If you can't laugh at yourself...
bbass2
Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 1,056
Feel free to post any stories here about dumb moves you've made or the like so everyone can laugh at your expense. Here is what happened to me this week you mechanical types might like.
Since I work on computers all day it's nice for a change to work on something physical so I decided to change my oil. I've changed the oil at least once on all of my previous vehicles so it shouldn't be a big deal even though it's the first time with this truck.
I started out reading online to make sure I had all the tools I needed, etc and picked everything up at the local automotive store. I pulled the truck in the garage after work and off we go. My wife is still off on maternity leave and with keeping the newborn all day she is ready for me to take over asap so I wanted to get this done as quick as possible.
Everything went okay except for having to run back to the store to get another filter wrench because the one I got didn't work. I checked the oil and it was reading much higher than it should have, like 2-3 quarts too high. Since I was already short on time I pulled the truck back out in the driveway so i could pull my wife's car in the garage.
I didn't feel comfortable with that oil reading so the next day I decided to work from home and let the truck sit in garage a while to let everything settle. After doing a bit of research online during the day I found someone post about a mistake they had made doing an oil change. I thought, surely I'm not that dumb, but I'll check anyway. I have a look under my truck and sure enough I am that dumb. Not paying attention where I was underneath the truck I had drained the transmission pan instead of the oil pan. sigh
Unfortunately these transmissions do not have dipsticks and are not easily filled so I instead of just having a simple $50 oil change I got to change the oil twice, called a wrecker to have them tow my truck to the nearest dealership 30 miles away, then overpay the dealer to do a transmission service. It sucked paying all that, but in the end I'm just happy I went with my gut and didn't drive to work with 2x the amount of oil and .5x the required amount of transmission fluid.
Since I work on computers all day it's nice for a change to work on something physical so I decided to change my oil. I've changed the oil at least once on all of my previous vehicles so it shouldn't be a big deal even though it's the first time with this truck.
I started out reading online to make sure I had all the tools I needed, etc and picked everything up at the local automotive store. I pulled the truck in the garage after work and off we go. My wife is still off on maternity leave and with keeping the newborn all day she is ready for me to take over asap so I wanted to get this done as quick as possible.
Everything went okay except for having to run back to the store to get another filter wrench because the one I got didn't work. I checked the oil and it was reading much higher than it should have, like 2-3 quarts too high. Since I was already short on time I pulled the truck back out in the driveway so i could pull my wife's car in the garage.
I didn't feel comfortable with that oil reading so the next day I decided to work from home and let the truck sit in garage a while to let everything settle. After doing a bit of research online during the day I found someone post about a mistake they had made doing an oil change. I thought, surely I'm not that dumb, but I'll check anyway. I have a look under my truck and sure enough I am that dumb. Not paying attention where I was underneath the truck I had drained the transmission pan instead of the oil pan. sigh
Unfortunately these transmissions do not have dipsticks and are not easily filled so I instead of just having a simple $50 oil change I got to change the oil twice, called a wrecker to have them tow my truck to the nearest dealership 30 miles away, then overpay the dealer to do a transmission service. It sucked paying all that, but in the end I'm just happy I went with my gut and didn't drive to work with 2x the amount of oil and .5x the required amount of transmission fluid.
Comments
Before anyone starts slamming me on the firing order, that wasn't the problem. I wired it backwards but still maintained 18436572 only in the wrong direction.
With today's vehicles, it is easy to make that mistake. I have had several people call me up and ask why their engine oil is red or pink. Uhm, cause you drained the transmission. ; )
And you would be surprised at how many times I have to drain a fuel system because someone put gas in a diesel.
But as for those "are you kidding me" mistakes..........
I got called out because a dump truck died out on the coast highway. Drive 40 miles and get to the truck to see why it died. Plugged into the truck computer and it shows a loss of fuel pressure. So I spend 3 hours trying to locate the problem. Everything was checking out fine and I was pulling my hair out.
Before heading down, asked the driver the common questions. Does the truck have plenty of fuel and warning lights on, etc.
Of course, they always get indignant and give that "Of course it's got fuel, I'm not stupid!"
It wasn't until I went to climb in the cab of the truck that I noticed the broken wire to the fuel gauge and decided to check the tank to see how much fuel it had. Bone dry. Put fuel in it and off it went.
Been there.