MPD47

Yes you all joke about darwin awards, and that kid who put sand through his intake on his audi. We've all made dumb mistakes, hopefully not THAT dumb, but they've been dumb enough for us to curse the heavens as we realized what just happened. Here's mine for the day....

So i'm in my basement, working on tearing down my spare engine. Ive got most of the bolts/allen sockets removed to take off the cam cover when I get to this one. It's tight, i try and apply some force and get it to move when i fall forward with a loud crack. The ball to the 6mm allen wrench just broke off inside the socket. AHHG! This is THE last one i needed to removed before pulling the cam cover. So now im resorting to carefully drilling until i can get the ball out and use the ez out to get the rest out. Hopefully this will only take a day or two more of careful drilling. So there's my stupid moment of the day.

SidViscous

You should never use ball headed allen wrenches for this. At best use straight allens to loosen it, then if it's difficult to get in there, use a ball. Been there, done that.

On the issue of stupid mistakes. Today I went to replace my oil pressure sending unit due to its prodigous loos of oil, bout a quart every 15 miles or so. Everyone told me to have the new one handy to reduce the anout of oil coming out. Well I had it ready. But I didn't take off the plastic thread protector. Was rather difficult to thread in that way. By the time I realised my dumbass mistake so much oil had leaked that it was nect to impossible to get back on because it was so slippery.

tomc_85.5_944

Try getting the clutch inspection hole confused with the flywheel TDC inspection port and not being able to understand why you can't see the mark when setting the motor to TDC.

We learn through mistakes, some expensive, some just worthy of some very, very bad words....

Cass944

impact driver.... thats what i used. came right out.

nineeagles

My stupid mistake of the day was on Friday...I sent out all my bills for the month.....stamped all the envelopes....inserted all the bill invoices and put them in the mail.....but guess what.....NO CHECKS!!!.......well tomorrow I will be calling everyone of the companies to straighten it out.....DUH...at least they aren't due untill next week.......

Mark-87-951

Stupid mistakes with my car:

Going to the dealer $$$ for repairs before finding good mechanics on rennlist.

Getting a ticket for expired plates, got an extension for court date because I was waiting for a part necessary for emissions testing hence the expired plates. Get the plates, forget to schedule the new court date on my calender and miss it! Big fine for something what would have been dismissed if I had been there :-( Need to increase my flexibility so I can kick my own *** a few times.

Mark

Peckster

Trying to leave from a bar on a bike without removing cable lock from front wheel first. Let's you get you feet up...

David Floyd

BTDT, it is no fun drilling that head off !!!!!!!!!!!!

MPD47

Nope, it's no fun at all. However i JUST got it off 10 minutes ago!!!!

inactiveuser92616

try tapping that little sucker with a drift+hammer to loosen it, then use a magnet to pull it out., Might work, if it hasnt dug into the metal too much.

Tom M'Guinn

How did you get it? With a drill? I was going to suggest driving a Torx bit down over the outside of the head -- worked for me once -- but you were too quick for me.

MPD47

Well it required mauling the crap out of the cam cover and getting a socket down in there over it. Thankfully im not selling the cam cover as i kicked the crap out of it.

Predator

My recent Big (read $$$) Mistake was staying at the Boynton Beach Express Hoilday Inn. Arrive at 9:00 pm after driving for 14 hours, stood in line for 45 minutes while dumbass night clerk checked in a couple before me. Finally got my room key and returned to the truck to park. No parking avilable, as the hotel was hosting some sort of 'event'. Anyway, return to night clerk to complain that they should provide parking for their guests. She suggests that I go the back of the building and park in a handicapped parking space. By now I'm so tired and disgusted that I say,"well if thats OK?". Duh, how stupid could I be. Next morning at 5:00 am I return to the truck and guess what? A $250 ticket on my windshield. I go back to the front desk and, of course, the night clerk has been relieved, and they can't be responsible for any suggestions the clerk "may have made"! That will be the last time I ever stay in Boynton Beack, Fla., or a Holiday Inn.

Travis - sflraver

over extending the hood while installing new hood shocks after just searching the archives and reading about doing this causing the windshields to break.
Thats my Darwin of the month so dont feel bad.