just started there a couple of month earlier. I had to reinstall a carburetor on an RX7 so I grabbed 4 new nuts to hold it on. It didn't need them but I'm a stickler for hardware. I put the carb down on the studs and go to put the first nut on but discover I only have three nuts in my hand now. I figured I dropped it down the back of the engine so I just grabbed another one. Started the car up and set idle speed and mixture. It had been running for 15 minutes and it didn't fix the problem so I went and grabbed the tech who diagnosed it. We were sitting there arguing, him saying that it did have a bad carb even though it ran the same. Anyway we're sitting there talking and all of the sudden the engine stops instantly. I had dropped the nut down the intake. To add insult to injury it was the engine that was bad, not the carb and I knew this that's why I was arguing with the tech. We ended up buying the guy a new engine.

I wore that nut on my keychain for 10 years until I lost my keys in a cab in San Francisco.

I was able to put a positive spin on it though. I got the owner of the company drunk and he gave me a $2/hr raise and 6 lobster tails.

GSRCRXsi

ooo, just remembered another one.

one time i was replacing the battery on my crx. removed the intake arm and used the flat surface of the top of the air filter to lay my tool on while i worked. got it all changed out and put it back together. then took it for a spin. didnt really rape on it, no need to, just making sure everything was ship shape. well i was stopped at a stop light and noticed some road construction about 100-200 ft past the intersection. my lane was closed. since i have big pet peeves about being behind slow people, i decided to just gun it once the light turned green and hop in the next lane in front of the person next to me before my lane ended. so i gun it, full throttle, and when i go to shift the car is bouncing off the rev limiter. i act fast and immediately shut it down. scared to do anything i called a tow truck and got towed home. got it home and started tinkering with it. played with the TB a little and then heard something fall down into the intake mani. once i heard it i knew what had happened. a few hours later after taking off the IM my suspicions were confirmed.

i had left a 1/2" socket on the filter and the air flow from WOT had picked it up and carried it to the engine. luckily it got caught at the throttle plate. if it had gotten further my engine would have gone bye bye.

Finest

Putting a new turbo on my brother's GSX. Got everything bolted up, took it for a test drive. Forgot to tighten the oilpan drain bolt after I drained it earlier. Blew the motor 5 minutes later. (but had it replaced under warranty, shhh)

B18C Turbo

[/QUOTE]<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Runnerdown &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Haha, I have pushed the new valve seals on before realizing afterwards that the spring seat doesnt fit over </TD></TR></TABLE>

LOL!

mgags7

hmm lets see here...

well the other night, after trying to fix jd3jdm's tach bouncing/engine cutting out problem....change the ignitor out like 3 times, then test one in another car...either way 4+ ignitor and short test drives later I remember john hadn't checked the grounds yet, touch the ecu ground, and the bolt jiggles.....completely loose

thanks RLZ

EARLdaSQUIRREL

ive def had my fair share of stupid moments, ive done the crank pulley with the ratchet

put in a jdm r bottom end and used the timing belt that came with it, 60 miles later the car stalls and wont start up, needless the say somehow the timing belt deteriated and ended up ruining the cams, and the cam caps on the itr head

latest thing i did was pour some oil in the head when tightening the head studs (lube them for tq'ing) and all off a sudden oil comes from all parts between the block and head although its running good n no visible oil leaks yet

forgot to tighten fuel rail all the way on my turbocharged integra that i had just built the motor in, needless to say the motor starts missfiring and my engine bay caught on fire, i caught it in time and i could blow the fire out, what a scare though, i was bout ready to **** on my engine just to put the fire out lol

tried starting up after a swap with no ecu lol

friends did water pump/timing belt on d series n didnt think they had a washer on the crank to keep the timing belt inline and they kept hearing noises and it would eat up the belts, they thought something was out of alignment till i had them throw a spare washer i had laying around on it and it was fine

i could go all day with stories of my friends

Combustion Contraption

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by coptzer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
tried starting up after a swap with no ecu lol</TD></TR></TABLE>

been there done that.