As the title suggests a dedicated thread for folks on here that have experienced true and dreaded automotive related ball ache. The thread shouldn't be just dedicated to VAG motors but rather it is dedicated to those who have experienced above and beyond levels of ball ache when working on cars. A thread where things happen that initially appear not to be even remotely possible but yet as you lie on the cold floor of the garage, become human origami in the car's footwell or are legs akimbo a la @dodgy it actually does and you're left querying your very existence. @PhilRyder just had it with that bloody bushing, I had it with the stupid rear shock foam. Needless to say pics and or video of the incident are a bonus so that we can all see and sympathise on the superhuman level of ball ache experienced by the poster.
Jeepers, I'm a trendsetter, wow. Aye, the fusebox area, or anything to do with the bulkhead/loom/servo on a golf is a nightmare to get at. Surprisingly I can do the speedo cable on a classic mini from above quite easily despite it only being visible by spy satellite normally. Now what would have made a good picture was me carrying an oak table at work, stood still to reposition it and my leg bending sideways as my kneecap gave out, apparently there is cctv of it, but I've not seen it. And I didn't damage the table either.
Swapping the starter motor. Thinking "I've done this before it's simples. All I do is undo the bolts remove the connectors and fit the new one". WRONG. Spent days trying to get the engine mount bolt in because I hadn't propped the engine.DOH Lesson learned RTFM as a refresher before doing anything.
wouldn't this be considered kneeache rather than ballache? Although I'm not sure what's worse Also argh and hope you're OK / it's getting better
My ballache contribution: replacing the heater matrix without completely removing the dash, horrible knuckle-mangler that And any job that you think will take less than an hour that ends up way more involved than first expected
Here's my contribution: Took my gauge cluster apart to install glow gauge faces and broke the rev counter pin. It took me almost a week to figure out what I had done since I did the same thing on the second set of clocks I own so I thought this was normal. To think I did all this so that I could see by gauges better at night, which I can now but not I can't see the needles at night. I also broke the part of the blue ribbon the connects the top right bulb
My ballache of the week is changing the rear air con pipes on the Discovery 3. They run down the sill, behind the compressor and then disappear into the nether! 10/10 never want to do that job again. Aircon is nice tho
I decided to replace the earth strap on the bonnet of my mk2 and managed to snap the bolt head on the bonnet and on the inner wing. Then decided to drill the rest of the bolt to tap in a new thread on the bonnet. The drill bit broke half way through so tried to knock it through and didn't realise there is a square nut that the bolt screws into there and dislodged the nut from inside the bonnet. After fishing it out I managed to retap it eventually holding it place through a very tight gap on the strengthening bar. Almost there when I overtightened the bolt and knakered the thread. Had to do it all again a few days later but this time with a stainless steel bolt.
