Worst DIY mechanics stories you've heard/seen?

QuattroCalum · Sep 23, 2017

The worst I've ever heard of was a guy who decided it was time for an oil change on his car, he bought five litres of oil, opened the bonnet and poured it in, never drained the old stuff, just filled it up and started the car.
Needless to say it blew every seal in the engine, moral of the story, if you don't know what you're doing, leave it alone.

desertstorm · Sep 23, 2017

I once came home from school many many years ago to find my mom topping up the oil in the engine. She had a Talbot sunbeam that used loads of oil and my dad told her to check the oil every now and then and showed her how to do this. What he never showed her was how to top it up.
So when I came home I found her on the drive trying to pour oil down the dipstick tube, It was every where. She had poured it out of the gallon can into a pyrex measuring jug and was very very slowly trying to top it up.

Gazwould · Sep 23, 2017

Kindly helping a coffin dodger and her brigade of WI pals pump up tyres at a petrol station , I first undid a valve cap to receive a desperate cry of " STOP YOU WILL LET THE AIR OUT . "

joinerman · Sep 23, 2017

Back in the late sixty's i lent my Ford Consul to a mate who's car broke down on the morning he was taking his family down to Hayling Island for a few days, he stopped about half way for a break & checked the oil which was low so he filled it up to the rocker cover,

DieselJake · Sep 25, 2017

Not really embarrassing as I did nothing wrong, fitted a magnetic sump plug to my Starlet GT Turbo which must of had rubbish thread or was a couple mm too small or something as after swapping the turbo to a bigger one, putting on a fancy manifold, swapping to a front mount intercooler, relocating the filter, putting a new (very expensive) performance ECU in, swapping the oil and god knows what else I take it out for it's first test run to find oil all over the road when I got home and the sump plug dangling down, killed the engine and it's been sitting on my parents drive ever since :playful:

On a lighter note this always makes me laugh:

SamHendry · Sep 25, 2017

Last month work colleague of mine told me his low oil light was lighting up on his Citroën berlingo van, I told him I have oil in my van and he can use it to top it up, he opens his bonnet then pulls his dipstick out and using 5l oil container tries to pour oil into tube the size of a 5p coin! What a plum! Was to embarrassed to say anything.

JRock247 · Sep 27, 2017

Quite scary the amount of people who don't even know how to top up the oil correctly!

Not the worst story by far but had a friend who was trying to top up his washer fluid with the Auto-Glym Glass Polish! Anyone who has used this know's its a very thick fluid used to polish the windows, NOT designed to be used in your washer system. He poured the lot in. Ended up clogging it up and had to get the washer system cleaned out.

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Worst DIY mechanics stories you've heard/seen?

QuattroCalum

Registered User

desertstorm

Moderator

Gazwould

Registered User

joinerman

Registered User

DieselJake

Well-Known Member

SamHendry

Registered User

JRock247

Well-Known Member

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