I am a dumb#**

[ga.spyder]

Due to boredom ,rain ,and a sluggish housing market i found myself with a free day! I decided to rotate my tires,since I couldnt think of anything else that needed attention. After doing a wonderful job ,I sat back to admire my handywork.Uh oh..all the little arrows on my directional Kumho tires are going the wrong way!! I forgot they had to switch sides to be correct. Oh well,I got to blow another 30 mins correcting my mistake.
Craig

[racydave]

Only if you were to do it again...

[pope]

Those are Japanese tires. The arrows are for that part of the world, since the world spins differently on that side of the earth. I think water goes down the toilet differently also. In fact I think that the opposite of what the arrow shows is correct. They also drive on the right side of the car, see, everything is backwards. So, you are correct! Have a nice cold one knowing that you did a great job.

[kristoj]

That's why I bought tires that are bidirectional -- so I wouldn't have to think too hard! My dialy driver not only has unidirectional tires, but they are a different size front to rear. A real pain in the butt as the rears wear out much faster.

[So Cal Mark]

they will be just fine when you are in reverse

[rlux4]

I would have chimed in sooner, but I've been trying to figure out what Pope said.
I want to thank you Craig, I'm sure you posted this so that we who have made some doozies wouldn't feel so all alone.
My best one: I left the ratchet on the crank pulley nut, started the car and spun the nut right off.
Ron

[ga.spyder]

I cant afford to ship the car to Japan ,so the rotation would be correct and my neck is getting really stiff driving around in reverse.I had no choice but to correct my miscue! Thanks Ron ,I figured I wasnt the only one out there that has pulled a dumb stunt!! Cmon...fess up.
Craig

[mbouse]

at least you found the mistake before you did damage!!

[kristoj]

Okay, I have one...

I am kind of a detail freak and any collector car I have owned, I have spent untold hours detailing the car -- especially the engine bay. I have an old BMW M3 that is no exception. One time I had just finished changing the oil, when someone stopped by and interupted me. After he left, I closed up the hood and took off for a long, spirited drive. The car wasn't running well and wanted to stall at each stoplight/stop sign. I kept driving and tried revving it up higher and higher between shifts as the car warmed up to get it to run right. Eventually the oil light came on and my heart about stopped. All I could think about was the $8,000 it takes to rebuild one of these engines.

I pulled over, shut her down and opened up the hood. Much to my dismay, the entire engine bay was covered with engine oil. Like an idiot, I had fogotten to put the oil filler cap back on. I must have laid it down on the inner fender or something because I never did find it. It took me a couple of full weekends to get the engine bay back to the sparkling condition it was in before the incident. Fortunately, it did not result in anything more serious.

[mdrburchette]

John, that same thing happened to my x husband on the 68 Fiat. He added oil and forgot to put the filler cap on. Boy, Fiats sure can spew! Most of mine are documented on the forums, but the one that's still clear in my mind is when I was trying to get my car ready for the Fiat Spider Challenge in Texas. I was detailing the interior and wanted to repair a tear in the radio console vinyl. I read the directions on the repair kit, worked my magic, and thought, dang, that looks terrible! Then it dawned on me that a previous owner had cut a major hole in the console and that was the reason for the tear! I ended up replacing the console. The bad part about it was, I'd been cleaning and detailing that same console for 12 years and never noticed the gaping hole!



Or, how about the time the wire came loose at the starter solenoid and Ron pushed me all around the Advance Auto parking lot. When he finally got tired, he asked if I had the key on.

Or how about when I kept trying to get the car in reverse and it just wouldn't go!...until I realized I was putting it in 5th instead. How many times in 15 years do you think I put the car in reverse and all of a sudden I forgot how?

[ga.spyder]

My wife and I bought a new Explorer ,as we were expecting our first (traded my beloved RX-7!).When it was time for the first oil change ,I did it in the driveway.Drained old ,changed filter,added new,etc..What I didnt notice is that the filter gasket didnt come off with the old filter! Started her up and...yep what a mess. Oil shooting every where ,and my wife crying that I had ruined her new car. No harm ,no foul but I ALWAYS check for the gasket now.
Craig

[spiderrey]

dumb, dumber, and dumbist. i also left the oil cap off my 79 wabbit 25 years ago and made one heck of a mess. i then forgot to reattach to oil line to the turbo on my wabbit truck, about 23 years ago. i started the car , blew all the oil out in seconds, and destroyed the turbo.the best one was when i workek on my x a few months ago and didnt tighten my nuts correctly. going down the fwy about 65 or 70 the car started to wobble. i thought damn, now whats wrong, when i pulled over on the shoulder, 3 nuts were gone and the fourth was about 3/4,s out. enough to let the tire rotate off the hub, but not enough to fall off. boy i lucked out on that one..........