Tedro951

Indeed, old thread, but probably should get bumped every now and then. Most of us think jackstands are good enough. I attended a funeral last year for a co-workers son. Basically, car was on stands, but attempting to get trans in, car was moved enough to fall off.

Neg cable, sturdy stands, cell phone...

schip43

Oh crap! Sorry to hear that!

jtsporsche

i too have had a first hand experience with fireworks coming from the starter, but it was on a friends car.

but besides the battery, jackstands are the most important thing when under a car. just recently i was changing my oil when i noticed the car was starting to get closer to my face. the cheap *** jack started to give. learned my lesson, luckily i was able to shimmy out from under it quick enough, crushed my oil catch bucket though.

good thread revival for once.

ecostellodo

...and never wear a tie around an engine.

whalebird

always leave the car in neutral, always leave the key in so as not to lock the steering.
If you ever have a shop fire, you may want to push the car out quickly without searching and fumbling for the keys.

Kevin Baker

Replacing the steering rack on the wife's e30, getting the intermediate shaft on. I left the prybar up top, went under to check progress, got excited because I was so close. So I grabbed the mallet. Gave the rack a good whack or two. And that Newton guy was right about his theory. At least I have both my eyes and a nice scar between them to remind me not to be stupid.

F40LM

Good thread to bring back. I am guilty too, being very tired, been working on the car for 8 hours, do I REALLY need to pull the ground cable off AGAIN??? And every time I don't I look back later and realize how VERY stupid it is not to do so EVERY time.

michael

Reimu

I almost tipped my 944 over trying to jack the rear up while the car was on stands and one side was slightly higher than the other.

931GT

Adjusted a few bad habits thanks to this thread. Always good to be reminded how dangerous it is to work under our cars.

A bump for safety.

Cyberpunky

I was in car audio for many years and removing neg lead is standard practice for obvious reasons. I won't do any physical work on a system till I disconnect neg, no matter how minor the job.

I once had a customer ask me to look at his amp install. He had housing wiring coming out of the bonnet, and coming into car via drivers window. While I am looking and thinking OMG, I smelt burning, and the wire was melting its way through his back seat. I pulled the wire before it set fire to the car but it had already melted into what were mint rear cloth seats. The wire was twisted to battery, unfused, not suitable type and not properly connected. Guy was lucky he didn't burn car to ground, and may of. had I not acted quickly. All to save a few bucks and because he thought he knew what he was doing.

My Dad is a panel beater and for many years worked for a big taxi company. One of the mechanics was working on a car(an auto), and had it in park. He was standing in front of it and gave it a rev, when a spring broke inside auto and car lurched forward at full throttle, badly crushing his legs. This is a million to one type deal but after that, all the mechanics, always worked from the side of car when the motor was running.
play safe
peace

coilbox

Also remind the danger of petrol.

A guy here in Spain, from the VW world, was in his pit changing a leaky fuel line from his van. It was almost empty, but when he did get some fuel over him. He breathed some and got some in his eyes, so he stepped away in pannic with such bad luck the light he was using broke and cought on fire. 95% of his body burned, he died in 2 days from only a few cups of petrol.

keep it safe!

bad_monkey

Chock both side of the rear wheels if you are raising the front of the car. The car can rock both ways even when you only pull one way. Oh, and the factory 944 jack may as well be made of tofu.

Keep a powder extinguisher nearby. Wear overalls. Wear gloves if you aren't doing any thing too fiddly. Latex gloves if you are. Sounds dumb, but, then again who plans to have an accident?

Hope this thread regurgitation helps stop someone bleeding/getting burned/squashed.

Peace.

Dogberri

i can personally vouch for the use of safety glasses. i was pulling my injectors off one night, the 2nd one was i little tougher than the first and when it finally gave i sent my hand right down into my little catch pan of gas. flung about a cup of 91 octane right up into my face and both eyes (wide open). it burns and never having had any experience with chemicals in my eyes before i didn't know what damage (if any) i had just caused. not a good feeling to wonder if your vision will ever become unclouded again. the poison control hotline lady was very kind and assured me that i was most likely going to be fine, but still...WEAR YOUR SAFTEY GLASSES! no point to working on a car if your blind and cant drive it

eric951turbo

Last night I did some work under the car too and finished really late, outside, getting pretty dark.
When I finished my work, I wanted to go for a drive for testing but remembered that my idle screw needed adjustment. Pop the hood, start the car, and notice my idle was ok. Went to get my wallet in the house, and left for my drive. Went up pretty fast on the highway (testing boost) and came back home. When I stepped out of the car, I noticed that I forgot to lock my hood I just imagine.... POOOOOOOF!!!

Grandpa#3

Great reminder about the battery. My stupid mistake was not hooking up the batteries properly for a jump start. I hooked the positive to positive and the negative to negative. The resulting spark caused the low battery to explode in my face and eyes as I was leaning over it. This happened while I was living in England. A nice elderly lady ( WWII RN ) rushed out of her home, grabbed me and literally ran me into her home. She stuck my head under a water faucet flushing my eyes and upper body. I thought she was going to drown me. The acid had already started to burn. She then drove me to her Doctor where I was treated and she then drove me home. Come to find out I lived just around the corner from her. Every time I work around a battery I remember what can happen and give thanks to her saving my eyesight.

Cheers,
Larry