Do I have bad Juju or something?

I've been working on cars since my first car. Both professionally and out of necessity/hobby. Sure, there is the occasional job that kicks your but, or "blossoms" into more than you expected. But what the heck!! This year I can't win to save my life. First my Benz blows a head gasket and spirals out of control. I won't even get into it, but let's just say 8 weeks later, its' still not on the road. I also am trying to get my mini up and running after a 2-year slumber so I can sell it. It "ran when parked" for real. I drove that car thousands of miles a year. I had to replace the starter after the slumber, so I sent it out to be re-built. It was very reasonable and only took a week to get it back. After the third crank the starter stopped spinning. One of the magnets inside came loose. So, instead of messing around I bought a rebuild unit from eBay (news ones are pricey). I get it in and all is well....not really. I'm trying to figure out if the no-start is ignition or fuel and the rebuild starter craps out!! My wife's van needs sway-bar links and I'm scared to walk towards the van with tools in my hand for fear of the apocalyptic catastrophe that surely awaits.

Really, I'v never had a string of bad juju for this long. Usually one job kicks my butt, the next goes ok. Really, I'm thinking I should just give away all my tools, tool box to welder and get a hobby that's less fraught with disaster, like BASE jumping.

Do the base jumping with your tools. If I have something like that go wrong, I usually stop whatever I'm working on, and go do something else for awhile.

Sounds like the normal outbreak of automotive problems you get once in a while. Usually around Christmas for me. I managed to avoid it last year but it just got me in the ass recently.

"When it rains, it pours".

Don't even entertain the thought that there is a Juju, and if there is one that it may be bad. Negativity brings only negativity. Focus powar.

Set time aside to do things slowly and properly.

I find that when people have cases of bad Juju, it means they are rushed and don't have the time.

Just take a day and sort stuff out fro 8am to 8pm with minimal distraction. Hard to do? Sure. But well worth it!

I've had days like that... hell, I had a car that was like that. I was working on a friend's MINI that needed a bunch of things done and every single - normally routine - task was a PITA.

Ian F wrote: I've had days like that... hell, I had a car that was like that. I was working on a friend's MINI that needed a bunch of things done and every single - normally routine - task was a PITA.

Who would've seen that coming on a car with a cramped engine bay housing a BMW mill?

I'd rather deal w/ small daily or weekly doses of broken/ aggravating E36 M3 than to have vehicle(s) save it up like in an account w/ interest to drop it on me in one huge cluster berkeley.

the sea doo i recently bought has been like that. every time i pulled it apart it was like peeling an onion. the wear ring needs replaced, so i start pulling the pump, oh, the pump oil has never been changed, and is a bit low, so that means its broken down to the point it ruined the seal, so that means a pump rebuild with new bearings and seal. oh by the way, the crap in the oil combined with the seal and wore grooves in the shaft, so that needs to be replaced too. while you're in there, the impeller looks like someone ran a few rocks through, so thats gonna need "refreshing". then after the pump was in order, the hull shaft seal needed attention, along with another bearing/seal carrier that was damaged as a result of the negligence of the former.

then it was the carbs, needing rebuild and then pulling them again to chase down the cause of the accelerator pump not working.

now, after all that, one of the welded-in plugs in the exhaust pipe started leaking, so that has to be repaired now too.

basically anything that could have possibly gone wrong, has done. i "think" now i might be able to just enjoy the thing instead of fixing crap all the time.

So, electrical problems with a B/L product, a complicated and costly problem with Benz, and prematurely worn parts on a Chrysler product. All sounds pretty normal to me.

I would be worried if you had a running, high mileage Masserati Bi-Turbo or Citreon, that there would be a sign of the apocalypse

I've NEVER had a job not kick my butt. I thought it was a law of physics that no automotive project ever goes smoothly and always requires significantly more effort, parts, and money than originally intended.

It's gotten so bad that if I want to do a $200 project, I make sure I have $400 available...

I here ya buddy, I got the "free Camaro" deal... I can invest $5000.00 to get it "RIGHT" (No forking chance) I can dump it right now for nothing (not what I want to do) OR I can divert a couple hundred dollars a month over the next year and make it into something I don't really need around.

I am more afraid of tossing it in case I CAN use it, because I am afraid of pissing off the automotive gods.

HappyAndy wrote: So, electrical problems with a B/L product, a complicated and costly problem with Benz, and prematurely worn parts on a Chrysler product. All sounds pretty normal to me.

I wasn't going to point out the obvious for him, but since you did we can all pile on now ;)

GameboyRMH wrote:

Ian F wrote: I've had days like that... hell, I had a car that was like that. I was working on a friend's MINI that needed a bunch of things done and every single - normally routine - task was a PITA.

Who would've seen that coming on a car with a cramped engine bay housing a BMW mill?

Except nothing I was doing had anything to do with the engine... suspension and brakes. The MINI engine is surprisingly easy to work on after you learn a few tricks. "Service mode" is your best friend.

John Brown wrote:

HappyAndy wrote: So, electrical problems with a B/L product, a complicated and costly problem with Benz, and prematurely worn parts on a Chrysler product. All sounds pretty normal to me.

I wasn't going to point out the obvious for him, but since you did we can all pile on now ;)

Well, before you guys pile on, the Chrysler product in question has 120K on it. I don't have a problem with worn sway bar links at that point.
But yea, whining about a Benz and B/L electrics is kinds like complaining about sand in "special" places after sex on the beach. In either case, you should have known your "pain vs. pleasure" scale is going to be WAAAY off before you're half-way through.

I think all those years of trouble-free miles on the Mini are to blame. Maybe it's making up for lost time? I'll just let you know I'm probably not on the table as a buyer right now - new baby is more expensive than anticipated.

I got rid of a saab due to that,

Finished up prepping for paint... went to start the car to pull it out of the garage to clean the garage up.. no start.

Get the starter out and rebuild it... no start. Get a junkyard starter.. slow start. Get a professionally rebuilt start... the car runs thirty seconds before the alternator locks up and shreds the serpentine belt..

I stripped the car and sent it to the JY after that. I had no more love for it. It was an NG900 that was already kicking my ass with paint and paint prep.. and that was the final straw

bastomatic wrote: I think all those years of trouble-free miles on the Mini are to blame. Maybe it's making up for lost time? I'll just let you know I'm probably not on the table as a buyer right now - new baby is more expensive than anticipated.

Thanks for letting me know. Sorry I couldn't get it running sooner. And yeah, maybe this is the last 10 years of trouble-free motoring coming back to get me. When I sell it, I hope it goes to someone here. I want it to be "in the family".
And yeah, kids aren't free, or even cheap. But, they are very worth it.

mad_machine wrote: I got rid of a saab due to that, Finished up prepping for paint... went to start the car to pull it out of the garage to clean the garage up.. no start. Get the starter out and rebuild it... no start. Get a junkyard starter.. slow start. Get a professionally rebuilt start... the car runs thirty seconds before the alternator locks up and shreds the serpentine belt.. I stripped the car and sent it to the JY after that. I had no more love for it. It was an NG900 that was already kicking my ass with paint and paint prep.. and that was the final straw

That's kinda where I am with the Benz. I think I went into it here somewhere else but man, it's just an ongoing story.

Oh, and note I said "probably." When you do get it running I still want a call. Maybe a test drive will convince me I need it.

DrBoost wrote:

mad_machine wrote: I got rid of a saab due to that, Finished up prepping for paint... went to start the car to pull it out of the garage to clean the garage up.. no start. Get the starter out and rebuild it... no start. Get a junkyard starter.. slow start. Get a professionally rebuilt start... the car runs thirty seconds before the alternator locks up and shreds the serpentine belt.. I stripped the car and sent it to the JY after that. I had no more love for it. It was an NG900 that was already kicking my ass with paint and paint prep.. and that was the final straw

That's kinda where I am with the Benz. I think I went into it here somewhere else but man, it's just an ongoing story.

Sorry to hear that... stories like that are just so frustrating

bastomatic wrote: Oh, and note I said "probably." When you do get it running I still want a call. Maybe a test drive will convince me I need it.

Will do

mad_machine wrote:

DrBoost wrote:

mad_machine wrote: I got rid of a saab due to that, Finished up prepping for paint... went to start the car to pull it out of the garage to clean the garage up.. no start. Get the starter out and rebuild it... no start. Get a junkyard starter.. slow start. Get a professionally rebuilt start... the car runs thirty seconds before the alternator locks up and shreds the serpentine belt.. I stripped the car and sent it to the JY after that. I had no more love for it. It was an NG900 that was already kicking my ass with paint and paint prep.. and that was the final straw

That's kinda where I am with the Benz. I think I went into it here somewhere else but man, it's just an ongoing story.

Sorry to hear that... stories like that are just so frustrating

Thanks. That's what blowing my mind. I've had things go wrong, but NEVER anywhere even approaching this level. I finally took it to a shop because I just don't have the time. The mechanic there (he's been working on Euro cars for 30 years) said he's never cussed this much at any one car in his life.
Kill it with fire and make s'mores.

Your car is suicidal. It wants to die. Be careful or it'll try and take you with it.