What is the most absent minded thing you'd done when working on a machine?

[Beeman]

I'll start er off...

I changed the transmission in my 93 geo metro a while ago. Everything was working fine, but I didn't have the need to drive it so I parked it.

Then my Mom's car broke down so she needed a temporary car to drive, to which I offered mine. The car drove around for a little, then it broke down and didn't work anymore. (my Mom reported a large bang from the engine before it died).

It was towed home where I took a look at it. It was a pretty stange problem... the engine ran, but in order to drive you had to press the cluch down really... really hard. Strange how this would be backwards. So I tighened down the cluch arm thinking that might do it... nothing.

I finally get to the point where I need to take apart stuff... take the transmission off, don't see anything.. except for a hole the size of a quarter in the bell housing. So, I'm thinking to myself... what on earth would cause this??? Well, more was dismantled and I took off the clutch... still nothing...
looking a little deeper into the parts I see something shinny (which isn't normal in there). To my suprise I found my 14mm socket that I had been missing since I put the tranny in, wedged behind the clutch fork.

The crazy thing is that it didn't have any scratch to bear what-so-ever.

[GREASEMONKEY]

I'm still missing a 13,and 15mm socket from thefirst tranny I rebuilt. That was 10yrs ago, and the guy is still driving it with no complaints! We shall see!

Here's my big duhh moment!

I was working with a friend building a new race motor for my VW. We had done this build so many times I cant begin to count. We decide to get a case of beer as we work. By the end of the houre the motor was complete, and the beer was gone! We installed the motor, fired it up for a test run, and finished cleaning up the shop. (YES we were hammered, but I was actually at the drag strip, not that it makes a difference!) It had been running for just under 10min when I noticed it start to make a funny tone in the exhaust, and the idle flux just a bit. My normal procedure is to let it warm up & then put it up to 6-7000RPM and hold for a few minutes. I was about 30sec into the high rev, and the motor starts to slug. In my hammered state I decide that it's a great idea to just peg the needle a few times. Just as I start to apply pedal there's a loud bang, and lots of small klang's from the engine! It shut itself down!!! I decide to wait till morning to get a sober prospective.
The next morning as we are disassembling the engine we found the drunk mestakes! Never primed the oil system, never put grease in the oil pump, never torqued the connecting rods, never tightened the cam gear, accidentally put 30wt oil in the motor, never adjusted the valves, never torqued the heads, and thecarb was dumping fuel in the intake like a waterfall!
The entire motor was a complete loss! $3750 in parts alone!!!

The engine slugging as i reved it was the tons of assembly lube burning off, all the smaller klang's I heard were the connecting rods coming loose, and bouncing back & fourth. The loud bang was the crank bearing's locking up, and snaping the tops of the bearing towers off! The excessive fuel got the heads so hot it warped the headers!

So as any hard core street racer would do Ibuilt another motor with next day aired parts from california. Minus the beer!

[jpswift1]

I sure have some stories, although I must say I never did this.......

[GREASEMONKEY]

NOPE! I used a KEY!!!

[mark m.]

Naw, a pair of tweezers is the only way to go making sure both points fit into the receptacle slots

[Kevin31]

When i was a wee little one, i loved to listen to the radio at night and i would never like to turn the light on; so what i would do is find the plug on the wall, then place my fingers on the slots, then have my fingers on the prongs to the radio so that i could line them up with my fingers on the wall, then get the plugs in. Well when the prongs slide in and you don't have you fingers away...Zap. i have also done keys as a little kid. That was the most disappointing, because, i had built a little car set up next to the wall planning to make the outlet my "starter" , so after i had built my car next to the wall, i put the key in. the motor never turned over and the key fell out when my hand jerked back, but now after those experiences, i stick to putting the key into my 6x6.

As for stupid things that i have done while working on machines, i have greased the brakes, neglected to put new oil in after an oil change, just stupid things. thankfully most of the stupid things have been on tractors that you can push back to the house. I know that this is a quote that pilots use but it would work here. "There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots.

[GREASEMONKEY]

I had a guy that worked with me for a short time. Verry short! His first day on the job, he was asked to replace a battery in a police cruiser, he hooked up the battery backwards, and slammed the hood, just as he gets the wif of smoke, he runs to open the hood, and realized he has locked the keys in the car! Lucky it was parked outside. It did make a nice hand warmer, as it literally burned to the ground!!!

[Kevin31]

I had a guy that worked with me for a short time. Verry short! His first day on the job, he was asked to replace a battery in a police cruiser, he hooked up the battery backwards, and slammed the hood, just as he gets the wif of smoke, he runs to open the hood, and realized he has locked the keys in the car! Lucky it was parked outside. It did make a nice hand warmer, as it literally burned to the ground!!!

Thats hilarious.

[GREASEMONKEY]

I could go on for days! The people that come & go from my work are interesting to say the least!

Best one I ever worked on!!!!
Cop brings in his patrol car, and tells me to check out everything! This is normal when they have done somthing stupid, and wont own up to it! So begins the process of checking every possible problem. I had been checking for a while, as he sat & looked at me. I got the car lifted up,and start checking the bottom. I searched a while longer & find a hole in the floor, about the size of a dime! Apparently this guy was the firearms trainer, and was sitting in the passenger seat giving a few words of wisdom to a rookie. He had just finished his little speech on pointing guns in safe directions to dry fire! BANG!!!! poped a round right through the floor.