[stick]

This week's morbid curiosity question. What's the dumbest thing you've ever done while working on your CRX?

Here's mine. I dropped a bolt (of course) and it tumbled it's way under the radiator on the front crossmember.... Oh crap..NOoo! So, what did I do? What any idiot would do...i tried to reach for it....but it was just out of reach of my fingertips. So I tried to reach a little further...reach, reach...closer....closer....almost....almost.... GOT IT! All the while not fully realizing the predicament I had just put myself in. My arm and hand were now completely stuck in a weird angle in the front of the engine bay. I tried to tug...but my reward was pain as a sharp piece of metal dug into my hand near the bottom of the radiator. I tried to wiggle out of the spot but, of course, my joints don't bend the way that would be necessary for me to break free. I was stuck. And there was nobody around to help me. I took a few deep breaths to recollect my composure and think rationally. Think, think, think...what to do?....I KNOW...I'll lube up my arm and it'll slide right out! Now where did I put that jug of oil? There it is! AH CRAP... It's about 7 feet in front of the car... and I'm 6'4", and my arm is stuck in the engine bay. WHY GOD, WHY?!?! And I imagined his response "Because you're an IDIOT! You don't think I'd let you get out of that situation *that* easily, would you?". To which, the only response I could think of was to flip the bird towards the heavens with my un-stuck arm. After which, I paused for a few minutes....knowing that I would have to wait 5 hours for my girlfriend to get home. If there's any ideas, I might as well try them, regardless of how tedious and time consuming they might be. At least they'll keep me occupied and prevent me from thrashing my arm off like an animal in a leg hold trap. Epiphany! There's at least 3 litres of oil at my disposal right next to me....inside the engine! If only i could get some of it out... I pulled out the dipstick and grinned widely...almost maniacally. Drop by drop, I applied oil to my stuck hand and arm until it was finally slippery enough to slide free. All in all, it took me over 30 mins to break free. That's my story, and I'm no longer sticking to it. Ask me again, and I'll deny it ever happened. :lol:

 

[Kain]

ahaha nice.

mine, so far, is when i was using my brand-new timing light to check my timing. so i hook it up correctly, and operate it... it was my first time doing such a thing, and i couldn't really see the dots well (either that or they were just so far off that i didn't see them). so i mess with the timing at the distributor. i stall it out. so i put the timing light in a seemingly stable place, up by the driver's headlight. i get in, start the car up, and get back out. looking for the big red timing light... uh-oh... where'd it go? if you guessed down into the bay you are a winner! luckily for me though, it wedged between my unhooked a/c compressor pulley and my crankshaft pulley, not interfering with the belt at all lucky me.

here are the pictures of my modern art masterpiece:

 

[DiscoStu]

At the shop I worked at, we had a cabbie account, and when they retired a car we would strip it down for engine, trans, cradle, etc... so we're taking it apart, and I popped one of the ball joints. The guy I worked with asked why, because now when we take the cradle bolts out it would most likely fall (we'd usually unbolt the cradle, let it hang by the front susupension, and then unbolt the struts and let it fall). I say no worries, I'll put the ball joint back on and I'll do that side.
So, I grab my impact gun, head for the bolt... zipWHAM!
"AARGH.... Jay? Can you get this thing offa me?"

The cradle jumped, that I was expecting. What I WASN"T expecting was for it to fall right onto my impact gun and then onto my finger, pinning me there. Thankfully, it didn't break a bone or anything, but I looked like a nice little doofus and it HURT.

 

[GSRCRXsi]

while i was working on my suspension, i got a snagged on the passenger rear suspension. i couldnt get the lower strut bolt out of the fork. i just would not turn. i took the nut off the other end and it still wouldnt turn. wtf? so i fugured ill just get a bigger wrench. i got my 18" breaker bar out and popped a 14mm impact socket on the end. put it together with a few extensions (mistake #1) and proceded to pull up (mistake #2). because of the extensions i wasnt getting enough torque (like it would have mattered since the bolt was sieved to the sleeve) to the bolt head and the wrench kept slipping off. so i tried to concentrate the force i was giving in the right direction to keep the wrench on there, pulled as hard as i could, and WHAM! bolt slipped off and i hit my hand on the underside of the rear fender. it didnt hurt right away, just felt pressure. i started working more and noticed blood all over the bolt i was messing with. what the heck? so i looked at my finger and all the skin from my last knuckle on the underside of my pinky finger was gone. CRAP. so i went in side and cleaned it up since my hands were covered in suspension grime and dirt. i never did get that bolt out. i ended up turning it so hard that i completely tore the bushing. then it took me a while to find out why it was spinning but not comming out, lol. i ended up having to cut the shock off the LCA. i couldnt even save the bolt, i had to throw it away.

and my most recent one was when i was installing my electric vss. and i was tightening it down with about 15" of extensions not realizing how close to the battery i was. the bott of the wrench touched the pos(+) battery terminal and with the other end of the wrench on the transmission yea it was a big spark and scared the bejesus out of me. luckily i didnt short anything or hurt myself. lol.

 

[stick]

Oh ya...and why is it always when I'm showing someone else how to do something, I end up shocking myself on something...be it the starter or the alternator... LOL

 

[djhankb]

Oooooh I've got a good one...

When doing a fuel pump, I pull the pump out of the tank, and the strainer gets snagged and pulls off of the pump assembly falling back into the tank...

without thinking, i stick my hand into the fuel pump opening in the tank and grab the strainer.
well, it was easy putting my hand in there, but removing it, while holding a strainer proved to be a challenge.. I pulled and yanked and wiggled and twisted, shredding the back of my hand to bits. While working inside a gas tank, sloshing fuel into my wounds.

I hope you never experience the sting of gasoline in an open wound. LOL

I still have the scars from that one.

-Henry

 

[toxiclows]

the dumbest thing i have ever done is doing anything to my car while friends are there... . . When i am alone in the garage I am a great mechanic.. . .bolts that are rusted magically come out for me. .. jobs take way less time than expected and everything just seems to go right.. ... as soon as a buddy stops over.. . .I turn from Honda Guru to honda Poo Poo . . . . .breaking stuff... forgetting how i tore stuff apart.. . . .it sucks... . .they prob. think I am a really lousy mechanic.. .. . . Its more fun though with just me and the Rex's

Chris

 

[Stavros]

I cant remember what bolt i was loosening, but it really didnt want to come off of there. i grab my 18" crash bar and have another go at 'er. shoulda have paid attention to where the crash bar was going, cuz crash it did, right into my head. i nearly knocked myself unconscious, those crash bars are HARD.

on a completely different occasion, i was trying to remove the axle from my driver side wheel hub... and for whatever reason it didnt want to budge. so i crab a pry-bar to try and muscle it out. same god-damned thing happens... it gives and i manage to punch myself in the face with a fist full of pry-bar... seeing stars

moral of the story is... old cars with rusty parts that are seized piss me off

 

[Krix]

My current one:

Im trying to get my new quarter glass window molding in the other day. I figure i can get it in without having to take out the glass.its going pretty good until i get to the back part of the glass. It was having some problems going in so what do I do? I press harder. I kept on and then a small piece of the edge of the glass broke....followed by the whole window. Busted glass everywhere.

 

[Ti Rider]

My latest misadventure in car repair - During a recent engine inspection I noticed my alternator belt was cracked to heck. I couldn't remember the last time it was changed, 5 years ago maybe? So I ran up to Napa for new belts. Got back, checked the Helms manual for any hidden surprises and changed the belts. All is good in my world.

The next day I hop in my car to drive home from work and my belt is squealing every time I give it gas. Being a "car guy" a squealing belt is like nails on a chalkboard to me. So I get home, loosen the adjustment bolt, and notice how loose the alternator is. It moves all over the place, not just back and forth. A quick check reveals that the bottom alternator bolt isn't just loose it's gone. When I was moving the alternator around to get the old belt out I must've loosened the nut and it fell out. Thinking the bolt my still be in the bracket but out of view I reach through what I think is a hole down to the alternator. "Snap". I break the plastic part of the throttle cable where it goes through the firewall (like Stickershop I'm 6' 2", 220 lb. and definitely not built to Japanese mechanic specs).

Helms tells me it that the bolt isn't just any old bolt, it's a special square headed number that the local parts store will not have. I call my nearest dealer (30 mins. away) and surprise, surprise they don't have it in stock or the throttle cable (they never have anything in stock) but I really am shocked when they offer to order the parts over the phone. Even though they know me they used to make me drive the 30 minutes over just to prepay before they would order anything. Three days later I get the bolt and cable. All is good in my world once again.....