I bought my Miata in '07 and in September of '10 my wife and I bought an '07 CX-7. The CX-7 was making a humming noise in the rear, so we took it to the dealer for wheel bearing replacement, which was covered under warranty.
While the service was being done, we saw and decided on the spot to buy an '09 Mazda 3 S Hatch, cause it had 30,000 miles on it and was an unheard of deal of a price. Plus the CX-7 sucks on fuel mileage and it requires premium fuel, while the 3 runs on 87 and gets like 30mpg.
My wife drove the 3 right to work from the dealer, and I drove the CX-7 home. I get home, drop the kids off at the pool, grab my lunchbox and go down to the garage to take my Miata to work. It's 12:40PM and I have to be at work by 2. I decide to add some antifreeze and oil to my car. After I do that, I fire it up and I'm gone. I drive about 4 miles and notice the car is running a lot cooler than normal, and I start to smell antifreeze. I think to myself, "I wonder if I forgot to put the radiator cap on?" I pull over and pop the hood...antifreeze everywhere...the radiator cap was sitting on top of my radiator support. I was on my way to grab a bite for lunch, and was about 5 minutes away, so I decide to put my cap back on. I should have left it off and just drove it to the restaurant, but I guess I wasn't thinking.
I drive to the restaurant and by the time i get there, the water temp gauge is higher than I ever thought it could go. I assume "it's so low on coolant from forgetting to put the cap off, that's why it's running hot". LIKE A DUMBASS I pop the hood at the restaurant with the engine off of course, and I quickly spin the radiator cap off. What happens next is obvious. It erupts $hitty sticky stinky antifreeze about 6 feet in the air, to which my reflexes cause me to do a 180* spin, and once gravity catches up with the geyser, the antifreeze pours down on me like a shower. Awesome. That was the first time I had to take a shower when I got to work, before my shift started. I'd say FML, but it's my own stupid fault and I deserved it.
Hope this was worth a laugh for you guys!

Anybody else have stories of "I decided to do this to my car, and this is what ended up happening?"
Example: My friend's wife shows up at my house one day and says, "I'm going hiking right behind your house and was on the way to the state game lands, but on the way here, my car was shaking. Joe just did a brake job and I don't know what's wrong?" I grab my lug wrench and procede to tighten her ready to fall off lug nuts.

 

-Car low on oil from track day
-Stop at Vatozone to buy a quart
-Add oil in parking lot
-Drive away
-Get home
-OIL EVERYWHERE
-Oil cap sitting in valley on valve cover.


Well, ----.

 

Not me, but a friend did nearly the same thing. Unfortunately, he let the car get a lot hotter, and the anitfreeze was hot enough to scald him pretty badly.

MartinezA92, the PO of my car did that. Still haven't cleaned it all off.

 

I've done that on the truck, fortunately the oil stayed put.

 

I did the same exact thing a few years ago. Only difference was I had the FM vented hood on the car at the time so oil started spraying all over the windshield when I got on the highway.

 

Did oil change on friends truck changed filter and oil. Started it up and went into garage to get something and came back to an Exxon Valdez size oil slick in driveway. Aparently the old filter gasket never came off motor and I put new filter on with two gaskets....nice.

 

i've definitely taken a coolant shower before. ---- that ----. it's so gross

 

I recently left the oil cap off before driving about 90 miles on the freeway. At about mile 85, My windshield started getting foggy. Pulled into a gas station to clean it up and that's when i discovered the stream of oil coming from the leading edge of the hood. Checked the oil level before heading out, and it was still just below the full marker. Been periodically wiping oil residue off my hood ever since.

 

I did this once when I was in a rush, felt so stupid, glad I'm not the only one!

what a mess it makes too.

 

I was changing the oil on my station wagon one day, buttoned everything up and shut the hood. Took it for a drive and everything was fine.

Then I realized I couldn't find my phone, and found it completely smashed under the hood hours later.

 

I set my phone on my spoiler of a Trans Am I once had...then I took the car for a drive and forgot about my phone. I never found it...at least that's what I think happened to it.

 

Doing oil change and forgot to add oil. Remembered after the oil pressure gauge stayed at 0.

 

Took a phone call while taping a car's engine bay up for paint. Taped up the whole car; paper, plastic, everything. Finished right at the end of work on Friday, couldn't find phone. Heard phone ringing in paint booth.

Found phone on rad support on Monday after the car had been painted. A little rough from overspray and a little bent from the hood, but still worked.

 

I once put 14 gallons of gas in the miata before. Shot straight up about 20 feet for 3 minutes after I pulled out the nozzle.

I'm never, ever buying one of those perma-caps again.

 

I stopped a guy from putting diesel in his Impala a few years ago. He claimed that it was "flex fuel" and could run on both, but was then confused as to why he couldn't get the nozzle in.

 

I did this at two autocrosses in a row. 16 runs worth of blow by never really came out of that engine bay.

 

Years ago a co-worker decided to do an oil-change during his lunch hour.
In the K-Mart parking lot.
I get a phone call at work.
'Hey, why is my oil bright red?'



'Did you add the new oil already?'

'Yeah.'

'Whatever you do, don't start it.'


Best part: Telling the other guys at work what he did...

 

Ok, I will play.
A few years ago I added a quart of oil to my old beater 4x4, I forgot and left the filler cap on the air filter housing. Unlike the others that found there cap conveniently laying were they left it, mine was gone. I inserted a red shop rag into the valve cover to stem the spray of oil, and proceeded on my merry way. The truck was old and had a little blow by so it did not take long for an oil soaked shop rag to get blown out of the valve cover onto the exhaust manifold. I became aware of this situation by the strange flickering light I happened to see while driving down the road.

 

Back when I had my eclipse, I thought it would be a good idea to just unbolt all of the A/C lines with out removing the pressure from the lines. As soon as I got about 3 or so threads backed off ---- exploded everywhere. All over the windshield, my face and hands, and a good portion of the garage wall.

 

Years ago, when hooking everything back up after installing a rebuilt motor in my first car, I managed to attach the fuel supply line to a vacuum port on the carb (and vice-versa). Tried to start car, filled cylinders with gasoline, hydrolock. Still not knowing what was wrong, I pulled the plugs, disconnected the ignition and spun the motor. Gasoline EVERYWHERE. Amazingly, that motor ran OK in the end (I think I changed the oil about 12 times in the first week