Some days I should keep my distance from autos. Oil change in the 4Runner, snapped off two bolts for the skid plate. Oil container spilled, looked like the Valdez parked in the drive until I dumped big piles of oil dri... Not so sure that was worth saving $30 over the quickie lube joint down the street.
Spilled oil last time I did my 4Runner. Must be the 6 qts of oil on the pan
7-8 years back, spaced out and didn't put the drain plug back in. Dumped 5 quarts of mobile one in the top and out onto the driveway. Cleaned up the mess as best I could, then realized that since it was the only car, had no good way to go get more oil.
Been there...didn't look for old oil filter gasket that had stuck to the engine...changed the oil and found out it was leaking all over the driveway/engine bay. Clean it all up, pull filter off and install correctly, top back off, start it up again. I left the fill cap off; new round of cleaning up engine and driveway.
In reply to keethrax:
I drained the oil on my Honda Accord one Saturday afternoon and realized I didnt have a oil filter. Either wait 3 hours for wifey to get home or ride my bicycle to Autozone. Bicycle it was.....
Replaced the window regulator in the '01 Beetle this weekend. Entailed much swearing & youtube watching for instructions. It still doesn't work as it should. Not aligned correctly. Taking it to a bodyshop tomorrow for alignment.
replaced the plugs in my bronco. i bled. a lot. like, 'stop twice to change the gauze' a lot.
ya!
-J0N
I'm so glad I'm not the only one that does dumb stuff
You haven't swore till you've wrench-punched rusty metal.
Changed the oil and filter on the ex's Volvo 1800ES a few years ago. The oil filter isn't easy to see and when I installed the new one, a sensor wire got under the filter when I tightened it, so it naturally didn't seal to the block. Started up the car... "what the hell is that 'pop! pop! pop!" noise?" ...hmm... why is there oil all over the garage floor and driveway? Berk. Fortunately, I had more oil to replace the couple of quarts the engine pumped out.
I hate it when you're applying pressure to wrench and you can see and feel that it is likely to slip off. You can also see that when it does slip while you're straining it's going to hurt...a lot.
You figure you'll just reverse direction when it slips so you're not mortally wounded when you punch a jagged and/or rusty hunk of metal. No...no, you will not.
I can't possibly recount all the stupids I have done, I don't want to break the int3rw3bt00bz. I do have a funny story about a buddy who decided that he just had to have a 911. He drove it about 3500 miles, time to change the oil. So he buys 5 quarts and a filter, gets home and sticks his little ~6 quart drain pan under the thing, takes the plug out and wanders off while it drains. You air cooled P car guys know what happened next. 
He calls me, asks me to pick up 10 quarts of GTX 20w50 and a big bag of oil dri.
The_Jed wrote: I hate it when you're applying pressure to wrench and you can see and feel that it is likely to slip off. You can also see that when it does slip while you're straining it's going to hurt...a lot. You figure you'll just reverse direction when it slips so you're not mortally wounded when you punch a jagged and/or rusty hunk of metal. No...no, you will not.
Or when the nut/bolt finally lets go and you're going to punch something when it does. Knowing it's probably goign to happen and there's little you can do about it.
I've had that happen a few times. The oil filter cap on new MINI's comes to mind. It's buried in the back of the engine, is close to the fire wall and uses a 32mm socket to remove. Because you pretty much have to push away from your body when loosening it, the chances of punching the firewall and one of the many sharp bits attached to it are high. It's one instance where I'm sure to wear mechanics gloves to soften the blow.
Appleseed wrote: You haven't swore till you've wrench-punched rusty metal.
BTDT, on a sheet metal screw pointy end dripping with battery acid, 5 minutes into an all day project
In reply to Ian F:
But why is it no matter how good the intention to do a job wearing gloves there inevitably a spot you can't manipulate with them on. And that's when karma and mr Murphy team up to bust a knuckle.
I don't have many dumb stuff/injury stories from the garage. I guess I need to work on cars more.
I've done some dumb stuff and punched rusty metal several times, but some of these stories are extra special 
I spent 18 hours over the weekend replacing struts and bushings in the daily. Superglue is the only reason im not still bleeding.
Garage but not car related...
I was changing pedals on my mountain bike. I had the bike upside down while loosening the pedals.
I went to take off the one pedal and it was stuck pretty well. I used both hands to turn the wrench.
The pedal came free. The crank on the bike freewheeled from teh force of the wrench.
The other pedal hit me right in the forehead. Nice. Not your regular every day pedals either....
I have drained the oil, put it in empty 1 gallon jugs, set them behind the car and ten minutes later driven over them after being distracted by someone.
Dude, are those crupi's?
This one time, I took apart a 1972 GMC...
Its great to have you back tuna...
My father in law recently attempted to dump the hot the oil from a smallish motor (lawn tractor maybe) into a clear plastic juice bottle.
Anyone remember shrinky dinks? Yep. The heat caused the bottle to shrink. So it was shrinking and actively fountaining hot oil out the top.
Done that recently with cooking grease....
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