What's your worst rebuilding #$@%!! "facepalm" mistakes?

Wesspur
Rugged made
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alexcagle

alexcagle

Cutoff Saw Specialist
. AS Supporting Member.
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I once forgot to oil the lower rod bearing on a Husqvarna K760, and it was bone dry during first startup.
It made a "SCREETCH!!" noise after about two seconds, and a poof; a white puff of smoke came out of the muffler. Luckily I have spares, but it still cost me an hour to swap out.....
 
Installed a piston backwards, had the saw mostly back together before I decided I should check. At least it's a quick fix.

Drove a flywheel side seal in a little too deep, locked up against the crank bearing, saw wouldn't turn over. Pulled the seal and the clutch side seal and found that the bearing had eaten its race, overall the locked up crank was probably a good thing. Turned a 20 minute job into a couple weeks of gathering parts and building a case splitter.
 
I haven't done nearly as much work as a lot of you. This is a hobby to me, not my occupation or side job. Recently I was re-building a saw from boxes of parts. I cleaned up a cylinder, checked squish, YB4'd the base, and assembled. I'm not sure why but when I quit for the night I always stuff paper towel in open cases, cylinder, etc. I turned a plug in to seal the plug hole and it was stripped. The next day I put a 'sert in and did it all over again. Finished assembly and turned it over. I didn't install the 'sert square so it leaked and the cylinder was finished. That whole saw kind of fought me with little things like that. When you didn't take it apart you'll never know what you'll run into during assembly...
 
bplust said:
Crank-up rebuild on a 365. Wouldn't start after 50 pulls. Checked spark, was good. Fiddled with the metering lever half a dozen times, tried different carbs. Figured the new filter was defective... That's when I realized there was no fuel in it.
Click to expand...
Sure made for some clean disassembly I bet!
 
bplust said:
Crank-up rebuild on a 365. Wouldn't start after 50 pulls. Checked spark, was good. Fiddled with the metering lever half a dozen times, tried different carbs. Figured the new filter was defective... That's when I realized there was no fuel in it.
Click to expand...
At least that one is harmless and cost you only 50 pulls.


I've only done a rebuild on the Dayton saw and was very meticulous when I took it apart to make sure I didn't miss anything or screw up anything as I put it back together. The worst mistake I made, and I don't remember exactly what the parts were, but I did needed to disassemble something that I just put on so that I could install another part that should have gone on first. I guess I got lucky - this mistake only cost me time.

I'm sure if I do more of these it's not a matter of IF, but a matter of when a mistake costs me $$$.
 
I was in the process of reassembling my Jonsered 625 with a 670 top end and made a mental (key word there) note to install the intake boot before I put the cylinder on the saw. I got everything nice and clean, got the mating surfaces all gooped up and slipped the cylinder on and tightened everything up. Perfect!

Then I noticed the intake boot sitting beside the saw... :omg:
 
CJ Brown said:
I was in the process of reassembling my Jonsered 625 with a 670 top end and made a mental (key word there) note to install the intake boot before I put the cylinder on the saw. I got everything nice and clean, got the mating surfaces all gooped up and slipped the cylinder on and tightened everything up. Perfect!

Then I noticed the intake boot sitting beside the saw... :omg:
Click to expand...
At least it didn’t get lost!
 
You didn't say in your title that it had to be a chainsaw rebuild, so here is my biggest blunder in my 45 years of wrenching.

I decided to put new casters on my tool box at work since they weren't rolling like they should, and add a foot brake as well. Since that thing is heavy, I decided to put it up on the hoist. It was perched kind of precariously up there, so I was super cautious not to bump it and send it tumbling down. I installed all the new casters, and 3 out of 4 of the bolts installed that held the foot brake on. The 4th bolt was a little stubborn to install, so I gave it a little push up. And that was the biggest mistake I have made - ever. In very slow motion, the box began to tip, and I was hinging on for all I was worth, but there was no denying gravity that day. It was a huge crash, tools went everywhere, and the mechanic in the bay next to me just couldn't help himself from laughing (it had to be hilarious from his point of view). Of course the box was destroyed, and so was my pride for a few days. (Not to mention my bank account)

No happy ending on that one.
 
Didn't have my glasses on when I installed circlips on ported 346XP. Sold it to a pro carver when he was here at my shop (NC). He lives in FL. Clip came out trashed cyl. Had to do another and ship back to him.
Shep
 
ironman_gq said:
Installed a piston backwards, had the saw mostly back together before I decided I should check. At least it's a quick fix.
Click to expand...
*
I had a brand new Stihl TS420 that idled strange, and disassembly revealed a factory installed backwards piston.
They (Stihl), wouldn't believe me either, so I just fixed it and moved on.
 

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