Internal shorts in car batteries are no joke. I admit I've been pretty cavalier about working around batteries my whole life
What's the worst you've hurt yourself working on cars?
- Thread starter ripcord
- Start date
Two days before Christmas in 2023 I was in a vehicle on the lift. On my way out of the vehicle the ladder tipped sending me down to the floor from 8 feet in the air. Broken wrist in 5 spots and broke the joint. Just about 2 months ago is when things got back to normal except for the fact that my range of motion is not the same as before. I was in a hurry (flat rate) trying to save some time and that was my biggest mistake
I've probably banged, bumped, bruised, and cut myself enough times, it's tough to say. One stands out though:
Lying under the MG bleeding the clutch with a vacuum bleeder. Not wearing safety goggles was a mistake. Pulled the hose off the bleeder, but a drop of brake fluid flew off the end of the hose into my eye, even though I had my glasses on. It burned. So, I grab the bottle of brake fluid as I'm running to the kitchen to wash my eye, as I'm reading the label on the brake fluid that says "in case of eye contact, seek medical attention". I call the poison control center, asking if that means get myself to the ER, but they said flush it with water for 5 minutes and go to the ER if it swells shut or things get worse. Got much more conscientious about wearing safety goggles, especially when under the car.
Lying under the MG bleeding the clutch with a vacuum bleeder. Not wearing safety goggles was a mistake. Pulled the hose off the bleeder, but a drop of brake fluid flew off the end of the hose into my eye, even though I had my glasses on. It burned. So, I grab the bottle of brake fluid as I'm running to the kitchen to wash my eye, as I'm reading the label on the brake fluid that says "in case of eye contact, seek medical attention". I call the poison control center, asking if that means get myself to the ER, but they said flush it with water for 5 minutes and go to the ER if it swells shut or things get worse. Got much more conscientious about wearing safety goggles, especially when under the car.
AutoMechanic
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I’ve actually never had a serious injury and hope I never do. My worst was probably when a knuckle, hub and bearing assembly fell on my foot. If I hadn’t of been wearing steel toes then I probably would’ve lost a few toes. Steel toes saved the day that day. That was in school so it was my first time ever taking a knuckle off. I knew the next time that I had to hold it lol.
I’m trying to picture this. Are the bearing races under some kind of tension that causes them to “explode”?
You definitely got lucky on that one
Jammed a razor blade carpet cutter into the skin between my thumb and hand while installing new carpet in the Shadow. 4 stitches.
Removing C4 transmission by hand, no jack
Lever on side of transmission stuck in rib cage so no way for me to move. Yelled for help which no one came. Dad came outside to check on me. He pulled me out by me feet and removed transmission from my hands. I held that C4 for what seemed like hours although was more like a half hour. This was the scariest one of many. As a kid we never had right equipment so motors and transmission got pulled by hands. I wonder why I have a cage in my back?
Lever on side of transmission stuck in rib cage so no way for me to move. Yelled for help which no one came. Dad came outside to check on me. He pulled me out by me feet and removed transmission from my hands. I held that C4 for what seemed like hours although was more like a half hour. This was the scariest one of many. As a kid we never had right equipment so motors and transmission got pulled by hands. I wonder why I have a cage in my back?
I held on to that driveshaft to keep from being run over. That would have been it. And oh man was that stupid! And expensive.
Oh god, that hurts just thinking about it. Owwww.
Smashed my pinky between the long and short arms of a lift
I was pissed and I swung the short front arm as hard as I could into the longer rear arm , my pinky was in the way when they hit each other
Split my finger wide open. No stitches but needed them , I just wrapped it real tight for about a month to heal up lost my nail but it grew back eventually
I was pissed and I swung the short front arm as hard as I could into the longer rear arm , my pinky was in the way when they hit each other
Split my finger wide open. No stitches but needed them , I just wrapped it real tight for about a month to heal up lost my nail but it grew back eventually
I’m certain there was that initial “oh f$&@“ moment.
covered the left front fender of my GTO in aircraft paint stripper and leaned against it wearing mesh soccer shorts and no underwear ...
to this day i do not know whether any of the neighbors saw me strip naked and run into our swimming pool ...
to this day i do not know whether any of the neighbors saw me strip naked and run into our swimming pool ...
Hahaha, that's awful and kind of funny at the same time.
at that age i thought the three best words in the English language had to be "stripper" and "no pants" but sadly the meaning changes dramatically when you insert the terms "aircraft paint" in front of "stripper" ...
Extremely painful. I chose to not take any pain medication. Not because I am macho but because I know people who became addicted to painkillers and I didn't want to take the chance. The physical therapy SUCKED
Torn rotator cuff dropping an exhaust system on a Ford Fusion six cylinder. As I was removing the exhaust I was using jack stands to hold the exhaust up. I bumped one of the stands and knocked the exhaust off and tried to catch it so it wouldn’t hit me. It was loud enough I heard it tear.
+ 1
I've never been addicted to pain killers but I was on a very powerful narcotic for a few months back in 2021 due to a freak arthritic flare-up in my neck. The pain and associated lack of sleep was so bad I thought I was losing my mind. Even taking the narcotic meds as prescribed, I went through withdrawal after stopping them. It sucked big time for a week straight.