what haas been your worst vehicle wrenching nightmare?

[CAP1]

jiffy lube installed the wrong type of oil.  they used 10w30 instead of 5w30, when I complained the gave me a free oil change.


semp

 be glad they put ANY oil back in. when i used to tow, the company i worked for, we averaged 1 a week that drove into jiffylube, and got towed out. by us.

[SIK1]

Nope. Needed an allen wrench set to get at the fuel pump.

I was thinking more along the lines of use leatherman to cut fuel line, use lighter to ignite, stand back. Nice warm fire to dry your damp work uniform, and hopefully will attract enough attention to get you a ride home. That's why the  at the end.

[phatzo]

replacing a heater core on a Land Rover Discovery, it must have been the first thing they put in it because it was the last to come out.

[rpm]

be glad they put ANY oil back in. when i used to tow, the company i worked for, we averaged 1 a week that drove into jiffylube, and got towed out. by us.

Get this. I saw a Dodge dealer that forgot to drain the old oil on a Neon. GF was like my cars not running right. I go out, pop the hood and there was oil everywhere it could find a way out. Emissions was coated in oil, vacuum sys had oil in it... it was everywhere. Don't know how that finally worked out but the lawyers were handling it last I heard.

[Zodiac]

Seems like most nightmare repairs start out simply enough. Friend was leaving work when the serpentine belt on his wife's Saturn Vue came apart, seems like a simple enough fix right? Until it was discovered that Saturn (in their infinite wisdom) placed the motor mounts in such a way that the only way to replace the belt (BELT mind you) was to drop both motor mounts. Only time I can recall needing an engine hoist to change a belt  .

[SilverZ06]

Seems like most nightmare repairs start out simply enough. Friend was leaving work when the serpentine belt on his wife's Saturn Vue came apart, seems like a simple enough fix right? Until it was discovered that Saturn (in their infinite wisdom) placed the motor mounts in such a way that the only way to replace the belt (BELT mind you) was to drop both motor mounts. Only time I can recall needing an engine hoist to change a belt  .

no engine hoist needed. floor jack and phone book/wood under the oil pan.

[CAP1]

lesseeee......

 could be the timing belt on an audi a4 or a6. could be the cylinder head on same audi. could be the pcv system on a volvo suv. could be the vw turbo. i could go on and on.

[Curval]

There was a high pitched squealing coming from the wheel wells in the car last week.  Today I had to take it to the shop....at like 8am!!!  Then I had to walk to work.

Nightmare.

[morfiend]

 The wife calls me and says the car is making a terrible noise,she lets me hear in on the phone and it does sound terrible so I tell her to stop and call roadside assistance.

  The next day the shop calls to say the car is fixed!  I go pick it up and ask what the problem was,remember I never actually saw the car. They proceed to tell me a walnut,yup a walnut had worked it's way into the brake caliper and was stuck between the caliper and rotor!

   I get home and tell my wife,she then says well I did see a squirrel takeoff from under the car that mourning,blasted squirrel,without a camera I might add,was storing nuts for the winter,well good luck finding that one!!!!   


   

[Fud]

I'm not a mechanic but here's one of my worst stories
....having a rented vehicle and not knowing where the stupid gas cap unlock button was....

[Curval]

I'm not a mechanic but here's one of my worst stories
....having a rented vehicle and not knowing where the stupid gas cap unlock button was....

LOL...I sat at a gas station trying to figure out the same thing on the Camaro I bought in 2010, for like half an hour.  I eventually had to open up the manual.  It was a simple push to unlock....seriously.  Had 3 different people trying to help find how to do it too, including the station manager.  The wife was pissed because I was really late.

[JOACH1M]

Doing the downpipe on my truck was the biggest PITA. The turbo heat shield had a 10mm bolt that is almost impossible to turn, but after 20 min of 1/16 turns I got it off lol. The fact that the downpipe and exhaust were rusted together didn't help either. I also had to loosen the trans dipstick and that was a adventure of bashing knuckles...


It was worth it for the sound and EGT drop. 

[MrRiplEy[H]]

I have a Mercedes 250D stw from 1995. Works like charm, only 375000 km driven.

Now to the nightmare part: Sometime last spring the infrared locking/start prevention system started having hiccups. There's two receivers, one in the driver's door and another in the trunk and if the former wouldn't work, the latter would. Mostly. And it's not the key, I have two and both either work or don't. Now, one evening after work I was planning to go home. Couldn't get the lock to open! I kept pressing the key for one hour and a half until I called my neighbour who towed me to the local dedicated MB service. Hoping some bump had fixed the issue I tried the key again to no avail, so I put the key in an envelope with a brief note and dropped it through the door mail slot. Next morning the repair chief called and asked if the error would be of the nature of fixing itself... I said yes, but this time it didn't. They spent most of the day searching for the culprit but couldn't find any. Not with their equipment nor by checking every joint and relay concerned. The spare part guys said they have never been asked for the components concerning this issue, and at least one of them was working there already when the car was new! Neither has my regular one man MB unofficial dedicated repairer heard of such. Even the Finnish MB bulletin board has been quiet after the first obvious question.

The components would cost about half of the value of the car and there's no guarantee that they would fix the issue. And since the components in question have to be ordered directly from the factory, being coded for my vehicle only, there'd be no possibility to return or resell them either...

Check batteries. Both car and the keys. Low voltage makes the infrared locks malfunction.

I had a vehicle nightmare of my own with the MB infrared:

My step-father who is 2 meters tall and 140kg borrowed my W210 E320 once. He was in a hurry to go to a concert as a performer. He was using the car for the first time (and coincidentally the last time).

He tried to lock the doors using the remote to no avail. When I gave the car I asked him if he needed instructions.. no. So he didn't realize the key was infrared, not radio. He never pointed the key to the rear view mirror where the sensor was. He got nervous and tried to lock the doors manually - W210 doors can't be locked just by plugging the button in. He tried everything including trying to close the door with the handle lifted. He pressed the door with his thumb so hard while attempting to lock the door with the handle lifted that the car had dents above all handles when he returned it.

When I saw the car I was furious... what sort of a moron has dented all my doors. Then I hear the story.. sigh. Yeah you didn't need instructions.

[Bizman]

That's the first time I've seen 375 000 kilometers with the word "only" in front of it... 

Well, the previous one showed 620 000 km without any major engine repair when I sold it. My reason for selling was that it started to gather rust above the windscreen a year after yet another glass replacement. Apparently they had used a knife to scrape the glue off, not bothering to paint the scratches they made.

Check batteries. Both car and the keys. Low voltage makes the infrared locks malfunction.

Already checked. Battery is quite new, there were more visible symptoms when the original started to die. In regard of the key batteries, I don't believe the batteries of both keys would be malfunctioning at the same time and start working again simultaneously. Especially when the other key is most of the time at home as a spare.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Already checked. Battery is quite new, there were more visible symptoms when the original started to die. In regard of the key batteries, I don't believe the batteries of both keys would be malfunctioning at the same time and start working again simultaneously. Especially when the other key is most of the time at home as a spare.

One of my favourite quotes is: "When you've exhausted investigating the possible, you have to consider the impossible". Did you measure the voltage in the spare battery? Batteries have a shelf life you know and unused spare from 1995 may not be so fresh anymore