Oops! uh-oh! and general bloopers

[country0001]

How bout ruining a new set of lifters and camshaft because my buddy dropped the oil pump driveshaft down in the oil pan when we were putting it back together.

 

[r1hatman]

"How bout ruining a new set of lifters and camshaft because my buddy dropped the oil pump driveshaft down in the oil pan when we were putting it back together. "

Ooch! Did he at least offer to pay for the repairs?




What about losing a extra 50 cal barrel in the swamp off a Howitzer on a field march. And having to get out and search the swamps in FT Stewart Ga with all the damn alligators eyeballing us for lunch. 3 hours later we found it. Some jack hole did not close the flap on the barrel carrying case and lashed to the turret and in slid out and off a narrow trail into the swamp. I'm so glad I'm out!

 

[country0001]

Nope, we just fixed the oil pump shaft and let the lifters rattle. Prepared me for the 2.9.

 

[r1hatman]

Hahaha

 

[Spitfire1975]

Drove the through parts of the flooded Willamette River in the 1996 floods, water to the bottom of the window (how did it not suck water into the engine??? idk..). Did this MANY TIMES, but never changed the the diff fluids. only the tranny and transfer case. Needless to say, ended up with new diffs. (Bronco II with 235/75's starts to float when water is window height)

 

[CHKNFKR]

I think the worse uh-oh happend when I was stationed in the states. My unit was always tasked out to be the "Taxi drivers" of the base. Whether it be Engineer officer basic, ANOC, BNOC. Well, this particular tasking was for EOBC and we had a soldier in our squad (not me) that loved trying to make new LTs hurl when riding in the back of a M113. He had already made one LT hurl mac and cheese (side of the track was a nice color of cool aid, and mac and cheese ) So he decided to power slide the final turn going to the range. Well, he managed to jump track, broke 3 road arms, 2 road wheels, bent another 3 road wheels, and managed to twist the the track into a pretzel...Needless to say, the new LTs didn't puke, but almost crapped their pants....

Same unit, different driver, same range (Shape charge, and crater charge range). Lt's had the troop hatch open, and it was a 90+ out. We decided to to try to cool off the LTs in the back by driving thru some of the puddles on the range. (most were only about 2 feet deep, nothing a track can't get thru) Well, the track on the left side of me found one that he couldn't get thru. it was a 13 ft deep hole that was filled with water....It took to M88s and a ACE (Armored Combat Earthmover) to get that thing out of the hole...Still got the picture of it somewhere in the house.

I feel your pain, i hate working on tracks! During a recovery operation i once threw track on the M88A2, thankfully there was another one with us, we ended up playing the part of anchor for the other 88 to recover the stuck M1A1. once it was out it was able to drive on, we however were not. by the time we were towed back to shop the whole track was shot and 6 road wheels had to be replaced.

You must have been dealing with M88A1s, I've never run into anything the A2 cant handle, that includes fully submerged Abrams and even rolled over Abrams.

What about losing a extra 50 cal barrel in the swamp off a Howitzer on a field march. And having to get out and search the swamps in FT Stewart Ga with all the damn alligators eyeballing us for lunch. 3 hours later we found it. Some jack hole did not close the flap on the barrel carrying case and lashed to the turret and in slid out and off a narrow trail into the swamp. I'm so glad I'm out!

Funny story about an M2. one of the gunners in my company managed to install the breach block into the bolt backwards. normally if you do this the bolt will not slide into the receiver, this time it did. when he got to the test fire pit and pressed on the butterfly one round and one round only fired, no brass ejected. two days later when we managed to pull the bolt back we discovered chunks large enough to read serial numbers off of. some from the breach block, some from the bolt, some from the barrel extension, some from the receiver itself. last i heard the gun made its way to a static display somewhere stateside.

remember when i said chunks large enough to read serial numbers off of...

 

[Scotty J.]

I got ya ALL beat, I even have mine in video LOL...

 

[bcost882]

^i think i remember the aftermath pix and couldn't figure what happend.

the flight line is a good place to get stories too.

A pilot had to step to a spare jet cause he prolly broke his and was in a big hurry, rushin the crew chief until the chief just gave up and let him go. well soon after we got a call that he shut down at end of runway. seems trying to drift a jet around corners doesn't work he managed to scrape all the fins and half the missile off the wingtip launcher.

Or when guys in the shops next door were trying to pull an engine out of an f-16 and no matter how hard they tried it wouldn't come out. they would push it in, and then slam it back out.....no dice. they cant find anything so they call someone else over and 5 mins of being there they find that the throttle is still connected and now it is bent and twisted....they might hav gotten it out if they kept pullin on it..

 

[CHKNFKR]

Today was a two for one deal, the expensive part was the fault of the operator, the painful part was my own fault.

So today i get a non-emergency maintenance call, i pack up my tools and head out to the vehicle. when i get there the driver tells me he was trying to drop his trailer and call it a night but when he pulled the release handle it wouldn't budge. before calling maintenance he thought it would be smart to throw a ratchet strap on the handle and go to town. It turns out that before the ratchet strap completely pulled the release handle off the 5th wheel it bent the cam plate all to hell and sheered the guide rod for the jaw lock. at this point i crawl up between the axles for a close up view of the jaws themselves and see whats causing everything to bind up. the left side teflon plate had sheered off its rear most stud and folded up on itself. It took a new cam plate, new release handle, 30 tonnes of lift between the ramps and the trailer, and 2 tonnes of pull on the handle before she let go of the kingpin.

now with the truck and trailer uncoupled I start working on repairing the jaws and the lock, trying to avoid buying a whole new 5th wheel. lets just say my thumb found the working side of the jaws while it was working.

finally got the jaws to lock shut but couldn't get the release to work properly, so I ordered a whole new 5th wheel and submitted a report to the senior mech and supply sgt. someones getting a statement of charges.....

 

[robertc1024]

Bummer - and the thumb?

 

[r1hatman]

How about having to take off the power steering pump and air conditioner assembly three times cause I didn't put it a water pump when I had the fan off to get old radiator out and could get to it with ease, or when I took it off the first time to put a thermostat in. Oh well, live and learn!

 

[robertc1024]

How about the wrong oil pump gasket? First re-build I ever did. Put everything in, gas - spark, aluminum flywheel, Crane cam, badazz valve seals, started right up oil pressue = 0. Had to pull the friggin engine+ tranny to put the right 1 of 3 oil pump gaskets in.

 

[CHKNFKR]

the thumb is a little bigger than it should be and not quite the right color, but otherwise fine.

as for the water pump and the oil pump gasket. some things are better learned the hard way. one thing i have discovered about learning the hard way is once you learn it, you never forget.

 

[dp88]

The other day was going to check my brakes and rotate my tires. I got the tires off and decided to clean them. I Got them all clean, rotated them, torqued them down, lowered car... Then remembered the whole reason I took them off was to look at the brakes.

 

[robertc1024]

The other day was going to check my brakes and rotate my tires. I got the tires off and decided to clean them. I Got them all clean, rotated them, torqued them down, lowered car... Then remembered the whole reason I took them off was to look at the brakes.

CBF - classic brain fart - we've all been there bro.