Working on Cars - Biggest Peeves?

Most of us do auto maintenance at home. I was wondering what are your biggest pet peeves about wrenching in the garage or driveway? For me it's nuts & bolts seized from years of oxidation. Over the years I've acquired different tools for different situations, and several cans of PB Blaster on hand, but still once in a while I get one that's really frustrating.

What's your biggest pet peeve, or PITA situation?

Probably not being able to fit my hands/tools where I need.

Biggest peeve is not having a lift.If I had a lift I wouldn't have a peeve  

When i drop a bolt/tool and, instead of landing in plain sight, it instantly teleports to an alternate dimension never to be found again.

Sir Psycho Sexy wrote:

When i drop a bolt/tool and, instead of landing in plain sight, it instantly teleports to an alternate dimension never to be found again.

Or it rolls to a frustratingly difficult place to reach...

I've always said the best way to find the exact geographic center of a vehicle is to drop something underneath it while working on it in the snow....

yall hit all my major peeves in these first comments!

Since I've gotten older.
Working on my vehicles because I have to, not because I want to.


The dropped fastener thing is a reality too.

Try doing it for a living.....you end up just driving your own car until something catastrophic happens. THEN you have to fix it.

I get most annoyed fixing other people's cars who have madly squealing belts. Why do they make non-spring loaded belt tensioners? Why do they put steel bolts into aluminum threads? ARRGGHH!!

Steel bolts in aluminum castings is probably my next biggest pet peeve. Do automotive engineers not have a materials engineer to discuss with???? WTF.

Ha! So true. Chrysler loves to do that Deek....

I don't mind dropping fasteners because I have 2 drawers in my workbench full of extras. It's when a socket falls off my ratchet, plays Plinko down the engine compartment, and doesn't hit the floor

My biggest pet peeve is not having the right tool. being younger and not having the extensive tool collection many of you may have I always run into a situation where the tool I have is either a bit too long or too short or I'm missing the one odd ball size I need. Thankfully as the years go by my tool collection is getting bigger, but as I get more experienced I want to tackle bigger jobs which requires specialized tools and starts the circle over again. And of course you never realize you need that one socket that's missing from the set until the car is apart, so now how the hell do I get to the store to buy what I need? Working on cars can be extremely frustrating, making it that much more rewarding when you finally get it right lol

Derek wrote:

And of course you never realize you need that one socket that's missing from the set until the car is apart, so now how the hell do I get to the store to buy what I need?

AMAN! aint that the truth!

I hate knuckle-busters, and cutting myself. Then doing a knuckle-buster in the exact same spot three minutes later. Ouch!

When you have the car apart in anyway and put it back together but have one nut or bolt left over....  

NOT HAVING A GARAGE TO WORK IN!
DAMMIT.

I can't stand dropping fasteners and not finding them (and I do). I don't care if I have all the spares in the world, I don't like not being able to account for them.

I think my favorite one is when everywhere online, and everyone you talk to is like, "yeah, just pull on the rotor a little bit and it will come off!"

Except for it doesn't come off.
Because the bearing is melted.
And welded itself to the shaft.
And I smashed my thumb with a hammer.

Rusty bolts!

When you spend more time looking for the tool than actually working on the car.

^^^ the more time you spend working on cars, the less this one is a problem. Your tool box will grow, and soon your friends will come looking to you for the right tool, rather than going out to the store.

Until you have a massive arsenal of tools at your disposal, it always helps to make friends with those who do!

One of my biggest peeves is working in the cold. If you're like me and don't have the comfort of a heated garage, invest in a kerosene torpedo heater (not a space heater), something upwards of 45k BTU. You an actually work comfortably outside the garage in the dead of winter with one of these.

Pair with a creeper, so your body is off the ground, and you'll find yourself quite toasty under the car.

What I was really trying to get at was in my auto shop class when I'm doing something simple like an oil change and I turn around to grab the 16MM wrench to tighten the drain plug back up and it grows legs and walks away. Yes, I always put the tools back in their spots before I grab another one. This helps with organization and so I can have a legitimate excuse to yell at the person who took it away.

Oh, I see. That's always going to be an issue, but less so when you're not sharing tools. Tool caddies can help a lot here. I like the rolling ones that also function as a seat.

AA wrote:

Your tool box will grow, and soon your friends will come looking to you for the right tool, rather than going out to the store.

Yeah, and then they won't put them away correctly, if at all so you end up finding 1/2" stuff with the 3/8" stuff, hammers in the plier drawer, etc...

Then you'll know who your real friends are!

Yep, just finished valve covers, belt tensioner, serpentine belt, spark plugs, idler pulleys, oil change, plug change on my friends 02 grand am gt and the cold definitely sux