Repair Mistakes & Blunders!

[RockAuto]

We are looking for some good "Repair Mistake & Blunder" true stories to feature in the RockAuto newsletter (we know you have some)! Tell us about your most infamous auto repair blunder or unconventional fix. Use your woe to help others avoid similar mistakes or share off-the-wall solutions that worked ... at least for a while!

Please e-mail your story to Flamur@RockAuto.com. Include your mailing address and let us know if you would like a RockAuto T-shirt (please let us know your shirt size) or Hat if we publish your story. See the T-shirts and Hats by looking under the "Tools & Universal Parts" tab in the RockAuto.com online catalog.

The story will be credited using only your first name and your vague geographic location (state, province, country, continent, etc.) so you can remain semi-anonymous!

Read the latest "Repair Mistake & Blunder" story in our current newsletter : http://www.rockauto.com/Newsletter/i...ml?a=2017forum

Enjoy (and learn how to avoid) even more "Repair Mistakes & Blunders" in the newsletter archives: http://www.rockauto.com/Newsletter/A...ml?a=2017forum

[Dereck]

Hi

I once fitted a head gasket to a Fiat Punto the wrong way round, 100 miles later he came back with an oil starved camshaft.




Dereck's Way




The correct way


Regards

Dereck

[pivichot]

I once bought a valve cover gasket for a ford focus 2.0 DOHC. There are two types of motor. One is for the SVT model and one is the regular 2.0 Zetec engine. I Bought the wrong set since the website didn't state it correctly. You guys mentioned the transmission. Part my mistake but also the websites fault for not mentioning SVT. All the ones for the SVT mentioned SVT. The One I bought never mentioned SVT. So yeah, I lost 10 bucks and never fixed it. I tried talking with customer service and you guys put the blame on me 100%. Not 50% for not mentioning SVT. What I learned was that the customer service which used to be great is starting to decrease.

[Tiggie]

This story dates to around 2007 and concerns a friend's 1989 Ford Crown Vic Wagon. He had just purchased it for $400 and needed it to get him from Central Virginia to Maguire Air Force Base in New Jersey where he was newly stationed.

He brought it my house where we quickly looked it over to see what it would need to make the trip. We decided that while it could use a lot, it'd probably make it. He left for NJ and made it no problem. He said it leaked a lot of oil though, so we decided to replace the intake manifold gasket, valve cover gaskets, and some hoses as a safety precaution upon his next trip home.

Things went smoothly as we completed the job. We were careful to not let any old gasket material get in the engine, and got everything really clean. The valve covers were back on, as well as the lower intake. We glanced at the clock and my friend realized he would soon be late for a date with his girlfriend (and now wife). We rushed a bit to get the upper intake, throttle body, throttle linkages, and hoses hooked back up. We had the fuel injected 5.0L looking proper again in record time and it was time to fire it up. We turned the key and the car ran horrible! We cut it off quickly. Antifreeze was coming out of the tailpipe. After a quick visual check decided to give up for the night. He borrowed my 1988 Ford Crown Vic wagon to get back to his parents house to borrow their car for date night (wagons were a bit uncool to his girlfriend, especially if yours is broken down and you had to borrow your friend matching version).

We were pretty disappointed to say the least. We had been so careful with the gaskets, but antifreeze in the tailpipe certainly means something had gone wrong!

The next morning my dad decided to see what us 20-year old mechanics had screwed up. The 80's SEFI 5.0L has an EGR cooler that has two small hoses to supply engine coolant. The MAP sensor is also not too far away on the firewall. We had replaced the hoses for both parts, and hooked up one of the EGR cooler lines to the MAP sensor and one MAP vacuum hose to one of the EGR coolant supply ports. So the MAP was getting antifreeze and the vacuum hose was getting a direct shot of antifreeze as well. Three minutes to swap the hoses and she ran like a kitten (albeit with LOTS of steam from the exhaust for a while). We learned to never rush perfection!

The car went on to serve him well for a year or two until he decided to propose to his girlfriend. He asked her dad for permission to marry and the dad said only if you sell the car and buy a real vehicle. So he sold it for $400 to a fellow serviceman and bought a Chevy Trailblazer as a replacement. Ten years later, we are both married with kids. His trailblazer is replaced by a GMC pickup. His '89 wagon popped up on Craigslist a few months ago, and the price is considerably More than $400. I still have my '88 (I only paid $1 for it) and too it to a car show last week. Good memories.