The great P80 Volvo Bloopers - Idiots - Fails thread - June 2023

dobrosailor · Post by **dobrosailor** » 04 Apr 2020, 10:58

Full 10 score: Burned valve, rebuilt head, dropped oil pan, replaced orings, cleaned pan, cleaned PVC, new belt, tensioner, water pump, plugs, cap, rotor, plug wires, cleaned throttle body looking for a 100k motor. Got it all up and running late at night with water in teh motor in case it leaked. Motor started like it ran yesterday - totally ran SWEET!. Drained water including teh block as it was going to freeze that night. It appears there is a corner of the block that does not completely drain and the freeze cracked teh block right across the water pump. Motor is completely roached...

Post by **abscate** » 04 Apr 2020, 14:45

Ouch.

DOH ! DOH ! DOH!

Post by **Ocelot** » 07 Apr 2020, 01:27

Oh wow, I love this thread!

Back when I was a mechanic at a local Mazda dealership, we had a very headstrong intern. He knew everything. He was so arrogant that even the boss caught wind of it (and he was the type of guy that was always too busy to talk etc). One time, a Mazda 626 wagon needed a new clutch. Not very exciting, but for an intern it might be a fun and learning experience. Right of the bat, he starts saying he does jobs like this all the time and he wants to do the clutch removal himself. Normally, we wouldn't allow that, but this customer already arranged a different car for his vacation so there was no pressure in getting the job done in 1-2 days. We let him do the job. It starts out pretty fine but after a few hours we can start hearing him cussing and yelling, throwing tools around. 'The transmission wont come of the engine, its stuck', he says. One look in the car and I know why. But sometimes I'm a asshole, so I don't say anything. After two hours (!) of more yelling and cussing I went over to him and asked him: 'Did you put it in neutral when you started the job?' I had to surpress my grin so badly I got cramp in my jaw. He just looked so defeated, I'll never forget that look.

Biggest (well, it could be worse I reckon) doh I can think of on my own accord was last year. I had a headache when I helped a friend out replacing braking rotors and pads. I must have been asleep because I placed the pads the wrong way on the rotors. Ruining them. Yeah...

Post by **abscate** » 07 Apr 2020, 04:25

Biggest (well, it could be worse I reckon) doh I can think of on my own accord was last year. I had a headache when I helped a friend out replacing braking rotors and pads. I must have been asleep because I placed the pads the wrong way on the rotors. Ruining them. Yeah...

Twice the life!! When your tires wear out you can flip them inside out and do the same.

Post by **Ocelot** » 07 Apr 2020, 05:26

abscate wrote: ↑07 Apr 2020, 04:25
Biggest (well, it could be worse I reckon) doh I can think of on my own accord was last year. I had a headache when I helped a friend out replacing braking rotors and pads. I must have been asleep because I placed the pads the wrong way on the rotors. Ruining them. Yeah...
Twice the life!! When your tires wear out you can flip them inside out and do the same.

I remember a saying my former boss at Mercedes told me when a car without oil (when you pull out the dipstick and it's dry) came in for inspection/maintenance: 'Well, petrol also lubricates, right?' He said with such a straight face I always laughed when he said it.

Post by **volvolugnut** » 07 Apr 2020, 08:47

This is not a mechanic failure story, but a story about a baby sitter failure. Decades ago we bought a Mercedes 280 sedan. The engine had been rebuilt after total loss of coolant. The story was the baby sitter had use of the car for a couple days while the parents were gone. She drove it into some bushes and took out the bottom of the radiator. With no coolant at all, she drove it a while afterward. The repair papers said the spark plugs melted.
The rebuild fixed everything at about $4500 in 1980's. Insurance paid for repair. I doubt the baby sitter was asked back.
volvolugnut

Post by **matthew1** » 07 Apr 2020, 09:53

A hub replacement prompted an axle replacement, which a year later caused a "Oh no my transmission is toast" moment.

Post by **ZionXIX** » 08 Apr 2020, 05:35

When changing my timing belt I used a small vise grip to hold the wheel wheel flap open. After I finished the job I went for a test drive a heard a nasty scraping noise. I forgot to remove the vise grip and put the flap back in place.

Another time my oil cooler line popped off driving down the highway promptly emptying my oil onto the highway. I was in a bad part of town and kept driving for several miles. Nothing bad happened. I had it towed back to the shop so they could fix it....again. that was about 10 years ago.

Post by **abscate** » 08 Apr 2020, 07:00

This thread will be topped when we convince/blackmail/coerce June into posting one of her rollover pictures...

Until then I will settle for her custom ventilated P2 Seat

Post by **CIK7** » 08 Apr 2020, 11:43

volvolugnut wrote: ↑03 Apr 2020, 10:45 Thanks to all for self confession of errors.

My own mistake - MANY years ago I tried to carry gasoline in a styrafoam cup. The cup dissolved.
Duh!
volvolugnut

I did the same thing a couple years ago with red party cup! Lol DOH! I love the DOH! rule! I'm binge watching the Simpsons rn.

The great P80 Volvo Bloopers - Idiots - Fails thread - June 2023

Re: The great P80 Volvo Bloopers Idiots and Fails thread - April 2020