Your Corner Wrench: You did what?!

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Everyone has to admire the tried and true do-it-yourselfer. While they may make mistakes from time to time, it doesn’t seem to dampen their spirits of ingenuity and perseverance. In the automotive field, sometimes the odd and infrequent failure brings another level of pain; the embarrassment of disclosing personal mistakes to the shop advisor you end up bringing your vehicle to when your attempts didn’t quite do the trick. Here are a few common ones we’ve seen in the shop.

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Don’t put the jack there!

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Your Corner Wrench: You did what?! Back to video

It doesn’t matter how experienced you might be at home driveway mechanics: if you’re jacking up a specific vehicle for the first time, find out first where the manufacturer-recommended lift points are. Don’t assume you can use the same spot you’ve put your jack under for the last 20 years, either. Vehicles aren’t necessarily getting more robust or heavily constructed as they evolve — if anything, it’s just the opposite.

The worst I witnessed was when the owner of a brand new compact (one of Canada’s most popular at the time) was trying to do their own oil change. In the name of safety, they put a concrete cinder block under the vehicle for extra stability to augment the jack. Unfortunately, a miscalculation in placement saw the corner of the engine block break off when its weight was applied to the oversized brick. New engine replacement: $8,502.31; lesson learned: priceless.

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If a little sealer is good, a lot must be better?

Wrong! Blue seems to be the favourite colour of silicone sealer used by the DIY crowd when dealing with a troublesome oil leak, and when it’s over-applied in certain applications it can ooze out the wrong side, clogging passages and causing starvation, running problems, overheating, and of course continuing leaks. Then the pro tech who’s tasked with completing the repair correctly has to spend time (and of course your money) in cleaning off and out all the excess sealer before starting the job all over again.

Electronics and electrical systems have changed

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No, it’s not a plain simple 12-volt world anymore. A myriad of components, sensors, and actuators run on far lower (and more sensitive) voltage signals, so applying old-school repair techniques to computer controlled systems is just asking for trouble. Something as insignificant as a blob of solder on an engine sensor wire repair can change the signal enough to flash a ‘check engine’ light along with some type of running problem. If you’ve been unsuccessful at this type of repair and are taking the vehicle into a shop, do yourself and your wallet a favour: provide exact details and locations of your repairs to the counterperson before they hand out the job to a tech. This can prevent hours of unnecessary diagnostic time and help keep your final bill out of the stratosphere.

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Over-tightening

‘I thought it was tight enough,’ or ‘I didn’t think I over-tightened it.’ When this error happens (under- or over-tightening a threaded fastener), it often brings expensive consequences. Think things like breaking off a spark plug in a cylinder head, or a stud on a hard-to-reach spot on an exhaust manifold. When not enough torque (tightening force) is applied to a simple wheel nut, it can lead to a damaged rim when things come loose — or a wheel coming off completely.

If your home-garage toolbox doesn’t have a torque wrench to make sure fasteners are tightened to spec, keep it closed. And remember: as vehicles age, rust takes its toll on bolts, nuts, and studs as well as sheet metal. If you’ve got the time (and even if you don’t), spray any rusted bolts liberally with a penetrating release agent like WD-40, and let it sit overnight (if possible) before bringing out the heavy wrenches. If you think this takes too much time, consider how long it will take you to lift out an engine to gain access to drill out a broken bolt, because the one that snaps off will be the hardest one to reach.