Share a stupid moment.

Topic: Share a stupid moment. (Read 2747 times) previous topic - next topic

Share a stupid moment.

December 09, 2009, 06:06:36 AM

Well i just thought i would share a recent... what was i thinking moment. Well as some of you may know in the pacific northwest... its been lets say cold... lately temps between 8-20 degree's at night and maybe 35 for a high during the days. I knew i needed to go check on my car to make sure the water hasnt frozen in the radiator. low and behold frozen solid.

I did get it thawed out enough to drain the motor now im working on getting radiator thawed so i can put in coolant. does not seem to have cracked the motor or popped freeze plugs. so far so good.

Just thought i would share my stupid moment

Share a stupid moment.

Reply #1 – December 09, 2009, 10:29:15 AM

Ughhhh my God....let's see. Last evening was a culmination of several stupid "moments". But the main thing is that I attempted to start and move my crown vic once in the street, so that it was over the storm drain so I could flush out the AWFULLY contaminated cooling system. I did this after I took the radiator out. So it didnt go into gear, aaaaaand about 5 quarts of ATF sprayed through the grille, got all over the bumper and of course made a nice puddle in the road. I wish my dad were still alive so he could have smacked me the hell upside the head for that one.

The life lessons though....switch your nice car and winter ride BEFORE it gets below freezing, and just because the thing runs mint doesnt mean the owner knows ANYTHING and the oil and coolant are not necessarily uh.....good! (really!??) Might wanna CHECK these things while looking at the car ya know, instead of discovering them 2 weeks after the sale. And then flushing the system and a year later having to do so AGAIN because there was just that neglected lol.

Share a stupid moment.

Reply #2 – December 09, 2009, 11:32:25 AM

Quote from: ZondaC12;301833

So it didnt go into gear, aaaaaand about 5 quarts of ATF sprayed through the grille, got all over the bumper and of course made a nice puddle in the road.

Aftermarket Transmission Cooler FTW! I recently pulled my radiator and while it was out I needed to move it, so it worked great for me.

Seriously though, I'm sorry you learned that lesson, it's very messy.

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Reply #3 – December 09, 2009, 01:27:27 PM

One of my favorites is when I was going to show my son the proper way to unload a Turbo Coupe from the trailer. I backed the truck up, positioned the trailer where it needed to be, made sure everything in the area was safe, blocked the trailer tires, jacked the front of the trailer up a little bit to give a good unload angle with more clearance, made sure the shop was all clear behind, disconnected the tiedown straps, got in the TC and asked him watch underneath and behind while I coasted it off. I was just ready to push the clutch in and he said, "Um, dad? Aren't you going to put the ramps down first?" DOH!!

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Reply #4 – December 09, 2009, 10:24:29 PM

Quote from: jrad235;301838

Aftermarket Transmission Cooler FTW! I recently pulled my radiator and while it was out I needed to move it, so it worked great for me.

Seriously though, I'm sorry you learned that lesson, it's very messy.

See..I neglected to mention, the cougar HAS this! Because of the non lock TC and the degree to which I beat on it, and it being the summer car. So when I do THAT radiator this is taken care of for me. But not now. This I forgot. :hick:

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Reply #5 – December 10, 2009, 08:43:40 AM

Quote from: ZondaC12;301833

so that it was over the storm drain so I could flush out the AWFULLY contaminated cooling system.

You flush your cooling system into a storm drain?

Shiny Side Up!
Bill

Share a stupid moment.

Reply #6 – December 10, 2009, 08:50:40 AM

Ah, stupid moments.... there have been so many in my life.

There was the time I installed a new oil pump in my 1961 Impala. This procedure necessitates pulling the engine, which I did, and duly reinstalled it after replacing the pump. I was tightening the alternator belt when I realized that the oil pump drive-shaft was sitting on my workbench. Ever pull and reinstall the same engine twice in the same day?

Then there was the time I shimmed a Big Block Chevy oil pump with a core-plug. At idle, everything was fine, hit the gas and the oil pressure would spike somewhere around "what-the-hell?" causing the oil filter to literally be blown off of its mount. Note to self: when shimming the relief valve on an oil pump, there must be a hole for the oil to flow through. Oh, I got to pull that engine again too.

Shiny Side Up!
Bill

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Reply #7 – December 10, 2009, 09:46:43 AM

Quote from: ProTouring442;301949

You flush your cooling system into a storm drain?

Shiny Side Up!
Bill

that what I was thinking to... doing THAT would be your "stupid" moment.... I REALLY hope you arent actually doing that?

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Reply #8 – December 10, 2009, 10:09:57 AM

I don't know if this qualifies as a stupid moment but....

I was changing the power steering pump on my ranger. Got the new pump and it came with a pully installation tool. The problem was that there was no removal tool.

I run back to the parts store and found out that the tool was $27. The pulley was $8.

I bought the pulley and since is was some sort of plastic I hammered off the old pulley (smashed) to remove the pump from the bracket. When I turned in the core with the broken pulley the guys at the store weren't surprised at all. Apparently it's been done before.

The installation of the new pump and pulley went smoothly.:D

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Reply #9 – December 10, 2009, 11:52:26 AM

I drain the thing into a container first, so no, I'm not sending gallons of glycol into the storm drain, just water and, the junk that's now getting flushed out.

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Reply #10 – December 10, 2009, 07:36:32 PM

One of the dumbest things I've done was put the front of my car on ramps and jacked up the rear to try and set the pinion angle.
Having the front and rear jacked up in itself was not very safe but when I dropped the rear of the car down with my floor jack, I forgot it was in neutral. The car started rolling off the ramps (not sure how this happened since the front tires go down into the ramps to prevent this sort of thing). I jumped out of the way in the last second narrowly avoiding getting crunched but my T-bird rolled into the garage door. I was sick with fear and in the fact that I had a baseball sized dent in my 1/4 panel. At least it was before the paint job!

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Reply #11 – December 10, 2009, 07:59:12 PM

This pretty much says it all for me.
http://www.foxtbirdcougarforums.com/showthread.php?t=17304

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Reply #12 – December 10, 2009, 08:43:55 PM

Lets see, 18 years old and I get my first car, 88 Tbird turbo coupe. Lets do an oil change... okay now lets forget that oil filter has probably been on than engine for years. The gasket stays on after you pull it off the engine. New filter goes on with the old gasket still there.

Lets just say it was an oil "flush" and not a change.

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Reply #13 – December 10, 2009, 09:51:01 PM

Valve cover bolt. Torque wrench in ft/lbs. Book in in/lbs. Enough said.

Share a stupid moment.

Reply #14 – December 10, 2009, 11:13:07 PM

Just Wednesday....at work...snowstorm. Trying desparately to remove ice on windshield of wifes car I took to work. The blade on my ser was as flat as the edge on a hardcover book cover (I later discovered). A lady half my size and half my age next to me came over with her ser and in a few strokes had removed half the ice on one side of my car, without effort--! I was so embarassed I left the lot (in the dark) and drove 4 miles home without headlights in moderate city traffic---in the midst of a snowstorm. It didnt help that I was unfamiliar with the car----pulled into our driveway and noticed no lighting in front of the car. That's probably why I couldn't see the dash controls on the way home. Man, I am getting old..... I do not recall ever driving a car any notable distance at night without headlights and/or not discovering that --shortly after departing somewhere.