Shade Tree poverty mechanics unite, tell us your one off repair stories.

[4zilch]

And this is why I hate belt-timed motors.

My hate largely stems from cold winter nights replacing the timing belt, tensioner, water pump, and power steering hose on my '92 Isuzu.

Another Rex inducer:

Siezed piston in 4-pot fixed caliper.
Led to warped rotor because piston wouldn't retract
Really hard to find replacement complete caliper for reasonable price. I think Subaru wanted like $300+
Decided to re-build
NBD - I've rebuilt calipers before
I've usually used air pressure to push out pistons
Piston was siezed so bad I ended up using channel locks and worked it out .0002mm at a time.
Finally got the pistons out, new pistons and new seals went in. Replaced rotors, and flushed brakes.
Piston siezed again within 2 weeks and warped rotor again

At about that time I found compression in the cooling system...probably a head gasket... again.

That's when I 'd it for the Fiesta.

[Tar]

I will do basic stuff like pads and rotors, the occasion valve cover gasket, maintenance like oil and fluid changes, sparks, cables, filters, stereo upgrades, etc on my own cars. My dad owns a '10 Benz E series and a vintage SL500 so he and I chase sensors on weekends. His SL500 is sold off finally but was seriously

I'd rather pay someone for big stuff or repairs with a margin of error that is too wide. If I had proper DIYs and adequate shop hoist I'd do more but I don't like lying under a car that may fall off of Jack stands and kill me.

[Flight413]

When I bought my mk3 Jetta years ago it had a slight rake that PO said was due to different shocks/springs up front than the rear. When I went to replace them I discovered the rake was because someone had welded a block to the top of the shock on each side of the rear, drilled a hole in it and mounted it to the car.. one of many Russian fixes I found on that car.


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[Melon]

More stories.

Installing springs on the GTI and stripping the torx bit on the swaybar. Had to cut it off with a dremel.

Installing the SPM dogbone insert, that was too tight to go in, even with using a floor jack to press it in.

Taking the steering wheel off of thr C5, ended up removing the entire rack to cut the steering wheel off.

Getting the windshield replaced on the C5 only to have it leak. Had to seal it up with dubious amounts of silicone.

Spent a month rebuilding and upgrading a Buell Blast, only to have the belt snap a mile from my house on the test drive.

Was replacing the shocks on my 1996 Civic, one strut had a nut seized on it, had to goto a junkyard to get a whole new assembly with the spring. Turns out Sense shocks are terrible, and the car rode as shitty as it did before.

I used a paperclip to attach the rear brake pedal on the Grom to the rear brake light sensor. Still working strong.

Buell Blast would backfire and blow carb off the bike.
Had to carry tools to fix this.

Replaced the starter on the Corolla only to blow the massive main fuse. Had to spend over an hour removing the entire fuse box to replace. Turns out, there was an easy way to unbolt it from above.

Put a roll pan on my Ranger (Removed rear bumper and had smooth piece under the tailgate) picked it up from the body shop, got rear ended, bed destroyed.

Installed Power Steering cooler on thr vette, it leaked, nut stripped during removal, had to cut of off.

[fledonfoot]

I see so much from my side of the shop. Like an O2 sensor welded into a frame on a 4Runner, sketchy lift kits on trucks, home made air filters, and stupid wiring connections causing intermittent startability issues on

[ChrisoftheNorth]

I see so much from my side of the shop. Like an O2 sensor welded into a frame on a 4Runner, sketchy lift kits on trucks, home made air filters, and stupid wiring connections causing intermittent startability issues on

[4zilch]

Quick story from when I worked for the service detardment.

Car gets towed in overnight
Complaint: crank / no start

We tow it into the shop, note that the gauge is on E. put about a gallon of fuel in it and it fires right up.

Call the lady to tell her what we found. She doesn't believe our diagnosis because the "low fuel light never came on"

wimmens

[ChrisoftheNorth]

Quick story from when I worked for the service detardment.

Car gets towed in overnight
Complaint: crank / no start

We tow it into the shop, note that the gauge is on E. put about a gallon of fuel in it and it fires right up.

Call the lady to tell her what we found. She doesn't believe our diagnosis because the "low fuel light never came on"

wimmens

[max225]

So was the light broken?

[4zilch]

So was the light broken?

More than likely. I quoted her to pull the dash and replace the bulb.

She declined


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[ChrisoftheNorth]

Man people who run the car to the E is just

Shit ain't good for the car man. I fill up the truck when it gets to a half tank most times.

I wait to 1/4, but yea...don't run the bish dry.

[max225]

Man people who run the car to the E is just

Shit ain't good for the car man. I fill up the truck when it gets to a half tank most times.

Every 1/2 tank must be insane on the mini... that's like every 6 gallons.

[Apex]

Man people who run the car to the E is just

Shit ain't good for the car man. I fill up the truck when it gets to a half tank most times.

Every 1/2 tank must be insane on the mini... that's like every 6 gallons.

That's like maybe every other month doe.

Dat bro forks daily.

[Melon]

Man people who run the car to the E is just

Shit ain't good for the car man. I fill up the truck when it gets to a half tank most times.

I wait to 1/4, but yea...don't run the bish dry.

I wait until the light comes on most of the time.

In the vette I just fill up before a drive or trip, usually between 1/4 and 1/2

Jessi drives the Floodrolla with no more than 1gal in it at a time.

[Melon]

Jessi drives the Floodrolla with no more than 1gal in it at a time.

She's a "I'll put $5 in" kinda person.

[Melon]

I also like to have fuel in the tank juuuuuuust in case I need to of dodge.

Exactly, fortunately the truk was full when the flood came.

[Melon]

She's a "I'll put $5 in" kinda person.

Put $30 in and then keep using that same $5 to keep it topped off.

[troyguitar]

I've had to bring a fuel can to rescue the empty mazda3 twice... of course at night in the middle of PA winter both times. She fills it up, then drives it until it says 0 miles left, then fills it up again. :dafuq:

[max225]

Womenz logic is great...

I got a few calls...
"It shows 0 range do you think I have enough to get home"
(10-30 miles) from the house each time...

womenz

[Melon]

So I'm not alone in this.

[Dbest]

Sigh.

Dat little wimmon finds any and every little noise to be annoyed at.

Have you tried hitting her?

[Dbest]

I did an oil change at home once and the oil splattered all over out of the drain pan... that kinda sucked

[4zilch]

I once changed a water pump, and in my haste I forgot to drain the coolant before removing the pump

[Melon]

Sigh.

Dat little wimmon finds any and every little noise to be annoyed at.

Have you tried hitting her?

That's generally frowned upon.

[Melon]

I once changed a water pump, and in my haste I forgot to drain the coolant before removing the pump