Well, it nearly happened again. About 10 years ago I attempted to do my rear brakes on my Jetta and had to have it towed to be finished. Just couldn't get it right. Today I decided to replace my serpentine belt as I just passed 60K, and that went smoothly, only took about 45 minutes. Then it was time to tackle my new detroit tuned bypass valve. Removed all the necessary parts on top, and then went to remove the throttle body and crack. Something broke. I figured maybe no harm, no foul? So finished up and reassembled, and holy cow it ran awful. Called up Chad, and after we determined that I broke my supercharger intake tube, it was time for a trip to MINI to pay $180 for the friggin part. BS. Especially when it was my fault. Couldn't be more upset with myself. Get back after the hour round trip, put the car into service mode so I can sort of access the screw to install the new intake tube. I say sort of as I had to enlist the help of my 10 year old as I couldn't fit my hands down there. Got it set, reassembled, reset ECU, still running like crap. Sit there for a minute and think, I'm going to have to have it towed to the dealer, just like 10 years ago. Then i remember I didn't reconnect the clip on the throttle body. Clip. rest ECU and almost like it was before I started my debacle. A job that should have taken about 2 hours, took 8! I hate it when I do that.
I think we've all BTDT. I know that I've gotten myself into a few situations on more than one occasion...thankfully I've had support from M/A to help me get to the other side.
I'm no mechanic either. I've only ever tried to do the oil on my (previous) cars twice. Well actually my GF at the time did my first oil change. The second time I stripped the oil pan bolt. That was it for me. Lesson learned. :frown2:
That's precisely why I only work on my '88 F250, the GP goes in for all her work. I'm just. Glad you found a 10 year old to hold things for you, I don't know how grown ups fit their hands in there
It's more fun when you break something trying to fix something else. Fix fading brakes by adding brake ducts? Shred a CV boot when the brake ducts fail. Fix the failed axle and pop the ball joints off? Destroy a ball joint and replace both. Fix the broken cat with aftermarket headers? Throw a check engine light. Fix the check engine light with an O2 sim? Throw a different CEL. See? More fun that way.:idea:
The bad thing about being mechanically inclined, you end up with lots of "one time" tools. Most of the time the tools are cheaper than taking the car to a shop. The downside of course is spending 5-6 hours on a 1-2 hour project and you have to make room in the toy-box for your new toys. The upside, you generally only have to clean those toys one time.
heh, people ask me all the time how much fo the work I have performed on my car. My standard reply.. "I wrote the check"
Even mechanic's routinely must purchase or make "one time tools". Tool collecting is a hobby all to itself.
20 years ago I was a fairly decent wrench, but since my back went south I can still do most things myself but it does take me longer(I installed a DDMworks Cold Air Intake that should have been a 1-2 hour job that turned into a 4 hour job). But when it comes time to do a major job, I know that I usually won't have all the special tools I'm smart enough to know when to employ a Certified Mechanic as when I do the Supercharger pulley and Crank pulley change and add the belt tensioner stop as he will have it in the shop anyway. so the small things I'll still try and take on and the more involved jobs will be done by a Professional. And back in the day when I was a fairly decent wrench was before everything had a computer on it!
Tool collection, and what it leads toooooooooo! I like many like tools.....if you're not careful this is what you end up with. :wink:
You're not a bad mechanic, you just lack experience! Next time shoot me an email, I can do way better than 180 bucks for that intake tube.
Heck everyone who works on cars has a story about something they wish they never would have started.:mad2: It happens, we deal with it & move on. There is a huge amount of satisfaction completing a job yourself. I know it is not for everyone, but it makes me smile. As I become older I'm finding more of the jobs I used to tackle are now being farmed out to the experts.
I have a drawer on my rollaway that is full of home made tools from when I was working on Harley's and Triumphs Motorcycles.:cornut:
This thread reminds me of a guy I worked with who decided that he would change the oil in his car. (Something he had never done before.) Kurt got under the car and pulled on the wrench to loosen the drain plug. The wrench slipped, hit himself in the mouth and chipped a front tooth. After paying several hundred dollars to the dentist, he took the car to the shop for the oil change. Some people should stick to the things that they know how to do!