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  #1  
Old 07-12-2004, 06:34 PM
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Dumbest repair?

What is the dumbest repair you had to do and do and do.

Mine still is an E300:
Replace right rear brake light bulb thirty eight times in two months.
The owner still will not replace the defective socket assembly.

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  #2  
Old 07-12-2004, 06:50 PM
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I used to work at Pep Boys in Monroeville, PA. (outside Pittsburgh) People used to bring their car in with the alignment so bad that one of the front tires were flat because it wore down past the belts. You try to explain to them that it is the alignment causing it. They just pay for a new tire and off they go.
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  #3  
Old 07-12-2004, 06:55 PM
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I had a 1979 chevy van 350 v8. 17 starters im 9 months. 8 junkyard, 4 rebuilt and 5 new. I never knew when they would go out and always caried a spare. I never figured out why. I replaced flywheel, battery cable, and redid the grounds. It also went through 7 ignition modules.
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  #4  
Old 07-12-2004, 06:59 PM
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Dumbest repair?

Rear and front crankshaft seals on my wifes Geo Metro. Even after the shop did the seals 3 times (all but the first on his dime) it still leaked like a seive. 2 months later on a long trip the engine blew out.
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I'm not a certified mechanic, but I did stay at a HolidayInn Express last night.
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  #5  
Old 07-13-2004, 07:49 AM
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keep on replacing the coat hangers that hold the rear bumper on.
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  #6  
Old 07-13-2004, 08:06 AM
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Not exactly a repair: How about a '63 Plymouth Valiant that was driven 500+ miles a week and used 2 GALLONS of oil a week! Oil came out every possible way. Leaked a lot, but burned MUCH more. Had a 225 slant six with somewhere between 250k and 350k miles and not much real maintainence in its life. It ate starters. I replaced starter three times in the less than a year that I had it, once in total darkness (until I touched battery cable to ground). Finally hand rebuilt the starter and that seemed to solve the problem. Buddy borrowed it and promptly ran it into a dirt mound. Oil consunmption jumped to 3 gallons a week and engine blew shortly thereafter (probably ran out of oil over the course of the day). Some of the things you do when you are young and poor....
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  #7  
Old 07-13-2004, 09:47 AM
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None. All my repairs are perfect the first time.
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1984 300SD 326,997 miles and counting . . . No wait, my odometer is still dead
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  #8  
Old 07-13-2004, 11:03 AM
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Re: Dumbest repair?

Quote:
Originally posted by whunter
What is the dumbest repair you had to do and do and do.

Mine still is an E300:
Replace right rear brake light bulb thirty eight times in two months.
The owner still will not replace the defective socket assembly.
Is the owner paying for this and if so thank him.
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  #9  
Old 07-13-2004, 11:28 AM
123c
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The 300CD kept going through batteries, because they kept loosing charge, but I could never figure it out, since it never showed a draw when I was checking it, which was in the spring or summer when I wouldn't run the heater. I finally checked it in the winter, and found it was caused by a bad ACC amp, and no wonder why my heater would stop working while I was driving...
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  #10  
Old 07-13-2004, 11:51 AM
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Dumbest repair is biting me again. Timing belt on a Mazda 929 been replaced 4 times in the past 20K miles because I'm too stupid and cheap to buy the right parts from Mazda. #5, scheduled for August, will be the last and final for the next 60K My dumbest W123 repair is ongoing, the damn aircleaner bracket. Shoulda just learned to put up with the minor rattling around.
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  #11  
Old 07-13-2004, 12:31 PM
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turbo drain gasket at flange of return pipe.

Ive done it once, and re-sealed it once, mechanic has done it twice. Managed to get the leak to a trickle, but I can still tell it leaks, as it builds up a little black pool on the engine mount. Probably down to a few mL in 1000 miles, but its still enough for me to notice it

JMH
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Current Diesels:
1981 240D (73K)
1982 300CD (169k)
1985 190D (169k)
1991 350SD (113k)
1991 350SD (206k)
1991 300D (228k)
1993 300SD (291k)
1993 300D 2.5T (338k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (442k)
1996 Dodge Ram CTD (265k)

Past Diesels:
1983 300D (228K)
1985 300D (233K)
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  #12  
Old 07-13-2004, 01:17 PM
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72 Ford LTD..... it went through six starters.
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  #13  
Old 07-13-2004, 05:32 PM
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Not sure if this quite fits, but when I bought my wagon it had a few oil leaks. Seller said most of it was caused by a bad gasket between the injection pump and motor (= costly fix). First thing I did when I took ownership of the car was change the oil. Guess what? The oil drain plug was loose. Screwed it in tight and that stopped 90 percent of the leaks.
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  #14  
Old 07-13-2004, 05:51 PM
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My sons 1965 Ford Mustang. Putting the new ignition switch in the dash. the how was larger than the new unit. Figured the PO had rigged the dash with some off the wall switch. We had just bought a new under dash wire harness. I did not want to modify this $399.00 harness.
I decided to add material to the opening with the MIG welder. started to add material and after about 10 minutes I realized I had either destroyed the dash and would have to go find one at a junk yard and cut out the old section and weld in the new ignition section, or I was going to make this welding thing work.
I worked on it for the next 2 hours, without telling my son, and finally got it to work fine after lots of welding, grinding, welding, grinding, filing, welding, etc.

Dave
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1970 220D, owned 1980-1990
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1982 300TD, owned 1992-1993
1986 300SDL, owned 1993-2004
1999 E300, owned 1999-2003
1982 300TD, 213,880mi, owned since Nov 18, 1991- Aug 4, 2010 SOLD
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2007 Honda Accord EX-L I4 auto, the new daily driver
1985 300D 264,000mi Son's new daily driver.(sold)
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  #15  
Old 07-13-2004, 08:03 PM
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i changed the shut-off valve the other day. while doing this i diconnected the lines at the ignition switch to clean them out. well when putting the lines back on they got switched. the engine ran like ***** and it didnt wanna start very well. i got the advce on here and switched them around and all is good again.

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