I’m a DA…what maintenance have you screwed up?

[Reega]

One of the simplest maintenance tasks, an oil change. 2000 K2500 350 4l80e I’ve done too many to count over several iterations of the GMT400 platform. Easy right, pull the plug, let the oil drain, in the meantime planned to wash my wife’s car…good long drain. I thought I might have issue with the filter since it had been on about 1 1/2 years. I pre-filled the filter and let it soak, I’m ****….torque specs, better than I got it, touch up paint while I’m in there, overkill kinda stuff. Trucks been getting suspension and AC overhaul. I fought that damn filter for over an hour. Was about to pull the y-pipe and adapter. A buddy walked by and asked if I was sleeping, it hit me. This DA was tightening the filter the whole time! I don’t know if being upside down a backwards messed me up or I had my mind on other things, but as soon as he said that, I started turning the canister left and it came off. Luckily no damage to the adapter and I’m good to go. Just wanted to share with some keyboard friends….we learn a lot through our mistakes.

 

[Drunkcanuk]

Not me, but my son leaned the hard way last year to make sure the old filter gasket is off before you put the new filter on.

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I've forgotten to reattach battery cables completely before and had them come loose later on.

 

[termite]

Forgotten to put the drain plug back in once, and only once, before refilling with oil. 5qt jug later into the drain pan of old oil I realized it.

There have been countless others, some I refuse to acknowledge. Most common is likely turning the wrong way when working on my back or in a blind spot.

 

[L31MaxExpress]

I forgot to re-attach a whole bank of plug wires on the distributor cap of my van once. Put the engine cover back on it and everything. Here is the kicker, actually fired up, idled decently, backed it into the street. About would not pull itself back into the driveway on 4 cylinders though.

 

[Drunkcanuk]

Forgot this one, crossed two plug wires once and scared the crap out of myself when I took it out for a spin. Thought the motor was going to chuck a rod through the pan!

 

[fancyTBI]

Have new battery cables with 5/8” adapters courtesy of a member. I’m used to using my 8mm wrench to take the bolts out of the battery. Yesterday when I was tightening the new hardware down with the bigger wrench I made some sparks and took the chrome finish off my wrench. Scared my dad and me but we had a good laugh. Lesson learned - use the stubby 5/8 or learn to control the wrench better.

 

[Das Hatt]

Not me, but my son. I've always shown him how to do general maintenance on our cars. When he's done it, I've always been there to supervise.

He has a 2018 Subaru Impreza and he did an oil change for the first time while I wasn't there. I was at work and he called me to let me know he didn't have any problems and he was going to go to work. He got to the end of block and it was making all kinds of horrible noises.

It turns out he drained the transmission fluid. The oil filter is accessible from the top of the engine, just behind the driver side headlight. So he wouldn't have noticed when he changed it if the crank case hadn't been been emptied. He refilled the oil properly, so his 2.2L engine had over 10 quarts of oil in it and practically no transmission fluid. Luckily, he only drove it about 400 feet so no permanent damage was done.

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

I learned to be very careful when reconnecting the starter wiring.... because I replaced the starter on our '90 R2500 square body Burb and didn't realize the ignition and battery terminals were touching. Till I hooked up the battery and it just about jumped off the stands! Yup I disconnected that fkr right quick.....
The factory terminal ends have a standoff to keep the two terminals apart. But if your truck has wiring harness hackery as many do, those may not still be there, so you should be sure they are not touching each other.
I've been caught on the tight-when-you-thought -you-were -loosening deal several times, easy to do when you're under a vehicle. I try to use my Craftsman ratchets since they have an easy to see lever on them to change directions. Plus the half inch drive one fits my oil filter cup wrench and the handle gives me some leverage when it's stuck on the engine. Have to remember to take it off the filter and not let it land in the nasty old oil though!

 

[Komet]

I put the front calipers on my XJ backwards once and drained nearly two quarts through the master cylinder before I figured it out.

Forgot to tighten the lugnuts on my 'ol Subaru legacy, fortunately I was able to pull over close to home with the tire loose. I hand tightened the lugs and made it back.

Replaced injectors and did an ignition tuneup on a Ford v6 and did such a bad job rerouting spark plug wires that they rubbed through the jackets shortly after, had to get a new set.

Did a bunch of electrical testing and wiring in a car with a pertronix optical points replacement deal, fried it.

 

[454cid]

I don't recall what I was doing, but had the fuel pump relay pulled. I got done with whatever, and tried to start the truck and was dismayed that it wouldn't start. Thankfully, I remembered what was wrong very shortly.

Yesterday I lost a new gasket seconds after taking it out of the package. I looked for it for several minutes, and finally decided that I'd find it eventually, and used the other one that I bought. I had gotten two since they were dirt cheap. I finished what I was doing, and just as I was about to shut the garage door and leave, I found the gasket sitting on my grinder. I put it back in bag, and put it in my parts drawer.