Horrible Mechanical Failures: could get another 100 miles out of it with some zipties

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > Horrible Mechanical Failures: could get another 100 miles out of it with some zipties

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grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Here's a spectacular video of an F4 Phantom crashing into a concrete wall at 500mph:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--_R...player_embedded

-Spiffy- posted:

Hahhaha everything about that video is retarded.

I love the retards drag racing those "10-second" alcohol ATVs at night on an unlit public road without so much as a helmet. Regular Darwin-award nominees right there. poo poo, everything about every single person in this video screamed Darwin-quality. How can people be so cavalier with their lives? At least the cameramen recognized some of the risks.

grover fucked around with this message at 15:43 on Nov 11, 2009

# ¿ Nov 11, 2009 15:41

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# ¿ Jan 22, 2021 11:07

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

ab0z posted:

I've seen that one before, as it says in the comments it wasn't a test of the car, but of the wall and facility. the car had lots of weight in the back.

Sort of like if you were driving the car at 60mph on the highway with a trunk full of luggage?

If the YouTube comment is right, that's a Holden Commodore and not a Chinese car, but I still don't think I'd want to take one on vacation.

# ¿ Nov 13, 2009 21:49

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Disciple of Pain posted:

If you luggage consists of many hundreds of pounds of steel bolted to the floor, then yes. When they test these walls, the cars are over-max weight by a LOT. There is a video of a VW T3 disintegrating and we later find out it had some ungodly amount of steel welded into the bed.

Well that's stupid, how is that suppose to test for failure of the seatbacks to prevent luggage penetration into the passenger compartment? The rear seats in my 98 Ford Escort failed when my wife had an accident, even with virtually nothing in the trunk and a mere 20mph front-end impact.

The steel should simply be sitting in the trunk, not welded in. Or other ballast added up to the car's stated load capacity, like suitcases full of sand or something.

# ¿ Nov 14, 2009 20:39

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Started building a new patio today. Effort came to a halt pretty quickly. We've had this trailer loaded WAY more in the past, but this must've been its day to fail.

Aw, poo poo!

Bit beyond hot glue and duct tape.

The tire is dry rotted and cracked, and not worth the prep to weld. No idea what happened to the two missing bolts.

$25 for a poorly matched wheel.

I'm kinda pissed Lowes doesn't stock proper spare parts for their trailers, but at least it fits on the axle, more or less, and seems to work. It's narrower and ruts like mad, though; cuts our load capacity in about half. I bought a matched wheel in case the mismatch would create problems, but it really doesn't seem to make a difference, so I'll probably just return the 2nd one. Somehow in the debacle of getting the one-wheeled cart back home, I lost the pin, too, DOH!

grover fucked around with this message at 00:15 on Dec 12, 2009

# ¿ Dec 12, 2009 00:12

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

ExtremeODD posted:

If you have got a tractor supply around they have wheels that would work for that.

Closest is over an hour away; this wheel seems to be OK, even if it's not as good as the original. The cart itself is showing its age and I'm not sure how long the rest of it will last. We've completed most of our big projects we bought the cart for, so as long as it lasts the weekend, I'm happy.

# ¿ Dec 12, 2009 01:19

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Boeing 777 wing tested to failure (good stuff starts at 2:25)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe9PVaFGl3o

grover fucked around with this message at 23:17 on Feb 4, 2010

# ¿ Feb 4, 2010 23:15

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

sharkytm posted:

100 million containers per year.
10,000 at lost at sea (reported... according to some sources, it could be 5x that)

So...0.1% are lost at sea. Maybe its as high as .5%, but thats a LOT of containers. The worst thing is that, depending on whats inside, they can remain "floating" (usually just barely above the surface) for weeks. Major loving navigation hazard. I've seen one when we were at sea out near NJ. Maersk SeaLand container, with about 2" of freeboard. scary poo poo.

Archaeologists of the future will thank us.

# ¿ Feb 7, 2010 00:05

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Sockington posted:

Mallcruiser thread ahoy.

Is it just me, or did he park that monstrosity diagonally across 6 or 8 spaces? What, he worried about a car door dinging his tires or something?

# ¿ Feb 9, 2010 22:34

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

While only tangentially mechanical failure, I think Staplerfahrer Klaus fits well with this thread. If you haven't seen it before, it's a German spoof forklift training video, demonstrating what not to do. Starts out rather slow, but pretty quickly gets quite funny:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMhI0KZpYnc

Speaking of forklift accidents and subsequent mechanical failure, this is what happens when a structural member supporting a shitload of russian vodka is forcibly removed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stDWNam7RtE

grover fucked around with this message at 18:17 on Feb 15, 2010

# ¿ Feb 15, 2010 17:56

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

FYI, that very same video was JUST posted, and was what InitialDave was replying to.

# ¿ Feb 16, 2010 01:31

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

frozenphil posted:

Mind linking me, cause I don't see it.

Bottom of the previous page:

http://forums.somethingawful.com/sh...1#post372549588

# ¿ Feb 19, 2010 03:53

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

You should be able to analyze the cracks to tell how they were caused; there are always tell-tale signs (though the rust may make them difficult to spot now). I suspect casting defect and fatigue.

# ¿ Apr 24, 2010 04:07

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Why are retreads still legal?

# ¿ May 6, 2010 00:46

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

nubie7357 posted:

Watch the crane on the right, about 20 seconds in, something leaves it at a high velocity, right before it catches fire. Makes the locomotive engine on page 27 seem mild in comparison.

Some more info on that video:

http://news.smh.com.au/business/wor...81208-6tpl.html

quote:

A crane operator has been injured after a winch failed at Wesfarmers Ltd's Curragh coal mine in central Queensland.

"The incident involved one of the mine's five draglines which was undergoing scheduled maintenance at the time," the retail and resources conglomerate said in a statement on Monday.

"The boom of the dragline was being lowered by four cranes and, as a result of winch failure with one of the cranes, the boom fell around 30 metres."

Wesfarmers said the crane operator received minor injuries.

"The incident caused major structural damage to the dragline's boom," it said.

# ¿ May 8, 2010 14:58

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

InterceptorV8 posted:

Mines are somehow pretty safe for humans, but death for machines.

Well, at least in America. China still manages to kill about 20,000 mine workers every year.

grover fucked around with this message at 19:32 on May 8, 2010

# ¿ May 8, 2010 19:30

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Blocko posted:

* it's probably fake

As flat as it was smashed, it clearly had no engine in it. So yeah, it was staged.

# ¿ May 9, 2010 02:53

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Das Volk posted:

I love that FLW's work is instantly recognizable. I didn't even know it was his work but I automatically thought "hey that's Frank Wright"

It's great not just for the architectural design, but also the engineering breakthroughs that went into the cantilevered beams. Truly revolutionary stuff.

It's impressive in person, too. Some rather funny spots, too. For instance, his customer (yes, he built this house on commission for someone) wanted a desk to work on. FWL told him no; he couldn't have a desk, because it would block a small piece of his super-special corner window from opening, and he thought it would look bad when all the other windows were open except that one. Ended up cutting an arc-shaped wedge out of the desk as a compromise. The client asked for a 4-car garage, but FLW gave him a carport instead. (Client enclosed it after FLW left.) They had to buy 3-legged chairs because he put rough cut local stone floor in the dining room/living room, and normal chairs rocked horribly. House is full of little stuff like this. I tell you what; it's a beautiful house, but absolutely unlivable.

grover fucked around with this message at 01:51 on May 28, 2010

# ¿ May 28, 2010 01:45

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

The head gasket in my camaro finally went

It's been leaking for years, but just coolant into the cylinder, and it's been drivable and gently caress me, I'd rather top off the radiator every once in a while than replace the head gasket. But it's been getting worse and worse (1qt of coolant every 20 miles) and as of yesterday, it will no longer start- starter's stalled, and I suspect hydrolock. If all goes well, I'll have some pictures for this thread some point this weekend. I'm just crossing my fingers they're not *too* horrible....

# ¿ May 28, 2010 19:38

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

ab0z posted:

Launch it with the catapult on the flight deck of the ship in your avatar.

Well, I'll see if I can replace the head-gasket first

If the block is cracked or something...

# ¿ May 28, 2010 20:09

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

ab0z posted:

...then you'll have to spend $5 on a new one?

The car's 17 years old any pretty much everything else on it has worn out, too. I'm looking forward to the challenge of replacing the headgasket; I've replaced pretty much everything else on it over the years. At some point, I've gotta cut my losses and sell it for scrap or parts or whatever, though; it's just not worth it to keep it. Replacing the engine is that point for me. Or maybe the guy down the street who wants to buy it and gut it and replace the engine, transmission and rear end and turn it into a drag racer but never seems to have any money will finally find some cash. He offered me $3k for it while I was still trying to sell it as a running car. I'd have to dump it for FAR less than that as a non-running car.

Speaking of mechanical failures, though:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZRMpxUniOw
Edit: hot drat, it looks like at the very end of the video, it actually kept flying

grover fucked around with this message at 20:24 on May 28, 2010

# ¿ May 28, 2010 20:14

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

ab0z posted:

Don't you just hate the timing on things like this.

He didn't actually have the $3000 or it'd be his car today! He just wanted to buy it.

# ¿ May 28, 2010 20:22

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Slow is Fast posted:

Which motor in your Camaro?

I think my dad sold his old 3.8 with a bad HG for a lemon LT1.

3.4L, unfortunately. It's my backup car at this point; so long as it runs fairly reliable, I'm happy. Hell, at this point, I'd just be happy if it runs .period.

I'm making slow progress. Found a little bit of milk on the valve covers, but none in the oil when I drained it, and very little on the valves. No signs of rust so far, so I don't think it was leaking much (if any) coolant into the oil. I DID manage to break half an electrical connector off, though (it's visible in the photo, right beside the thermostat).

Edit: just removed the lower intake manifold. Next up: exhaust manifolds. uggghhhhh

grover fucked around with this message at 21:14 on May 29, 2010

# ¿ May 29, 2010 20:02

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Cakefool posted:

Some people fail to understand their engine requires air.

Then how do you think boat engines work? DUH!

Speaking of hydrolock... 911's aren't immune, either:

# ¿ May 30, 2010 11:56

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

One of my plugs was dripping green fluid when I pulled it out, is that a problem?

grover fucked around with this message at 18:52 on May 31, 2010

# ¿ May 31, 2010 15:35

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

General_Failure posted:

What am I meant to be seeing here? is it that all the valves on the left seem to be failing to open?

Sorry, no actual mechanical failure in this picture besides my failure as a mechanic to finish the HG job up to that point; I was just venting. (Cylinder 5- far back on the left- is full of coolant.) I know a lot of ya'll do this for fun and horsepower, but I'm more of a "fix it when it breaks" sort of shadetree mechanic. I like working on my cars and don't trust anyone else to work on them, but I'm well over this repair by now, and simply getting frustrated. GM can bite my loving rear end, btw, for putting bolts in impossible positions.

I've since gotten the right-side head off completely except for one blind bolt in the back strapped to a cable harness that I just can't get leverage to break loose; I'll probably just cut the damned harness bracket tomorrow and replace it with some wire when I reassemble. I haven't hit the left side head bolts yet, but they should be pretty straightforward- plenty of clearance for a breaker bar. One last exhaust manifold bolt has thus far defeated me, though, it's the last thing between me and a brand new headgasket. I'm hoping inspiration will strike me tonight on some way to get it loose.

Slack3r posted:

Just undo the flanges at the "donuts" and pull the manifolds with the heads. Been doing that for years now. Much nicer pulling 4-6 fairly reachable bolts with real tools than undoing a bunch of hard to reach seized exhaust/head bolts.

You can then pull the manifolds off on the bench. It really is alot nicer.

Unfortunately, this, too, is impossible to reach

grover fucked around with this message at 01:36 on Jun 1, 2010

# ¿ Jun 1, 2010 00:43

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

As promised: mechanical failure. Amazing how such a tiny bit of damage can kill an engine.

Only registered members can see post attachments!

grover fucked around with this message at 00:30 on Jun 3, 2010

# ¿ Jun 2, 2010 23:52

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Why did they go with a pressurized radome on the 787 as opposed to the conventional way?

# ¿ Jun 9, 2010 09:36

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

EightBit posted:

If you're talking about the energy of a moving object, its usually momentum or kinetic energy; I've never seen the term inertial mass. You can't have inertia without mass.

Intertial mass is the mass you multiply times velocity to get inertia. It's the standard name for the variable m in the equation P=mv. I can't say I've ever heard it used in conversation before, but Nam Taf used it properly.

Also, momentum is rarely used to describe the energy of a moving object

# ¿ Aug 22, 2010 10:10

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Jonny Nox posted:

From the related videos I found this

More horrible corporate failure, but quite chilling nonetheless.

And the first link on THAT video is "Worker pulled through woodchipper."

I clicked. I shouldn't have.

# ¿ Aug 25, 2010 20:21

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Fayez Butts posted:

Was it like in Fargo?

Was another WorkSafeBC video.

# ¿ Aug 30, 2010 00:02

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

CommieGIR posted:

The ports pretty much on the bottom of the cylinder, likely died due to the air being sucked out of him

There's also a serious issue with explosions within the crankcase (such as those associated with a number of failures we've seen in this thread) blowing scavenge air doors off the engine and killing people standing beside them. To the point where original doors on older engines are being replaced with doors that feature integrated pressure relief valves.

# ¿ Nov 18, 2010 10:35

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Beach Bum posted:

I changed my brother's spark plugs the other day when he came to me complaining about a misfire.

WHAT THE gently caress

Those are the original MotorCraft Ford Factory OEM plugs. Did I mention the car has 83k on it?

They're platinum plugs, though; they still have 17,000 miles left!

# ¿ Dec 17, 2010 03:03

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

incredibull posted:

Well at least my ball joins failed at Home De... oh.

Nothing a little duck tape can't fix.

# ¿ Dec 19, 2010 15:19

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

InstantInfidel posted:

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local...ideo_shows.html

Emphasis mine; I had heard that from my dad and apparently he misread it. I think what actually happened is the incident took place outside of a city employee's home and the cars were his, not the idiots who were driving. Also, 'clipped'? More like demolished the passenger side but whatever.

Seems like a hell of a coincidence. Was the front-end loader parked there overnight, too, and snowed in?

I'm glad I'm not the taxpayer who's going to have to pay to fix those cars.

# ¿ Dec 30, 2010 15:10

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Maker Of Shoes posted:

At a certain point you have to ask yourself why you're getting so good at replacing those alternators. Then you realize it's something you really shouldn't be good at. I went through the same thing at dropping the gas tank in my Neon. I could get that bitch drained, unstrapped, unhooked and on the ground in 15 minutes. To be fair I had dropped it 6 times over the course of 2 weekends when tracking down fuel pressure issues.

Edit: I would like to publicly thank Chrysler for the rear end loving design of the Neon's fuel system. A large, tapered o-ring that had a recessed groove cut into it that probably costs a fraction of a cent to make makes for a $750 dollar repair, not including labor, should it ever fail. I still have nightmares about that god drat thing.

I got to the point where I could change out the alternator on my camaro in 15 minutes. 7 failures in 12 months will do that. I wasn't even doing anything wrong- they were just lovely rebuilt alternators and each one was failing for a different reason (though there were eventually some repeats). They were all under warranty, though. Didn't stop until I finally had enough and went and put in a brand new alternator and haven't had a problem since.

GnarlyCharlie- looks to me like your bolt backed off and the loosened connector shorted the terminal to ground. Whoever installed it hosed up.

grover fucked around with this message at 21:09 on Jan 7, 2011

# ¿ Jan 7, 2011 21:02

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

GnarlyCharlie4u posted:

it was me and the nut u see is the locknut. the other one melted completely.
neither of them moved before turning into liquid.
the cause was some godawful wiring (splicing 8ga to 2 ga) done to "repair my dangerous wiring" by a local dealership.

I wish I had gotten a picture of the last "new" alternator they gave me. catastrophic bearing failure after 50 mi

Why haven't the horrible alternator rebuild shops been sued out of existence yet?

# ¿ Jan 7, 2011 21:10

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Ola posted:

I think a can of soda would stay intact in a vacuum. Only 14 PSI delta, no big deal. It's even got an expansion sphere at the bottom. I submit that the can would survive until it struck the car on the other side of the parking lot, across the train tracks.

Someone here has a vacuum pump and can try this. PLEASE?

# ¿ Jan 28, 2011 00:06

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

InitialDave posted:

I'm just waiting to see who the first person to finally break down and start doing hoop stress calculations is.

They never fail from hoop stresses; the weak spot is the pop-top.

Pressure from freezing generally just blows the bottom out convex, which would decrease internal pressures dramatically, I'd think, and most likely be the worst damage.

# ¿ Jan 30, 2011 23:10

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

Sponge! posted:

Come now we both know a good weld can/should be stronger than the joined metals.

I never quite understood why this is conventional wisdom; even a perfect weld can never match the optimum alloy, processing and annealing that gives a solid piece of metal its particular combination of strength and flexibility. Plus, the process of welding weakens the surrounding metal. A good weld will be strong, yes, but not necessarily stronger than an uncut piece.

# ¿ Feb 4, 2011 21:26

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# ¿ Jan 22, 2021 11:07

grover: Jan 23, 2002; PEW PEW PEW

DJ Commie posted:

Welding filler is almost always specced to have a higher psi rating than the surrounding metal. You can always retreat metal after welding, which is what is done anyway if its that specialized. Or not welded in the first place.

I know welding submarine hulls is a big deal because the welds weaken the hull, even if perfect. There are a lot of tricks you can use for strength in sheet steel that are quite simply impossible to work into welding rods or post-weld heat treatments.

# ¿ Feb 4, 2011 21:43

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > Horrible Mechanical Failures: could get another 100 miles out of it with some zipties

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