I was sitting at a light on the I-10 frontage road when I heard this rattling noise that got worse as I accelerated. Pulled over, popped the hood, and the chain was slapping against the guide. Had to get it towed to my buddy's garage and we spent the whole weekend pulling the front cover and replacing the tensioner and chain. The plastic guide had shattered into pieces, some of which were stuck in the oil pickup. Has anyone else seen these M9R engines eat timing components this early?
I was helping my buddy swap the fuel pump on his old Ford in his garage outside Austin. Got it all hooked up and the engine would fire but die after a few seconds... turned out the return line had a tiny crack I missed. Cost me two extra hours and a trip to the parts store for a $12 replacement hose. Has anyone else had a small fuel line issue turn into a full afternoon project?
He said I was asking for galling or overtorquing issues, so I switched to a dry torque spec with a slight grease on the threads only. Anyone else run into problems from too much anti-seize causing the plugs to back out?
After fighting a spongy pedal on my 2003 F-150 for three Saturdays in a row, I finally tried a $40 Motiv pressure bleeder and got a firm pedal in 20 minutes flat - has anyone else found a tool that made them rethink their whole approach to a basic job?
Last month I spent $600 on a Snap-On scanner for my shop, and honestly my $200 Autel does 90% of the same stuff. At Indy Auto on a 2018 Ford F-150 last week, the Snap-On couldn't even pull a specific module code that the Autel caught. Am I missing something, or are we just paying for the name?
I was in the middle of checking timing on a 2005 F-150 at my shop in Cleveland last Tuesday. The customer had been complaining about pinging under load and I figured I'd nail it down quick. Right as I got the light lined up on the harmonic balancer, the pickup clamp gave out and the light just stopped working. No spare in my box, no advance notice. Had to eyeball the timing by ear and feel, then order a replacement for 40 bucks online. Has anyone else had a critical tool fail at the worst possible moment and had to work around it?
I bought a no-name torque wrench off Amazon for like $150 thinking I saved a bunch. First time I used it on my F150's lug nuts, it clicked at like 60 lb-ft when I had it set to 100. Almost trashed my wheel studs before I checked it with a borrowed Snap-On. Anyone else get burned by a cheap torque wrench that lied to you?
I bought it last month to diagnose a crank no start on my 2010 F-150 but after tapping the ECM codes and finding a bad ground I fixed it in an hour so now I'm wondering did that money buy me real speed or just the feeling of being a pro, what's everyone else's take on home mechanics dropping real money on pro gear?
I was helping a buddy swap oil on his 2015 Civic last weekend and watched him crank that drain plug down like he was torquing lug nuts. I had to stop him because I've seen way too many stripped pans in my 8 years of turning wrenches. The spec on most modern cars is only 18-25 ft-lbs, you barely need more than wrist effort plus a quarter turn. A stripped oil pan means a $200+ replacement job at a shop, plus you're stuck with a leaky car in the meantime. Has anyone else had to explain to customers that more force doesn't mean better seal?
Last winter I had a Ford F-150 in the shop with a dragging rear caliper. Customer said it was eating pads every 6 months. I was about to order a whole new caliper for $85 when a guy I worked with years ago told me to just pop the piston out with some compressed air and clean the bore. Tried it with the C-clamp trick first to get it loose, wiped out the crud with brake cleaner, and slapped it back together. Been 3 months and no issues. Anyone else bother rebuilding calipers or just swap them out?
He said he's been using the same brand of basic filter on his 40-truck fleet for 15 years and has never had a failure, which made me wonder if I've been overpaying for premium filters on my personal truck for no reason - anyone else ever get called out like that by someone with way more experience?
I saw three cars come in last month with stripped oil pans because guys kept cranking down on those plugs. The spec is usually 18-25 ft-lbs, not arm-strong tight. A torque wrench costs maybe 40 bucks and saves you from a 300 dollar pan replacement. How many stripped plugs have you guys seen this year?
I was driving back from a job near Glendale when I heard a clunk. Pulled over and found the front passenger brake caliper hanging by one bolt. Turns out I forgot to torque the lower bolt after a pad swap the day before. Spent 45 minutes on the shoulder with a jack and a spare bolt I luckily had in my toolbox. Has anyone else had a bolt back out on them after brake work? What do you do to double check your own work?
I had a 2004 Corolla come in last month with a stripped oil pan thread. Customer was mad because he just changed the oil himself. I pulled the plug and saw he used a 3/8 ratchet and just cranked it down. That moment I realized I do the same thing half the time. Always thought tighter was better, but really I was just asking for trouble. Now I use a torque wrench set to 18 ft-lbs on every single oil change I do. Anyone else ever mess up a pan this way or am I the only slow learner?
I was packing wheel bearings by hand for years, just smearing grease on the outside and calling it good. Last month a seasoned tech at the shop on 3rd Street looked at my work and said "where's the inner bearing?" I pulled it out bone dry. Has anyone else been doing something basic totally backwards for way too long?
Pulled a 4L60E from a 2002 Silverado at Pick-n-Pull last month. Guy said it shifted fine. Got it home, swapped it in, and it slips in 3rd gear worse than the one I took out. Spent 3 days on my back for nothing. Any of you guys had luck with junkyard transmissions or is it just a gamble I should have skipped?
I grabbed this set from a random auto parts store near Tacoma because my cheap old ones were finally stripped. The guy at the counter swore they'd hold up to daily use, even showed me some warranty card. First job was a lug nut on a rusty F-150, and the 19mm split right down the side on the second impact hit. I mean it just cracked open like an egg, scared the heck out of me. So I tried to return them and the store said it was 'user error' and wouldn't take them back. Eight bucks per socket I basically threw in the trash. Anyone else had a tool brand that looked solid but turned out to be total junk?
Had a guy come in with a Chevy Silverado, said his rotors kept warping. I swapped them twice before he mentioned his buddy at a shop in Phoenix always did 80 ft-lbs, not the 100 I was cranking. Looked it up and realized the manual spec is 140 ft-lbs for that model. Felt like an idiot for not double checking the year and trim level sooner. Anyone else learn a basic habit was backwards from one customer?
Turned out to be a loose heat shield bolt right above the exhaust manifold, took me all of 2 minutes to tighten once I actually looked in the right spot. Has anyone else had a simple fix hide from them for way too long?
Ngl, I had a 2015 Ford F-150 come in for a simple brake job and ended up snapping a bleeder screw on the first wheel. Took me almost 2 hours to extract it before I could even start the real work. Then a customer showed up at 4 PM demanding their car was ready by 5 even though I told them it'd be tomorrow. Has anyone else had a day where everything just fights back like that?
He said he never uses impact guns on lug nuts, just a torque wrench by hand. Made me realize I've been overtightening everything for 8 years. Has anyone else switched back to hand tools for certain jobs?
I was changing out a control arm on a 2012 F-150 last Tuesday in my shop outside Phoenix. Been doing this since 2009, independent since 2016. I always cranked those castle nuts down until the cotter pin hole lined up, which usually meant a good bit past spec. Never thought twice about it. Then I got a 2020 Ram 1500 in for a front end noise. Customer said it was the second set of lower ball joints in 30,000 miles. I pulled the old ones out and the nylon insert was completely shot, melted basically. That moment I realized I'd been doing the same thing to every truck I worked on for a decade. Picked up a new torque wrench that afternoon and started setting mine to 90 lb-ft like the manual says. Has anyone else found out they were overtightening stuff their whole career?