Worse than OverRepair Compulsion:The Compulsion to not STOP when you are defeated!
 

Worse than the OverRepair Compulsion is the Compulsion to not STOP a repair process when you are beaten!
Today I spent 9 hours in my garage trying to replace the CV boots on my 85 300D axles with this Goofy mad scientist Funnel tool that's supposed to use a metal hoop mounted on a pair of metal chopsticks to enlarge and invert the new CV boots over the CV Joint cans. The trouble is I ripped four boots with the tool. That was 10 AM. I should have called it QUITS!!
I know this tool doesnt sound dangerous, but IT IS. Basically you set the Funnel on the Floor and insert the Metal hoop which is mounted on two chop stick like prongs into the new CV boot and push down on the funnel with the boot to enlarge it and make it the small hole big enough to slip over the CV joint can.
But you can exert enormous force on it by pushing down on it!
After ripping the four boots I should have stopped and gone into work! But instead I went to Autozone and bought Four Thicker boots and tried to slip them over the funnel. I mean it, I spent the afternoon slipping and sliding over the garage floor wrestling with the tool. Right now my hands hurt and I pulled a back muscle and can barely walk!
What a stupid idea. At 10 AM is should have called it quits but I kept on going for five more hours, getting angrier and more insane and trying harder and harder in frenzied exhaustion. I didnt stop until 6 PM. That was a full TEN HOURS spent slipping and sliding like one of the 3 Stooges and wrestling with this ridiculous tool idea.
Now iys 10 PM and I finally realize this tool is about as practical as aTime Machine or a Beanie hat with a propeller for commuting to work. Its an idiot's invention, and yes i was fooled by it. The only way to rebuild these CV joints is to cut open the cans like the shop manual says and inspect and measure thoroughly.
Thats the horror of it though. When some of us get tired and angry and frustrated, some of us try harder and harder in direct proportion to our fatigue and we end up wasting valuable money, time and parts , not to mention body parts and limbs.
THERE is a time to stop and walk away. When you are trying to hard, you are bound to fail!!!

I SO feel your pain. Believe me.

Pete.

yep
 

sometimes it is absolutely necessary to back off and rest and think a little.

i once was able to put in a clutch spring on a pressure plate that my favorite machinist had been struggling with for an hour when i happened by. he was tired and i was fresh. he is a much much much more experienced and better mechanic than i will ever be but i was not tired.

live and learn.

good luck next time.

tom w

That is what a, uh, several, margaritas are for.....to keep you from all that fustration :D After the first set of ripped rubber, instead of the parts place, you should have gone to Margaritaville.

Regards

Run-em

Take a rest. You're one persistent wrencher. I would have, given up way before you did, probably broke everything into pieces and then chucked everything into the trash.

Take heart!
Where do you think good judgment comes from? It comes from a failure to exhibit good judgment and then living with the results.
You, my friend, have had an experience that will give you good judgment in the future!
People will speak highly of how blessed you are with good judgment. If they only knew....

That stinks. hope you feel better and get a refreshed/renewed interest in working it through. Can't say much more except that I too feel your pain. All of my wrenching has been done by reading and doing...I should say reading and researching and then trying, trying, trying, trying......trying....and occaisionally succeeding. I consider myself to be pretty patient but sometimes I wish for shorter easier learning curves......To be able to work side by side with someone who's been there, done that is the ultimate...buyt alas not always possibel....Things I can do in my sleep now were hard the first time. Example "Sweat" fitting a copper plumbing fitting. I had two to do the first one took about 24 times and literally 3 or so hours. The second fitting took about 15 seconds......That wa about ten years ago but I remember both the frustration of the first fitting and the triumph of the second.....Now back to your scheduled ramblings.....:D

Man, I feel for ya bro...... I think we have all been there; but the question is: Why do we keep on going back to wrenching when wrenching can be so dang frustrating.

This reminds me of my brother who had reached the end of his rope working on an old 1970 Subaru. He literally went ape on us;...the poor guy was running around the garage mimicking an angry chimpanzee throwing crap everywhere. I mean he was doing the "eee-eees & ooo-ooohs". :eek: It was the only way he could cope at the moment; a human doesn't have as much emotion to display as an ape.... Man; that sure was funny!:D

What problem???
 

:D :D :D A 357 Magnum is great for removing that pesky engine head or transmission that just will not come out!!!:eek: :eek: :eek:

I just finished overhauling the rear brakes on the bimmer and that has taught me my best lesson in patience thus far. The rotors are held on by the worst idea I have ever seen on a car, a 5mm hex bolt that is rusted in place from 26 years of use. I didn't have the proper tools to get one out and I wound up rounding it smooth. Took me two days to get it out like that. I stopped and got the propper tools, applied some heat, and the other side came right out. That's just the rotors! I won't even go into getting the rusted pistons out of the calipers. All in all it took me about two weeks to get it done but I'm confident I did everything right because I took a step back and did it right.