The LEC Not Terribly Good Club

[paulrwebster]

I think that we should start a thread to detail those heroic attempts at maintaining and repairing our cars that, because of our own stupidity, have ended up as an absolute shambles.

To kick it off, this afternoon I confess to spending an hour bleeding my Wilwood brakes from the bottom nipples whilst wondering why no air was coming out given that the brake pedal would not firm up. For those with as little common sense as me, I have now worked out that the air had floated to the top of the callipers and is sitting by the top bleed nipples. I completed the exercise by overtightening one of the bleed nipples. fracturing the brass sleeve that it screws into, giving my driveway a golden shower.

So:
Perceived level of stupidity 7/10
Cost to remedy £17.69
Time off the road (est) 5 days
Physical injuries None

If any one else has any similar tales of heroic failure that they would like to confess to, please do post.

[Monty]

Don`t know if it was Brian, but someone did explain about bleeding the Wilwoods and u are only suppose to bleed from the bottom nipples The only reason why they have 4 nipples is so the caliper can be turn round and used on the other side.

But saying that it does make sense that the air would travel to the top and u would think bleeding from the top would be the way to go

Hopefully someone will explain why

[GeoffSmith]

If any one else has any similar tales of heroic failure that they would like to confess to, please do post.

What about Manchester United bleeding the brakes with 55psi on the Eezi-bleed?

[Monty]

[GeoffSmith]

[Dico]

It blasted the fluid 'To infinity and beyond!'

Stupidity level 9.9/10

[ailwyn]

Don't know if it was Brian, but someone did explain about bleeding the Wilwoods and u are only suppose to bleed from the bottom nipples The only reason why they have 4 nipples is so the caliper can be turn round and used on the other side.

But saying that it does make sense that the air would travel to the top and u would think bleeding from the top would be the way to go

Hopefully someone will explain why

Don't know why you would bleed from the bottom only, I just bleed from the top.

[Doug]

nbot sure if you are serious there, Monty; but only bleed from the top bleeder of each side of each caliper--and the bleeder screw only has a 1/4 turn to it or so (can't remember exactly and don't have one to check any more).

[F1 LOTUS]

Don't know if it was Brian, but someone did explain about bleeding the Wilwoods and u are only suppose to bleed from the bottom nipples

Pull the udder one Monty, it weren't me




This would only be true in Australia

[Monty]

Don't know if it was Brian, but someone did explain about bleeding the Wilwoods and u are only suppose to bleed from the bottom nipples

Pull the udder one Monty, it weren't me




This would only be true in Australia

Well someone did as i was the 1st to have your kit fitted in the UK and i wouldn`t of had a clue which bloody nipple to twist

[dapinky]

Well someone did as i was the 1st to have your kit fitted in the UK and i wouldn't of had a clue which bloody nipple to twist

If you were the first, was it on Pinky I ?

If so, perhaps you were upside down in a ditch at the time

[muley]

Another stupidity;

I took the Elan for a spin the other day ( having been away for a week I was surprised the battery wasn't flat! )

After I put in back in the garage I was concerned when I saw damp patches on the driveway. Bugger!

On a further investigation I discovered that when I replaced the bulkhead air intake grommet I, er, hadn't reconnected the overflow pipe from the cooling system.

Luckily I hadn't driven far ( < 2miles)

So:
Perceived level of stupidity 10/10
Cost to remedy £.50 (antifreeze)
Time off the road (est) 5 minutes
Physical injuries None

[Russc]

Checked the oil, let GF drive it home (probably my first mistake). There is smoke coming out of the bonnet she says.

Check, hmmm, there seems to be a oil filelr cap missing there. Luckily no damage done as a short trip.

So:
Perceived level of stupidity 15/10
Cost to remedy £4.50 (halfrauds cap)
Time off the road (est) 15 minutes
Physical injuries None except pride
Letting the gf drive level of stupidity 100/10

[chris.t]

regrettably russ you'll probably be smelling hot oil for sometime to come - i know

[Specky]

regrettably russ you'll probably be smelling hot oil for sometime to come - i know

I'd sack that mechanic of yours Chris..

TTFN

[Elanlover]

Surely I need to recant how I butchered a set of Wilwood rotors...........don't I?

Order in really nice drilled and slotted Wilwood rotors, apply thread locker, secure mounting bolts and tighten...........and tighten, and tighten..........oops. Was that a Lug I crakced on the rotor? How about 3 lugs. Review install intructions on LEC and discover that there are actually torque settings for these things. Turn to look at bench where two beautiful, brand new, still in the box torque wrenches I got for Christmas (which I specifically asked for by the way) are resting......totally undisturbed.

Order more rotors..........

Perceived level of stupidity: ∞/10
Cost to remedy: $400 CDN
Time off the road: none - fortunately
Physical injuries: tendonitis in wrist from over cranking with standard wrench

[Benmac]

My most recent one was when changing the coolant. I'd got to the bleeding stage and I knew that the bleed valve could be accessed via the headlight well. So I wound up the OFFSIDE light and had a look, big grommet there which I removed but no bleed valve!

Arrrgggghhhhh! much cursing and head scratching, wondering if my car was 'weird' due to being pre production etc etc. Went inside in a strop, stewed for an hour or so, contemplated posting on here then looked at the service manual again...................................then went out and wound up the NEARSIDE light to reveal the bleed valve exactly where it should have been.

Perceived level of stupidity: 6/10
Cost to remedy: £0
Time off the road: an extra couple of hours due to the faffing
Physical injuries: none bu maybe an extra chance of RSI from having to wind up two lights

[TheBard]

Okay, There have been so many, but I'll confess to this one....

First time repairing the driver's window mechanism and I'm respooling the cable around the spindle. Wind them both on in a clockwise direction, strain and stretch and refit grommits in the slider block. Grease bow and plug in for a test (fortunately before fitting back in car). Watch in amusement as the bow winches up and down like a crane and the slider block doesn't move in the channel.

Dismantle and consider why you need one spool to wind in whilst the other winds out if you want the window to work!

Perceived level of stupidity: 7/10
Cost to remedy: £0
Time off the road: 2 extra hours on top of the 6 hrs of the actual repair (Always takes longer the first time)
Physical injuries: minor scrapes from agressive handling of cable and bow, bruised ego, etc.

[GeoffSmith]

Doing my Wilwoods last September, I was lazy and reached for the nearest wrench to hand. I know, I know, torque wrenches are not meant for undoing fasteners but I was cold and tired and it worked a treat until............. the wrench was wedged between two relatively immovable objects. Now on my wrench, you turn it over to change the direction so I couldn't feed the bolt back in. I couldn't rotate the socket either because the wrench was engaged and turned. Having considered the angle grinder, I eventually found enough play by jacking the suspension up.

Level of stupidity and embarrassment: Offscale
Cost: £0
Lesson to be learnt (again): Use the correct tool every time

[Doug]

now seeing the above, I am wondering if anyone ELSE can give me a ride to Hethel on the 12th