Stupid Things You've Done Modifying/Maintaining Your Ride

*ouch* >< Okay - my turn to fess' up:

+ Drilling the holes through the grill (to let more air into the stock airbox where it was blocked by the grill) i let the spinning part of the drill head touch the grill - bzzzt! Ate it UP!

+ Didn't torque the oil pan bolt once - leaked - but i noticed and re-torqued.

+ Used 600grit/wetsand to 'smooth the dings and scratches'. Looks like @ss. I will re-attack again (with more success?)

+ Cut the power wires this [ ] short to fuse block. Dang! Kinda' half-@ss hung in there. Do the fuses match the componenets? I dunno'... ><

+ Didn't get the timing cover completely on - the noise stopped eventually after the UDP wore it away...

+ Didn't securely fasten the kayak to the roof - big wind gust blew it down and it broke the side view mirror and gashed the side....

+ Couldn't rig the throttle cable after doing the throttlebody thermal spacer - had to take it back off (re-install the intake manifold without the spacer too).

+ Didn't torque down the rear strut top nut - banged and rattled until i stripped the car down and re-torqued it (installed!)

+ Installed lowering springs (see above) but didn't replace the struts at the same time. Turned around and did the whole job again to install new struts 5K miles later.

+ Put the speaker crossovers inside the door panel (too hard to feed the wires and too lazy to pick up the wires at the radio) - so corrosion takes it's toll.

+ Didn't bolt the radio in - it kinda' stayed all by itself. Until i hit the big bump and it fell out and dangled by the wires. Gimp!

+ 'Stretched' the MAF wires to fit my ghetto-rigged el cheapo handmade SRI. The wires eventually wore and the stumbling/stalling became intermittent. Soldered in a new section - like i should have - good to go!

+ Same ghetto-install (see above) didn't really hold the MAF and filter well - fell off doing a squirrely burn out. Stalled out. dork.

(This is all i will admit to!)
 
Had the car jacked up while replacing the front engine mount and was using WD40 to get the bolt off. Anyway, some fool (shady) let the can underneath the a part of the front suspension when the car got lowered. The suspension crushed the top of the can which started leaking, making an awful hissing noise. The next few minutes after that I was frantically searching around the car trying to find out where the noise was coming from, thinking the worst had happened. Now, I check under the car :p
 
oh oh oh ok I remember one more thing. I was painting the upper grill part white, and I was trying to make the paint dry faster. So I stuck it in my oven on the lowest setting thinking that the heat would dry out the paint. (hand)

The plastic started to warp and melt and I pulled it out and had to try to reshape it. I also had to start the paint job all over again. The upper grill piece is still barely warped on the passenger side, but nobody's said anything about it yet, even up close. (shady) But I can see it.
 
The first month I had my car I bought an ebay SRI with a K&N filter. I had removed the MAF and was attaching the rubber connectors to either side. As I was putting the first one on the MAF slipped out of my hand and went flying across the garage. CEL and car ran like crap. I finished the install and took it to the dealership. They replaced my MAF under warranty. I was afraid that they would void the warranty but they said K&N doesn't cause a MAF to go bad. So I got a new one.
 
whitemp5seattle said:
oh oh oh ok I remember one more thing. I was painting the upper grill part white, and I was trying to make the paint dry faster. So I stuck it in my oven on the lowest setting thinking that the heat would dry out the paint. (hand)

The plastic started to warp and melt and I pulled it out and had to try to reshape it. I also had to start the paint job all over again. The upper grill piece is still barely warped on the passenger side, but nobody's said anything about it yet, even up close. (shady) But I can see it.
Click to expand...


Been there done that too.
 
Completely stripping the front motor mount nut with a 16-point socket...dumbass...

Breaking numerous clips and plastic crap, that are never important, but pisses me off.

Cutting, bleeding, scraping hands during all processes....being to stubburn or stupid to put my mechanix gloves on.

Repeatedly doing jobs 2-3 or even 4 times to replace a part, change something, tweak something...and then realizing the first way was the best.
 
Cross threaded a valve cover bolt and snapped the head of it off (thank god it was one in the front). Had to drill out the center of the bolt to get it to turn.

Broke my fuel guage when installing overlays. (fixed that last week)

Dropped a bolt into the void when pulling out my stock intake.

Used too much oil to reoil my K&N filter one summer cleaning it.
 
Oooh oh dropped a broken plastic injector o-ring INSIDE my engine (through the fuel rail holes). No damage caused :)
 
Has anyone ever made the mistake of putting a turbo kit on a protege 5 with an automatic transmission and blowing up a tourque converter? I have the kit, afraid to do it... hehehehehe
 
yeah, don't do it...send the kit to me, and I'll "properly dispose" of it.....

hehe
 
Has anyone else noticed that stripping bolts, nuts, and everything threaded is a pretty common occurrence on this forum. Perhaps its because we're all really big and strong...or maybe we're all just idiots. I have only owned my P5 for about two months, so my list isn't that long yet...

1. Stripped (or tore loose) the nut that a heat shield bolt around the resonator goes into...I thought I could fix a buzzing sound from my shifter, turns out I simply created another one. Now the nut just spins.
2. While replacing a burned out bulb in my fog lamp, I stripped the head off of one of the screws and then totally ruined any chance of removing the shaft of the screw while utilizing visegrips.
3. I changed my gear oil and I have a fear that I may have stripped the drain plug. It went back in but was turning funny...it's not leaking yet, so I'm not going to push it!
 
I was messing around under the hood and noticed how loose my battery was. I couldn't tighten it any more and the only thing I could find in my toolbox for a spacer was a piece to a door jam. I was running out of time and put it in there. It works great and I am embarrassed to say that it is still there.

P10100252.jpg
 
bazooka joe said:
#1 and #4 for me as well!

helped a friend (still?) with some mods to his p5, when we were done we hooked his battery back and put the terminals on the wrong posts...actually i think we put the battery in backwards....screwed the whole car up...he finally got towed form the side of the rode at midnight...(argh)
Click to expand...

Yup...that was my P5. No lie, the car acted on it's own on my hour drive home. MPH gauge was fine but the RPM did not move. Engine ran fine but did not have interior lights. Windows would go up and down at lightning speeds. Windshield wipers would go on and off sporadically. Headlights flickered. All this and I was only 2 miles from my house when it happened. Everything went nuts! I immediately pulled over and shut it off. Needless to say....never cross positive with negative.
 
MazdaSpeeder said:
Has anyone else noticed that stripping bolts, nuts, and everything threaded is a pretty common occurrence on this forum.
Click to expand...

Common with anything that's metal. You want real fun, talk to any Honda/Acura owner that lives with an older car in the Northern regions who has done their own suspension work. Just mention the name rear LCA. I've done them twice and never again.

Here's my handy work on the Integra and CL.

bushings1.jpg


lca.jpg
 
Forgot to LocTite the intake manifold bolts
Forgot to reconnect the vacuum tube that goes to the cruise control body
Left pliers in the leaf-catch tray at the bottom of the windshield
Disconnected the fuel rail while the car was still hot, didn't even think about the pressurized fuel. ("Hey babe, go get big cup of water for me please. Seriously, like now. Please.")
 
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