I had to replace my windshield on my '85 300D this weekend-- & I picked a great weekend to do it--we had a 110 degree heat index out here in NJ.
First I had to find a donor car at a a U Strip it Junkyard , and then somehow I survived the most draining hour in my life, ranking right next to my birth ( they used forceps to get my size 8 head out), at the Junkyard at 1 pm in the afternoon on the hottest day in this planet's history.
I was the only customer there, and there amid boiling sheet metal and glass, & I actually successfully cut a window off an old W123 in the blazing hot sun and got it home totally unscratched. The attendant was so amused, he gave it to me for $10.00!---a savings of almost $190 over a new one.I put it in perfectly the next day, Saturday, still with a 110 degree heat index out there and I got the fat rubber seal to perfectly grasp the window and sit in the lip that holds it!
I was done, home free---until I went to put on the 1/4" chrome trim that surrounds the window frame......
Most of it went back in easily..and things looked great and were winding down but then I had to use a screwdriver to pry it at one place , at the upper corner. It was hot and I started to use a little too much muscle, but I got it back in. As I congragulated myself at my persevrance in the hot sun, and started to put my tools away,I looked up aghast, to see a tiny 2" spider crack, which didnt even penetrate the window, in the upper top corner!
I was so angry I wanted to get a sledge and bash the entire window in, but I calmed down quickly. The defect is minor--I can hide it with small sticker and no one will ever be the wiser --except me....To this minute, I wish I hadnt even put that trim back, who notices it!!!!????

I also committed my worst goof ever on this car. One time I got tired of oil leaking out of the old dried out breather tube from the valve cover gasket that runs to the air cleaner, so I ran a new rubber hose, albeit about 12 inches too long to fix this problem. I never did bother to trim it perfectly. One day while doing some unrelated work, I accidentally crimped that hose, blocking it.
The next day I went to work it was raining heavily and I was half awake and never noticed the plume of smoke coming out of my exhaust--until I lost almost 7.5 quarts of oil...thats why I have spent the last four months putting an engine back in and a new transmission. ( the car has the Mummy's curse on it--the dash caught fire which led to a new windshield)

I could name a lot more stupid things I have done. I can also name quite a few things that went very well and and were really awesome repairs.
You have to remember a lot of us who dont do this full time are juggling carpools, family, time with kids, work responsibility and sleep to keep our vehicles running and we often get the worst hours and the worst times to do this...at 5 am in the morning, or 10 Pm at night.
A lot of people ask me why I have such bad luck sometimes. Well I keep four cars running under these circumstances and at least 1 of the 4 is a total restoration project... Its only natural for the 9 good things I do, 1 bad one will also pop up...it gets discouraging--but perhaps the real reason I break them is so I can Fix tem again

and I got my anger over the windshield out of me..

I once left the ratchet on the crank and started the engine.

Good thing it was ratcheting around and not spinnig around.

Danny

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1984 300SD Turbo Diesel 150,000 miles

OBK member #23

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The very first time I removed an instrument cluster on a W123, I didn't connect the oil pressure hose tight enough, I was wondering why it was pegged at three the whole day, then I noticed the brake pedal was slippery and my tennis shoe was drenched in hot, black motor oil. I got home, went back to find my mistake, found it, backed the connection out and then threaded it back in with my hand part of the way, and then the rest of the way with my wrench. Embarrassing, that's the first time I've told this to you all I think.
-Joe

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'81 MB 300SD, '82 MB 300D Turbo (sold/RIP), '04 Lincoln Town Car Ultimate

Sooner or later every car falls apart, ours does it later!
-German Narrator in a MB Promotion Film about the then brand new W123.

Well, it was not exactly a goof, but it took me three days to figure it out:

I had an old Mercury Capri with a 2000 cc engine (made in Germany).

I had a timing belt rather than a chain. Being young and stupid about the wear on these things, I never bothered to change it. So, it breaks in the middle of the LI expressway and, thankfully, I use the starter to get me to the side of the road (it was a manual).

Towed it home and put a new belt on and was extremely cautious about the timing of the cam and the distributor.

Would start and run horrible. Would not idle.

Three days of misery duplicating the same results every time.

Finally, I'm simply at a loss and am staring at the engine.

I had put a replacement carburetor from Chrysler (Holley two barrel.........one of the perks of working there) on the engine some time ago. Naturally, these newer carbs had all kinds of ports on the bottom flange for various vacuum controls.......none of which I needed. So they were all capped.

So, I'm staring at the engine and I just happen to notice that one of the caps of a large (1/4") nipple is gone.

I hop in the vehicle and start it up and quickly run underneath the hood to prevent a stall.

Place my thumb over the nipple and it settles down to a perfect idle.

Three days.

When I started rebuilding my 617 engine, we were still at my old residence. So in the middle of the job (I had just installed the oil pump) I had to stop for about a year. Finally, I was able to continue where I "left off"....well, apparently I forgot to torque the bolt holding the sprocket to the oil pump. The engine ran great until one day I came home and my daughter said "Daddy, something is leaking out of your car." The bolt backed out until it pushed a hole through the upper oil pan. I had to remove the powerplant and replace the upper oil pan. I feel I was fortunate that the bolt didn't fly off completely and cause much worse damage to the engine I'd spent a bunch of time and money on.

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

I was driving to Maine to an indy's place to do some work with him on my VW TDI. It was during a cold snap and I was driving quickly as it was ~5AM and I had the entire highjway to myself. I surmise that the VERY cold temps and consumption of nearly all of the fuel that was being sent to the injectors (low vol. of heated fuel returning to tank) contributed to my experienceing a near gelling condition. Anyway getting to the point.....I stopped on the road side and took my toolbox out and put it beside the car to get my one piece insulated carhart suit on (it was behind the tool box)...Sniff....got the car going again and limped to the nearest mini-mart to further winterize my fuel.....I realized I had left my toolbox on the side of the highway. A state trooper was at the mini mart and drove immediately (about 3 miles) to where I left the box. It was gone.....It only cost me about $400 to replace the standard tools and two years later I still kick myself and occasionally search my basement or garage for a specific tool before coming to the conclusion that it was in the box and someone else is enjoying it or looking at it and saying WTF is this doodad for??? Everytime I think of this incident I say to myself...IDIOT!!!

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Rob M
Norwich, VT USA
1980 240D Euro delivery 4 speed manual silver/blue
~160K miles

So, Carrameow, did you weigh yourself before and after? What was the weight delta? I ran six miles on Sunday and dropped 3 lbs.

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'02 BMW 325i
'85 300D 450k
'93 190E 2.6 170k(killed by tree)
'08 Ducati Hypermotard 1100S 6k
'06 Ducati S2R800 14k(sold)

Not a big deal, but it made me feel like an idiot. I was driving my newly purchased 240D from NJ to CO a couple of weeks ago. At a fuel stop in OH (I think) I was messing with the throttle linkage (for no good reason) and my hand slipped, breaking both plastic tees off the main vacuum line check valve. I was able to get one on the lines to hold on the stub of the tee, and I used a license plate screw to block the other opening. I had to drive the next 1500 miles without the fuel shutoff or the door locks, so I had to manually shut off every time I stopped. Then I had to buy a new $70 vacuum line from the dealer when I got home. I also had to explain how I screwed up my wife's new car before it even got home. It's all good now.

Burned my hand on the crossover section of the 603, fell back and hit my head on the grille, I proceeded to slam my fist on the radiator support frame in rage and when my fist made contact it slipped on some grease, I lost my balance and fell face first into the support....

Or was that a recent dream sequence?

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1987 300SDL (324000)

1986 Porsche 951 (944 Turbo) (166000)

1978 Porsche 924 (99000)

1996 Nissan Pathfinder R50 (201000)

I was changing fuel filters and neglected to release the pressure in the tank.

Just today, changed a shifter bushing and now i have to hotwire the car to start!! see my other thread "617 starting mystery"


Kris

Don't you hate that? I always promise myself that I'll put the hood fully up, but, then say..........what the hell..........I'll only be under there for a few minutes................

and it slipped and the car came down on the jackstand, which went right through the floorboard....I was getting ready to put new Bilsteins in...I returned the Bilsteins the next day....

Yes! I absolutely loathe it. And that's exactly how I feel (what the Hell?) when I check underhood. Sometimes I become engrossed with something out of place. Curiousity envelops me. That's when I forget about the...grille.

AND the trunk. The edges of the aluminum trunk are very sharp and rigid. It really smarts if you hit the back of your head. I am, by nature, a klutz. So genetics don't save me there.

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1987 300SDL (324000)

1986 Porsche 951 (944 Turbo) (166000)

1978 Porsche 924 (99000)

1996 Nissan Pathfinder R50 (201000)

having my 240 engine rebuilt at my favorite machinist's shop, i did some of the assembly work. he had great confidence in my work. although i have a lot of general knowledge, i am no machinist. i torqued the mains and rod bearings. unfortunately i did not read the instructions carefully enough. the rod bearings were stretch bolts that were to be torqued to a spec then turned 90 degrees, i think it was. i didnt do the 90 degree part. fortunately he must have been watching me because he corrected it later, saving me from an expensive engine failure. now i limit my work to knocking out the sleeves and putting things like pans on.

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.