Whats your biggest mistake you ever made while DIY?
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From: Las Vegas, NV
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Re: Whats your biggest mistake you ever made while DIY?
Hahahaha.. I've always ran wires before plugging them in.
Kinda related to electrical and messing up DIY stuff..
My buddy asked me how to replace a power antenna, and I told him to disconnect the battery and hook up the wires. He comes up to me the next day and tells me that he should have listened about the disconnect battery part. He apparently grabbed a live wire while he was grounded somewhere to his chassis and the shock apparently gave him enough of a jolt for him to jump and hit his head. He said he woke up a few feet from his trunk wondering WTF happened. haha
Kinda related to electrical and messing up DIY stuff..
My buddy asked me how to replace a power antenna, and I told him to disconnect the battery and hook up the wires. He comes up to me the next day and tells me that he should have listened about the disconnect battery part. He apparently grabbed a live wire while he was grounded somewhere to his chassis and the shock apparently gave him enough of a jolt for him to jump and hit his head. He said he woke up a few feet from his trunk wondering WTF happened. haha
Joined: Aug 2003
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From: Las Vegas, NV
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DC voltage is the worst! lol.. I guess it's not as deadly as AC voltage because of the way it travels, but it sure hurts worse than AC. I've taken 120VAC from arm to arm and it gave me a little buzz.. 12VDC makes my happy *** jump like a ****.
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Re: Whats your biggest mistake you ever made while DIY?
Ya, electricity in general is dangerous. AC is more dangerous because if you create a circuit across your heart, it is more probable to cause your heart to fibrillate. DC current is bad because it is more probable to cause the person to "freeze". It can cause your muscles to contract and make it hard to let go of whatever is shocking you.
@tbohar yes, car batteries have a ton of power, but not enough to kill you. It takes quite a bit of power to kill you. Usually, anything above 30 volts (DC) starts getting dangerous. But a car battery only has 12 volts. A shock from that may not kill you, but it will definitely make you jump and possibly cause you to do something even more dangerous, so be careful.
Here's a good article, I suggest reading it before working with too much electrical stuff.
http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_1/chpt_3/4.html
In fact, I suggest reading all of their articles to get a full understanding of how electricity works.
@tbohar yes, car batteries have a ton of power, but not enough to kill you. It takes quite a bit of power to kill you. Usually, anything above 30 volts (DC) starts getting dangerous. But a car battery only has 12 volts. A shock from that may not kill you, but it will definitely make you jump and possibly cause you to do something even more dangerous, so be careful.
Here's a good article, I suggest reading it before working with too much electrical stuff.
http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_1/chpt_3/4.html
In fact, I suggest reading all of their articles to get a full understanding of how electricity works.
Pistol grip pump in my lap at all times
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From: Salty Dog, Utah
Rep Power: 218 Re: Whats your biggest mistake you ever made while DIY?
Installed a Cold air intake and started it before I realized I left all the equipment in the bag inside the tubing. Throttle butterfly got stuck open and redlined for about a minute and a half while I tried to figure out what the problem was!!!
Re: Whats your biggest mistake you ever made while DIY?
^ Why didn't you just cut the car off?
A few weeks ago I was installing my stage 2 cam along with kpro and I forgot to retighten the timing belt tensioner bolt. Started it up and ran great for 5 seconds then started hearing something. Shut it off immediately then it hit me what I forgot to do. I was like FML. I had to pull the whole left side of the engine apart just to get to it. Luckily I had replaced that stupid grade 5 tensioner bolt with a arp so it didn't break and destroy my head.
A few weeks ago I was installing my stage 2 cam along with kpro and I forgot to retighten the timing belt tensioner bolt. Started it up and ran great for 5 seconds then started hearing something. Shut it off immediately then it hit me what I forgot to do. I was like FML. I had to pull the whole left side of the engine apart just to get to it. Luckily I had replaced that stupid grade 5 tensioner bolt with a arp so it didn't break and destroy my head.
Joined: Aug 2003
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From: Las Vegas, NV
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Lol sucks.. but yea man. When anything seems wrong, I shut my car off and look at everything I touched
Pistol grip pump in my lap at all times
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From: Salty Dog, Utah
Rep Power: 218 Re: Whats your biggest mistake you ever made while DIY?
Nope, luckily the bag stopped and got stuck at the butterfly. If not there would have been screws and joints and all kinds of crap pushing right into some of my valves! I got lucky! And yes, I was being a total dumbass for not turning the car off, but I was panicked! I was like," What the HELL! I just put on a intake!!!" 
Re: Whats your biggest mistake you ever made while DIY?
I did a DOOSIE today.
A few days ago I changed my rear brake shoes. Everything went well with the replacement. I always drive with my radio cranked, so I often miss noises the car makes. I was driving with the radio off to make sure everything was okay and the brakes were making no noise. I noticed that every time I hit a bump with my rear passenger tire the car went BOOM. It was pretty loud, but the music could have drowned it out. So, after working a 12 hour shift the noise was driving me crazy. Tired as hell I decided to get to the root of the problem. I started to put the two bolts into the drum and started putting them in. I heard a loud POP. Sweet, the drum is released but I couldn't get it off. I kept threading them in until I heard another loud POP, followed by a fair quantity of brake fluid. Then it clued in. I left the E brake on cuz I'm a tard. ****. I got really lucky, I just popped one side of the cylinder off and broke two retaining pins (of which I had spares). So the car was put back together in 10 minutes and the neighbor helped me bleed the brakes...
I took my ratchet set out of the trunk and I don't think it's making the noise any more. I took it for a drive and didn't hear it. I'm still not 100% sure it was the ratchet set, I have a feeling it's my strut
Laugh away, this is what happens when I'm tired after work and it's way too hot out
Lesson Learned!!! With a bit of luck involved
A few days ago I changed my rear brake shoes. Everything went well with the replacement. I always drive with my radio cranked, so I often miss noises the car makes. I was driving with the radio off to make sure everything was okay and the brakes were making no noise. I noticed that every time I hit a bump with my rear passenger tire the car went BOOM. It was pretty loud, but the music could have drowned it out. So, after working a 12 hour shift the noise was driving me crazy. Tired as hell I decided to get to the root of the problem. I started to put the two bolts into the drum and started putting them in. I heard a loud POP. Sweet, the drum is released but I couldn't get it off. I kept threading them in until I heard another loud POP, followed by a fair quantity of brake fluid. Then it clued in. I left the E brake on cuz I'm a tard. ****. I got really lucky, I just popped one side of the cylinder off and broke two retaining pins (of which I had spares). So the car was put back together in 10 minutes and the neighbor helped me bleed the brakes...
I took my ratchet set out of the trunk and I don't think it's making the noise any more. I took it for a drive and didn't hear it. I'm still not 100% sure it was the ratchet set, I have a feeling it's my strut
Laugh away, this is what happens when I'm tired after work and it's way too hot out
Lesson Learned!!! With a bit of luck involved
Joined: Aug 2003
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From: Las Vegas, NV
Rep Power: 511 Re: Whats your biggest mistake you ever made while DIY?
hahaha.. how'd you miss the bright red "BRAKE" on your dash? 
just playin.. I've done that before.. Nothing serious ever happened like that though
just playin.. I've done that before.. Nothing serious ever happened like that though
Re: Whats your biggest mistake you ever made while DIY?
The car was off when i put the brake up. I was actually planning to check the struts to make sure everything was okay and then ended up deciding to check the brake job. I forgot to lower the E brake at that point... I really thought I destroyed the cylinder but I got lucky hahaha I had a hell of a time getting the drum off even after I let the e brake down because the cylinder piece was jammed in there... idiot!!! hahaha
I had a hell of a time getting the drum off even after I let the e brake down because the cylinder piece was jammed in there... idiot!!! hahaha Joined: Aug 2003
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From: Las Vegas, NV
Rep Power: 511 Re: Whats your biggest mistake you ever made while DIY?
hahaha.. Oh drum brakes.. how fun they are... not.. hahaha
Re: Whats your biggest mistake you ever made while DIY?
I'm still tempted to do the conversion. I'm too cheap though, and I want to see if this noise is all good. If it is the struts, I'm ordering Megan coilovers So my fingers are crossed that they are toast!
So my fingers are crossed that they are toast! Joined: Aug 2003
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From: Las Vegas, NV
Rep Power: 511 Re: Whats your biggest mistake you ever made while DIY?
hahahahaha.. I like the way you think.. You should still start a rear disc conversion fund 
Re: Whats your biggest mistake you ever made while DIY?
I agree with you. but now that the shoes are replaced i should be okay for another 80k miles... so im not overly inclined to touch the rears for now. even though around 450 for a conversion is a good price. the mileage on the knuckles are kind of scaring me away from it.
Joined: Aug 2003
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From: Las Vegas, NV
Rep Power: 511 Re: Whats your biggest mistake you ever made while DIY?
haha, true.. Unless you catch a lucky break like I did
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From: TO
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Mine was to repair and fix my front right side bumper as i slid during winter to a guard rail on the highway, bought some putty and rubber epoxy and some paint from crappy tire. sanded it and primer and paint, the bumper still had some imperfections but want to redo it, also i applied clearcoat but the bumper i can't seem to bring shine to it. any ideas guys
Joined: Aug 2003
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From: Las Vegas, NV
Rep Power: 511 Re: Whats your biggest mistake you ever made while DIY?
try high grit wet sanding and/or rubbing compound?
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From: Bossier City, LA
Rep Power: 297 Re: Whats your biggest mistake you ever made while DIY?
Was dropping in a built motor in to a Scion TC and I let my friend that was helping me put on the flywheel before I put everything together and put it in. After installing the motor and hooking everything up I went to turn the motor by hand and it was stuck. The damn fool had put the flywheel spacerd in backwards and the clutch was hitting the tranny housing. Had to pull the whole damn motor and start all over. That sucked.
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From: New Jersey
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Re: Whats your biggest mistake you ever made while DIY?
I decided to change my speakers in my car while I was drinking and fackked up all the wiring, next day my radio was wasn't working..lol..I had to rewire the whole thing from scratch.
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From: Fort Belvoir, Virginia
Rep Power: 194 Re: Whats your biggest mistake you ever made while DIY?
I was putting an OIL Pressure gauge in my last vehicle. I was puttin in the little probe thing that goes in the block.....well that was located right over the starter and under the intake manifold. Needless to say I didnt have a very good grip on the wrench....and i didnt disconnect the battery. The wrench fell out of my hand and landed on the starter terminals and instantly sparked and welded itself to the started. The truck started and the starter wouldnt stop.....so I frantically looked for something close to me to loosen the battery terminal.......lol Had to get a new starter and a 12mm wrench lol
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From: clarksville tn
Rep Power: 196 Re: Whats your biggest mistake you ever made while DIY?
I was putting an OIL Pressure gauge in my last vehicle. I was puttin in the little probe thing that goes in the block.....well that was located right over the starter and under the intake manifold. Needless to say I didnt have a very good grip on the wrench....and i didnt disconnect the battery. The wrench fell out of my hand and landed on the starter terminals and instantly sparked and welded itself to the started. The truck started and the starter wouldnt stop.....so I frantically looked for something close to me to loosen the battery terminal.......lol Had to get a new starter and a 12mm wrench lol
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From: Fort Belvoir, Virginia
Rep Power: 194 Re: Whats your biggest mistake you ever made while DIY?
Yeah it scared the crap out of me too!! Thank god it wasnt in gear! lol
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From: clarksville tn
Rep Power: 196 Re: Whats your biggest mistake you ever made while DIY?
lol yea i hear you we had ours up on blocks with the tires off lolit was kinda cool i aint gonna lie after we got over the oh **** moment of having the car running.lol
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From: Freeport, TX
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My biggest screw up was while doing my interior I've messed up my blinker... still hunting for what's wrong. Also need to figure out what I need to do to waterproof my hood vents, rain keeps leaking in. Any suggestions? Please message me.
Joined: Sep 2002
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From: NV
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did you forget to plug back in the hazard light switch? it will cause turn signals not to work if its unplugged.
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From: Southern Tennessee
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When I did my exhaust (swapped to ex exhaust with header, random tech high flow cat, and dc catback), i installed the header while the engine was still warm, not blistering hot, but not cold either, and the threads in the head stripped immediately, so had to heli-coil them. Was not fun because couldnt get a drill to fit between the head and radiator support, so i had to turn the drill bit and tap by hand with a wrench. Wont make that mistake again.
