Matt O.

In the military aviation world, when you do something stupid (and live to tell about it) you do just that -- you stand up in front of everyone and tell what you did and why it was stupid and how not to do it.

Well, I did something stupid and did not realize how stupid until talking with my good friend Travis (Rennbay). I am going to post it here in hopes others won't make the same mistake.

Was trying to figure out why my 944 was slow to start (see my previous post on my starting issue). So I jacked up the car, threw a stand under it, and wheeled myself under with my 10 dollar Harbor Freight crawler. So, now I'm under a lowered 944 with about 3 inches between me and the bottom of the car.

So I continue with the troubleshooting, and I realize the power bolt is lose. So I got to tighten. Spark. Crap, I forgot to pull the power on the battery. Oh well I will just be careful. Spark. Crap. I pull the power on the starter (found bolt was stripped) and it bumps the exhaust. Spark spark spark - fire. Crap. I blow the fire out. Maybe I SHOULD pull the power. So I wheel myself out and disconnect the positive battery terminal.

Long story short I am very lucky that one of those sparks did not trigger the starter (I have seen it happen on my boat), because I had the car in gear and the back right wheel was on the ground. I probably would have been killed or seriously injured as the car could have lurched forward, knocking it off the jack stands and onto me.

Please be careful when you are working on your car and to be safe, from now on I will:

A) Always pull positive power to batter and wrap it in a rag to prevent it from sliding back into place at any time I work or jack up the car.
B) Jack car up with gear in neutral.
C) Put my 9" wide spare wheels/tires under each side of the car (like I NORMALLY do but was too lazy the other day).

Be safe!

-Matt

Lemming

I have to admit that I often work on my car without pulling the power; and it is stupid.

athens944

We all laugh about the Haynes manual step by step procedure that often starts out..disconnect the negative battery cable from the terminal...maybe those guys are on to something. That being said, I'm guilty!

streckfu's

I've had the bolt work loose causing the starter to engage while driving. While not directly dangerous to me, it reenforced the idea that it could happen at any time.

Good to know you are OK. Lessons learned do not always end so well..

Yummybud924

yeah that is a good lesson.....

i almost never get under the car unless i have a backup jack/ jackstand set up somewhere to hold the car up should the main jacks fail.

also give the car a good shove to see that it is seated on all jacks.

I remember a few weeks ago I had the car up on 4 jacks and then I noticed that there was no weight on 2 of the jacks as they were not all the same height so the car was being held up by one jack in the front and on in the back, good thing I didn't get under it before checking.

oh and I always disconnect the battery before getting under.

I remember when I was working on my mazda beater a few months ago I was checking the auto tranny fluid level and the dipstick hit the positive terminal on the battery and bang looked like fireworks blew up in my face.

Todd157k

Good words. We ALL get a little lazy when we're already under the car (or where ever that little upside down, back breaking, crawl space is) and just "try" to work around it.

Once, while my car was running, I noticed a "miss" so I opened the hood, saw a loose spark plug cap and proceded to just push it on.

um... "path of least resistance"... DOH !!!


and I'm an enginner!!!

StoogeMoe

Yes, that could have been a disaster if you energized the starter solenoid.

But, please disconnect the NEGATIVE side of the battery, not the positive, so you don't accidentally become the ground. Remove all rings and watches too. These can turn into mini arc welders and cause serious burns.

Mike C.

Yes or if you slip with the wrench and contact positive to the car body something bad will happen (found out the hard way on a non-Porsche)...

azbanks

Two different times doing belt changes, I've forgotten to disconnect the battery. Both times earned me a shower of sparks when I went to disconnect the starter. One time it arc welded a divot in the side of the wrench. That was in the fraction of a second it took me to drop the wrench.

Techno Duck

I know a guy that severely burned his wrist when wearing a watch with a stainless steel bracelet, all because he was to lazy to disconnect the power. I admit i am also to lazy to disconnect the power. I bought a marine battery cutoff (basically press a button and it opens the circuit) and have yet to put it in, because i am to lazy . But for the 30 seconds it takes to disconnect the power i dont get why i dont do it. Probably because i hate having to reset my clock and reset my stereo options. Now that i think about it thats probably a worse excuse than my dog ate my homework.

Lately i have been lazy and not using jackstands when doing things under the car. Im not talking about extended wrenching sessions, just checking things mostly. All it takes is one second under the car for my crappy 8 year old Craftsman jack to blow a seal. But my father yells at me all the time and i know hes right. I need to not be such a dumbass sometimes!

schwank

I have a special bungee cable whose sole purpose is to hold the negative battery cable far away from the battery during all maintenance. I attach it to the headlight actuator bar, so the cable end is a good 18" away from the battery at all times.

Jay W

I knew a guy that parked his corvette in his garage, then a few days later went to start it up. It wouldnt start so he asked a mechanic (NOT me) what he should do. Mechanic told him to try putting power to the starter directly with a long wire to see if the starter works. So this guy crawls under the car and puts power to the starter. Starter turns the engine over and the engine starts and the back wheel drives up on to his chest and crushes him. Neighbors see the car running in the garage and find him dead.
You may be wondering what was wrong with the car in the first place? When he parked it he left it in Drive, so the starter was not supposed to work. I would hate to be the mechanic that suggested putting power to the starter.

pkt1213

I ALMOST always remeber to disconnect it. :-) One of the few times I didn't and that's now why I don't have a 944 anymore. Burned up part of the wiring harness.

No it's a good idea and I always take my watch off cause I would be really pissed if I messed up my watch. It was kind of expencive and I some how have not lost it in the 5 years I've had it.

I also never put my car on jackstand unless I have to. I just kinda freak out being don there under them. I try to use my wheel ramps first for anything or I wind up with about 8 jackstands.

Reimu

The moral? Don't buy automatics.

yellowline

Funny you mention that, I had a similar early lesson in arc welding with our John Deere a few years ago.

Pull the negative BEFORE you pull the positive, if you choose to remove the positive. Installation is the reverse of removal.