Whodathunkit!? (Another Repair Blunders Thread)

[Zumtizzle]

My wife and two children were planning their summer trip to visit her family. Before leaving, I decided to do routine maintenance on her '95 Mazda Millenia, including changing the fuel filter. Following the shop manual procedure, I ran the engine while disconnecting the fuel pump relay to minimize gas in the line. Through a small access panel in the trunk, I had a very difficult time removing the old filter from the rusted bracket on top of the gas tank. After cutting through the old bracket, I had to devise a new way of securing the new fuel filter. Finally, I was finished and the car was ready for the five hour trip.

Once they reached their destination, my wife called to inform me that the car had been starting to hesitate toward the end of the trip, and now would not start at all. My heart sank as I realized that my work was not successful. I packed my tools and went to fix the car.

When I finally arrived, I checked the fuel pump relay and the fuel pump pressure, and surprisingly, both were OK. Still, I was convinced the problem was fuel related. Tired and upset, I started to grasp at straws and decided to remove one of the fuel injectors. My mistake was that I first did not void the fuel line, and a fair amount of gas leaked from the fuel rail into the cylinder.

Knowing that the gas needed to be removed from the cylinder, I removed the spark plug and cranked the engine. Gas shot up in the air and all over my tools in the trunk of the adjacent car. After cleaning up the mess, I was out of time, and I needed to take my wife and kids home. Broken, but not defeated, I borrowed a truck and rented a tow dolly to tow the car back home.

Once home, I changed the spark plugs, and surprisingly, the car would run, although somewhat rough and smoky. I attempted for days to find the elusive problem until at my wits end, I enlisted the help of a friend who is a professional mechanic.

The verdict: BAD GAS. I quickly mailed a note and a copy of the receipt to the gas station my wife had patronized on the trip. A few days later, I received a phone call from the gas station. "Sir, please look at your receipt. You did not pump mid-grade as you noted. You pumped diesel". My wife had allowed my six year-old son pump the "gas" for her!

Tom in Indiana



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[Quin]

lolz

 

[Keros]

Atleast he can sleep at night knowing he can do a fuel filter change right, lol

Poor guy...

 

[iwannadie]

I thought the nozzle wouldnt fit in a gas car?

 

[Loki]

Lawl.

 

[SupraMario]

HAHAHAHAHA. I had a friend who ran out of gas at school and the maintenance guys said they had some gas, poured like 2 gallons of kerosene into his BMW 325i and he said it ran like shit for a week, he kept having to fill it up and dilute the kerosene. Best thing was they got some gas and had like 10 people shaking the car to mix up the kerosene and gas. I don't know how well it worked, but I bet it was a funny site seeing 10 high school kids shaking a bmw.

 

[Quin]

Rofl

 

[annoyingrob]

I once dropped the fuel tank in my friend's car who insisted the pump was bad.


......the car was fucking out of gas.

 

[Shytheed Dumas]

^^^^ lmao. Sometimes a friend in need is a tard.

 

[mkiiSupraMan18]

^ lol, can I use that line?

I got a case of bad gas once in a Supra... Best $30 I ever spent.

I got money to tow the car home, money for a fuel pump (walbro), and like $100 worth of labor money... I drained the gas tank, filled it up w/ new gas and it's still running that way today.

It was probably the 2nd or third tank of gas ran through the car, so bad gas wasn't what i would have guessed it was. I just thought the 7mgte struck again.

I'm the reason gas is almost $4/gal. :icon_bigg

 

[flight doc89]

at least they have a kid as an excuse. This guy doesn't.

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/7_on_your_side&id=6052885

 

[Quin]

Screw New Jersey, I'd never let anyone put gas in my car except me. One tank of 87 instead of 93 and BOOM Game Set Match

 

[tlo86]

i dont really have one besides minor things but.. my friend blew 4 main fuses before he realized he put his battery in backwords

 

[annoyingrob]

at least they have a kid as an excuse. This guy doesn't.

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/7_on_your_side&id=6052885

That happened to a friend of mine. He has a 75ish dodge pickup that he swapped a Cummins B59 into. Went to the gas station, and the attendant put gasoline in it.

Fortunately, the truck had 3 fuel tanks, and he noticed the attendant's mistake before starting the motor.

It was quite funny actually, as he took the tank of diesel/gas, and put it into his Supra to see how it would run. He pulled back the timing on the computer, and drove around with the diesel for a while. It STANK, but it ran not too bad. lol

 

[Quin]

Some guy on YouTube told me he used to run his 5.0 on diesel. Said it was hard to start but it ran good when it was going.

 

[Mk3runner]

wow, diesel huh... bet that pissed the guy off. six year old shouldn't be near a gas pump anyways I would think.

 

[SupraMario]

at least they have a kid as an excuse. This guy doesn't.

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/7_on_your_side&id=6052885

"One phone call," Wilm said. "Everybody's call me now, and they want to make good."

WOW, I just love how this guy speaks.