What are te nastiest conditions you've ever wrenched in?

Had an OT Toyota Hilux ,Clutch gave out in Thompson Falls , Montana, mid January, minus 20, Had a scissor jack and some RR ties , laying on 1 1/2 inch driveway crush,
Got it together , TERRIBLY HUNGOVER , went to test , Truck didn't move .
Pulled it apart again , AND the little oval sticker that said "flywheel side " was present, BUT, there was a black one on the other side that was painted over.
SO I put the same reman plate in twice , Working for twenty minutes , warming for 45 minutes , etc. etc.

 

My worst was pulling parts off a car (a bell housing and clutch set up) in a junkyard that was sitting on a mosquito infested tire pile, with no repellant.

blue

 

Hands down, the winter of 2010-2011 in NW North Dakota. That storm lasted 70 days or so. I will never again complain about heat! Heat is a good problem to have.

 

Had to lay in a puddle about 8-10 inchs deep with water, mud and trans fluid. My son pulled the trans line off while 4-wheeling in the middle of the night. Puddle was as long as the truck and had a large branch under the water. At least he didn't ruin trans.

 

I used to work out of a janky steel storage unit even in the winter, and here in Wyoming that ment twenty below with wind blowing snow in the door. I surely don't miss those days Haha

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Replaced a fuel pump etc on a dirt tracker that was on an open trailer, while being towed down the highway to the races. Real smart!

 

Michigan.

 

122 F. My driveway. Swapped a good used overdrive in. I used plywood sheeting for shade and soaked the drive to cool it some.

 

Winter of 1984 during a snow and ice storm - Replaced a timing belt in an Apartment Complex Parking lot on a Ford Pinto

 

A buddy called me, on a Saturday a few years back. During a Blizzard snow storm. He bought a Procomp lift for his Jeep. He asked me if I could come over for a minute. So I did..... He had both axles out of his jeep, in a gravel driveway, shoveling snow away from it..... It was in the teens....

He said, I have to go to work tomorrow, and didn't realize how big a job this was..... 5 hours in blowing snow, on a gravel driveway.

We still laugh about it today

 

God that would have been a sight to see!!!

 

Out in my grandpa's farmyard, in the middle of a woodsie in his barn. Temps dropping and sleet turned to snow. My friend's '53 Chevy emergency brake was on when the temps were above freezing, and then the temps dropped and the moisture froze the shoes to the drum. We pulled off the wheel, banged and clanged on the thing until someone brought a propane torch and we heated the drum for what seemed like an hour - probably only 10-15 minutes. Finallly came free, but damn, just brutally cold as the wind picked up and the snow came sideways.

 

Today was first time I'd seen this thread - read the entire 13 pages. Damn, you guys make me feel like a wienie - I've had a couple of pretty uncomfortable experiences, but none worthy of posting here, and I've been working on cars for 47 years.
Three conclusions I get from reading this thread:
1. Winter sucks!!
2. Almost all of these tales of woe involve older cars. While the new ones are more reliable, they are almost impossible to fix in most of the roadside settings on this thread. I'd rather have an old car break 10x and I can fix it than a new car break once and I can't.
3. Hats off to you military guys, past and present. Besides some awful conditions, having the bad guys nearby trying to kill you while you're bustin' knuckles fixing something is the toughest of all we've read here. I'm sure I speak for everyone here when I say thank you! Freedom is not free, and you are appreciated.

 

pulling m1a1 power packs after they have been running all damn day in the middle of summer in iraq. it was so hot, even your finger nails and teeth sweat. but to make it worse, you had that extremely fine dirt that turned you into a sugar cookie all day, every day.... i love grass.

 

Freezing rain storm in Halifax NS circa 1980
Changed a starter in a 67 mustang on a hill. No jack, two wheels up on the curb with a river of freezing salty water washing the bolts down the hill in the gutter
I miss the blind ignorance and blatant tenacity of being twenty!


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not automotive but doing watermain break in the middle of Buffalo n.y. great winters. 10ft down in a hole in the middle of the street at 1:00am

 

Done it at below zero in the snow and in the sun at 100 above. Hots the worst.

 

101 degrees heat with unreal humidity in st.louis at a NHRA national,dressed in all black and working on a funny car!!! *Good point is it was my job at the time and i got paid!

 

To close to zero changing head gaskets on a GMC Toro-Flow diesel.

 

This was an inconvenient place to run out of gas... and blow a tire...