gbgastowers

I am not admitting to it but wouldn't that be something if you used a breaker bar to get the engine to TDC to check the timing,forgot about the breaker bar and cranked the engine for a second to check the timing. You might think the engine sure was dragging when you did this and guessed your battery was low on charge. Later when you finally notice the breaker bar wedged up against the side of the lower engine bay you'd probably take it off and the crank bolt would fall to the floor. Your snout pulley would probably be loose and you'd have to spend the next several hours putting all the belts back on ,checking your ring gear and praying/thanking God that nothing was torn up. Wouldn't that be something if that happened. You probably wouldn't want to tell anybody about your stupid mistake. Just keep it to yourself.

928mac

It is a very dangerous thing to try.

Things that may happen,
dose it turn the correct way or will it sheer the bolt off (oh %$#@)
Will your 1/2 drive ratchet with its 2 lb socket spring board off the floor to 6 ft in the air, smash the windshield of land on the fender leaving a nice dent.

in the words of a famous movie star, go ahead make my day

Ducman82

1948 plymouth 6 cylinder. we did that do break free the crank bolt. cranked the car by hand till the breaker bar was on the ground, then blipped the key. worked great. on my 928..... uh no.

Landseer

Haven't done that (yet), but have lost a bunch of wrenches that fall off during test drives.

blown 87

More than a few do that to loosen the bolt, I am not among them.

GregBBRD

I've had it happen, here, a couple of times, but only with a ratchet.

Slings the ratchet and socket off pretty quickly...never "binds" up.

Dave928S

If you did that you'd probably join a long list .. who've left a socket and handle on the crank nut, left the radiator cap off, left spanners in engine bays ... or filled a gearbox from above, not realising it was all going on the floor because the drain plug wasn't in.

SeanR

Nope

Tempted to?

Yes.

Ed Scherer

And that was just on Andy's engine. What about the other times?

Giovanni

NOPE, never did, never will :-)

fraggle

Bet no one's removed a timing belt with a knife because they were so pissed that their just finished engine build just puked 5 quarts of oil on the floor through a torn cam seal. Nope no one's done it. I'm sure.

Or dropped the wrench they were using to loosen battery cables across of a two post battery, shorting them together, then crying happily it was so flat it didn't explode.

Or forget to unplug 120V for the gas-oven in the kitchen when you bent up some new lines because a goddamn mouse lived under the cooktop and you broke them by opening and closing it so many times the metal fatigued and broke.

Oh this was about 928s, sorry.

Ed Scherer

That reminds me... I've become damn careful about stuff like this as I get older.

I make signs or notes that I put on stuff when I realize that a memory lapse could be a safety issue or might cause damage.

Some stuff on top of the engine that would bend the hood if it's closed? Then hang a big honkin' sign off the front of the hood where it can't be missed. Mechanical interlocks are even better, if you can fab something up in a reasonable period of time.

About to uncouple a fuel line? Might be good to glance over and make sure that the fire extinguisher is still hanging there where you remember it being.

Something wired to the car or for some other reason, shouldn't start or move the car? Big note on windshield that can't be missed. Or painter's tape over where the key goes into the ignition.

Have some temporary stuff that must be removed before buttoning something up? Big note that can't be missed, e.g.:



It's probably saved my butt a few times, and if nothing else, it gives me peace of mind. It's even more important if you work on your car on and off and might forget where you left off.

blown 87

There is a perfect imprint of about a 3/4-7/8 wrench in the ceiling of my shop, I swear it was there when I moved in.
Not sure what happened, but something flung that wrench hard.

FBIII

I remove the crank bolt on my land rovers by hitting the starter.

blown 87

I cut all the timing belts that I take off, no way to ever put that one back on.

Bottom line is that if you have not done anything stupid working on cars, or any thing else for that matter, then you have not worked on enough of them.