Any car mechanic accident stories to tell?

[Thio]

I don't, but I would like to hear everyone else's. I'm finally going to start working on getting my dad's sports car up and running, so I just want to avoid making the same mistakes that others have made.

 

[ShobThaBob]

Well, right before I started my short tenure at Star Motor Cars, they had a problem with an Aston Martin DB7. The car would start ok, and run for a little bit (it had already been driven a few hundred miles by owner) and then it would shut down. The mechanics did ALL kinds of work on it for about a month, and couldnt figure out the problem at all. Finally, they ripped open the back and took a look in the gas tank. In the bottom was a roll of duct tape. The paste on the tape seperated and rejoined in bundles in the gas. When the car was started, it would be ok, but after a while, the little bundles of paste would sink to the bottom and clog the gas line. So yeah. They cleaned it all out and got it working fine again. The moral - just because a car is hand build doesnt mean that the people who assembled it are nice.

 

[Boost Lee]

Regardless of how many times you've taken out springs/shocks/struts, always use a spring compressor!

 

[DoZeRxXx]

yeah, if you want to make sure the springs work, have your girlfriend come over and you 2 can sit in the back seat. just to see if the springs work.

 

[emad]

My mom took her accord to get a tune-up. The shop changed the brake fluid as part of the service...The moron that was pulling the car out of the garage forgot to pump the brakes before getting the car moving. He pulled out VERY fast and rammed our car into 3 other vehicles that were parked outside... To make matters worse, our insurance company raised our premium and the owner of the Jiffy Lube (i think that's where it was - either there or Canadian Tire) almost refused to pay for repairing the damages

The moral of the story? ALWAYS pump the brakes before putting it into drive if you're going to do any adjustments there.

 

[Gil]

I once cleaned the valve covers on my '62 Thunderbird.
When I started to drive my girlfriend home, my normally quietly powerful car was sputtering up a storm.
When I opened the hood I saw the problem immediately.
Once I re-attached the four plug wires for the left bank of cylinders, the car ran just fine.

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

A friend of mine got her oil checked in her Mustang at a small crappy gas bar.

They forgot to latch the hood.

At 120km/h the hood caught wind and flipped up and smashed out her windshield and screwed up her new hood. She was driving blind at 120 km/h with glass everywhere. Jamie was pretty shaken up (obviously) over it.

One nice big expensive mess. I think she said $4000 to get it all fixed. I should get the pics off her and post them here sometime.

*edit* Here they are. I was able to get ahold of her tonight. This is it in her words.

I stopped into the gas station in town. Got gas and got the kid to check my oil. I had none left so i got him to put some in for me. I dropped down the hood but it didnt shut so i went to redo it but the kid went and did it for me by pushing down on the hood. I got in my car and left.... These pics are what happend about 5 minutes down my road. it was so scary!
..... Got the estimate on repairs.... total is 4 thousand dollars!!!!!!

Here is her before shots.

And here it is after.

If this happened to my car I would have turned around and latched my car shut with his head in it.

 

[Jay]

when i put a 350 chev in my holden HG monaro, i drove it for about 5 mins and smoke whas pouring out the bonnet. i pulled over and waited for the smoke to clear and the battery lead connected to the starter motor was resting on my extractors (headers), it burned through the rubber insulation the shorted out and my whole wiring loom melted.

remember keep all wires, hoses etc away for hot objects like the exhaust

 

[Mike Rotch]

My dad took his car into the dealer for a regular service a few years back. When we got it back and checked all the fluid levels, they had put in 2 liters more engine oil then the sump was meant to take. We had to siphen out the excess through the top of the engine.

Always check the fluid levels post service.

 

[Jay]

why didnt you just drain the oil from the sump plug?

 

[Mike Rotch]

A) It would have been messy.

B) It would have been hard to judge when to stick the sump plug back in before too much oil drained out. By siphening, it was easy to see when the correct oil level was reached.

 

[Jay]

you dont take the plug out just loosen it

 

[Mike Rotch]

*thinks*

​

 

[toyomatt84]

Even though I'm not a huge fan of painting stock external parts with various colors, that kind of crap shouldn't happen to customer's vehicles.

Find a way to get back at them Rumple, if you know where they are, that is.

 

[toyomatt84]

I did have an incident once with the Car Care service for my Tahoe.

The tranny busted in mine when I got it, so after I had it replaced, everything was going great until one day I was driving to a friend's, when the truck started to wobble and shake violently. I let off the RPM's to see if I could tell where the noise was coming from, but it just got louder. I started to brake, and then I heard a huge "thunk" and my truck completely swerved toward the ditch. Luckily, I controlled the truck well enough not to flip it in the ditch, but needless to say, I was stuck in the ditch.

I got out of my truck to see if I lost something vital, and as I turned out to the road, I could see my tranny and half of both driveshafts sitting on the road. Imagine my surprise. (That road doesn't have a speed limit sign anymore, due to me being pissed. I had to vent somehow, so I ripped it out and threw it in the trees.)

The towtruck came, and pulled my truck out of the ditch and took it to Chevy. The problem, they say, was loose bolts.

I know better than that, so I asked the guy who really worked on it, a buddy of mine. He said, that based on what he saw, there wasn't but half, at the most, of the bolts in. Good to see somebody finished the job right.

She's back on the road, smoking Geo's and Grandma's.

 

[Cobraboy]

My dad was travelling up to our bach for a weekend to do some building, he was about 30 minutes away from the house when he came across a small bridge. The bridge wasn't level with the road so the trailer might've gotten some air. However when it came back down one of the U-bolts holding the axle to the chassis came loose and the entire axle, 2 wheels and all flew off at about 80-100km/h. The trailer slammed to the ground, the underbody was all ripped up and the axle ended up in the roadside ditch. It was amazing that noone was seriously injured though.

It wasn't as a result of a shoddy mechanic as the trailer was custommade about 20 years ago, but it had got a WOF (Warrant Of Fitness) about 3 weeks prior and why nothing was picked up then I've got no idea

 

[Party for GT4]

I saw a recovery van get sideways once, and the car he was towing slid into a ditch, flipped and spun the van round. We slammed on the brakes and stopped about ten metres from it!

 

[Cap'n Jack]

Well this didn't happed to me but my dad.

We were on our way home from a holiday and our car broke down when we were half way home so we called up some mechanic place near by and they took us to the garage to get the car on a truck so we could go home. We got the car on the truck but something went rong and the car fell off the back and crushed our trailer. So my dad went to talk to the guy about it and I...well I can't remember what I was doing. But in the end we got home, I had to sit in the back of the truck all cramped up. It was a good holiday I got to go jetty jumping, tubing behind the boat, crabbing, swimming and alot of other stuff!

 

[MazKid]

Some stories my dad has told:
Back in the late '70s, when he worked at an Import place(they worked on Fiats, Alfa Romeos, Saabs, etc.), one of the other mechanics drove an old Fiat in and got the lift ready. He hit the button and then just kinda didn't pay attention, till he heard some noises, then looked over to see the wheels on the ground and the seats pushing up on the roof of the car.

Other stories of cars coming in, going out, and coming back the next day on a truck, happen every so often.
Also stories of MPVs and B-Series trucks being put on the lifts and hitting the roof of the building...

My bro also has self-screwed up his own cars, but usually not bad.

And from my early mechanical days, not really car related, but on my first multi-speed bike, a RoadMaster Razor's edge, I liked to keep the gears nice and WD-40ed, so one day I was spraying the gears down, then decided to spray the wheels because it made them nice and shiney. Got on the bike without trying the brakes, and went down my street here(a hill), and gained a ton of speed trying all the gears, then it was time to slow down. Hit the brakes, nothing happened(WD-40 workes pretty damn well as a lubricate, lol). With all my hand strength I gripped the brakes and nothing, then the WD-40 wore off, and I locked both tires and flipped off the bike, luckily I wasn't really hurt...the bike was fine too, but there were chunks of the brake pads stuck on the wheels.

Hehe.

 

[retsmah]

Originally posted by Mike Rotch
When we got it back and checked all the fluid levels, they had put in 2 liters more engine oil then the sump was meant to take.

I've done that once, put 4.4 quarts in then found out the car actually takes 3.4. It was pretty messy fixing that, as I didn't do any siphoning. I did get it to exactly the right level on my first try though, which was pretty lucky and/or impressive

 

[drifter7]

this isnt really a mechanic story just really bad luck with cars. a long time ago my dad was going to buy a 69 hemi cuda from his friends brother i think it was 69 anyways he went away for the weekend and the guy sold it, about 2 months ago i saw on tv that the same hemi cuda could be auctioned off for around $600 000 when i told him he said "why did you have to tell me that now i regret going away that weekend"

 

[NIAL8U]

My first ride was a Nissan Pulsar GTiR, and just before I traded it in for my GTS25T, I smashed the original clutch fork, so I put in a NISMO clutch fork which is a slightly different shape, so it`s much softer to use, anyways, to do this I had to remove the engine, and when it was put in by a freind of mine who is an A Grade mechanic, he forgot to put in the two front engine mounts, I did not even realise until I was boosting down the road in it and changed up into 3rd when all of a sudden i felt the whole thing sink backwards. Moral=Even the best screw up.

 

[knightinwhite86]

these stories are great, lol

My dad hit a big bump a long time ago about 1 year ago, that really made his mercedes jump, nothing happened to the car that night or anytime soon, but about 2 months ago he was driving along a highway and hit a hole, the car started to swerve, he took it to the mechanic, it turned out that the whole spring and suspenion assembly on the front right had broken through the top welds, and the whole thing broke through the top
(i dont know the techinical names, sorry)

a couple weeks ago, a friend of mine had his oil changed at a WALMART, he was driving down the road, and the thing over heated, he opened the hood, they had forgotten to put back on the oil cap

 

[xAkirax2004]

A few years ago, My mom had a 1995 Mercury Sable. 2 days after she purchased it, she would be driving on the road, as usual and all of a sudden it would rev up to 3500 RPM. And jam back down. She suspected it was a tranny problem, so she took it to the dealer shop she purchased it from. Every single time she would go there for an oil change, she asked the mechanics about it. They would find nothing. This kept on for another year or so. Until she went in for an alignment. Then, it wasnt until then, 2 days after the warranty went out, the mechanics fould out the transmission needed replacing. $2,400 For the transmission without labor.(Was used.) Then for a week she had to drive a Suzuki Aero for a week until it got fixed.


Ugh. Mercuries suck. Hard.

 

[Pfffssshhh!]

I was at a suspenion shop and was having my front suspension bushings changed. Usually, when someone's working on my car, I stand right next to it while they're doing the work. Mechanics here are pretty shoddy to say the least.

Anyways, that night, me and my friend were out. We were supposed to go to another friend's house then we saw this really hot chick right next to us. So we pulled up at the lights. Smiling and all that ****. Then lights change and we were still driving up right beside her when I suddenly feel this vibration with the steering wheel. At first it wasn't really noticeable, but then turned violent. So I managed to pull up by the side of the road and went out of the car to check. I looked at my driver side wheel and it was pointed to the left (left, when inside the car). So nothing's wrong with that, but when I looked at my passenger wheel, it was pointing right! And I remember some cars passing by, slowing down to see if they can help me but then laughing at my wheels (or me). Argh!

Moral of the story, try and get someone's number right before the lights change.

 

[Motorer1]

here is the story of my friend who is a little funny. This happened at his dad's shop.

Well guess what everyone.... I did the un thinkable... the un imaginable... thats right! I fell through a goddamm skylight. Im sitting here with 5 stitches in my leg, studying for finals. FUN! NOT! ANYways, so I know what my shin bone looks like now, cuz I saw It! Do you know what your shin bone looks like? Didnt think so. So I guess everything happens for a reason, although, im not quite sure why this happened. OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

I was in the parts room, and all i hear is {BANG} {Glass shattering on the floor} {****!!!!}

 

[I6-4-eva]

Originally posted by knightinwhite86

a couple weeks ago, a friend of mine had his oil changed at a WALMART, he was driving down the road, and the thing over heated, he opened the hood, they had forgotten to put back on the oil cap

same thing happened to my Integra when i was in highschool. it was all my dad's fault!.. the whole engine bay was covered with oil.

 

[MazKid]

Sorry, kinda late on this one, but here:

 

[Apclps]

I did a search for an existing thread and my story would fit right in with this one.

A little while ago we had an oil leak in our car where the oil was slowly draining into the main cooling system (getting oil in the water). We had that fixed asap and after that had to drive around for atleast a week with a soap sollution in the cooling system to clean it out. I picked up the car from the garage on monday, with the soap in the cooling system. Today I had to drive into the city for some paperwork and as I was standing at a red light, I saw a small puff of steam rise from under the hood. I feel lucky that I saw that small puff, 'cause it was easy to miss and there wasn't anything else to be seen wrong with the car. I also started smelling a really strong soapy smell, almost identical to the smell of windscreen wiper fluid. I quickly glanced at the temperature gauge and saw that that was still on normal. I was still freaked out and pulled over right away. With the car parked it only took seconds for a small puddle to leak out right under the radiator. I opened the hood and saw that the radiator hose was disconected on one side of the radiator and all the fluids had drained out.

The car got towed back to the garage and I'm hoping that the engine isn't damaged by all this. I remember reading that the temperature gauge reacts with a delay.. Summer day + city driving + no fluids in the cooling system can do some damage. I don't know where the hose jumped off, but I don't think I drove too long without it. The mechanic blames it on the cleaning fluid, but even that is his fault. They said that they had fixed similair oil leaks before, on the same make as our car. But hey, it could have been a lot worse!

 

[Pupik]

I've seen a few, but the one that takes the cake:

We have a couple of "lube techs" that are new to working at a professional facility. They start with the basics of just oil changes, tire pressures and rotations, wheel balancing, and a few other checks on the car. They don't do any mechanical repairs, and as far as other fluids go, they will top off them as necessary.

One day, a gentleman brought his fairly new $35,000 car for it's first service at 5,000 miles. It's a freebie for buying a new car. The lube techs drained the oil, and topped off all the fluids...except for the oil, but they did manage to put coolant in there instead.

At the end of the service, there's an automated car wash, and the driver just slowly takes it though the wash. The car made it about 5 feet into the car wash, half-hanging in the wash, half outside of it. The engine just seized dead, and the car was stuck in gear. The car wash, meanwhile, is still running, because the car's hanging right on top of the mechanical starter mechanism for the car wash.

Everyone's freaking out; the lube techs, the valet who took the car in (he didn't do anything wrong), and the service manager who happened to be downstairs. I was a fairly safe distance away, and you could see everyone spazzing out over what to do next, as the manager yelled at someone to hit the emergency switch to stop all the car washes. Being a brand-new facility, it took about 3 minutes for someone to find it.

The techs are trying a push a car out fo the wash, but there's soapy water everywhere, so they're all slipping around. The car won't move becuse the car wash rollers and rashers are stuck in the down position, waiting for a car to fully enter. Finally, the kill switch is found, and all the secondary power functions have ceased; two other cars are now stuck the car wash, and three cars are stuck on their lifts for 30 minutes while sort everything out.

The car was pushed to the main repair facility, where the real certified technicians work on cars with mechanical issues, or do major maintenance work. When the poor car finally managed to get onto a lift, the diagnostic specialist proclaimed that nothing came out of the drain plug but steam. The engine was entirely fried, short to long, top to bottom. A good deal of parts had to be replaced, and it took about 10-15 days to complete the repair and make sure it's working properly. But we covered the tab for repairs 100% and gave him a loaner car for entire time we had his car in the shop.

Needless to say, this particular customer has gotten quite a bit of free service since then...