The $40 timing light from a pawn shop in Tulsa that flipped my whole tune-up method

I grabbed it on a whim while picking up a used jack, and the first time I used it on a 2004 F-150 with a rough idle, it showed my marks were off by a full tooth, so now I always double check with a light before touching the distributor, has anyone else had a cheap tool beat out their expensive stuff?

1 comments

1 Comment

pat_murray1627d ago

Bought a $15 timing light at a garage sale back in 2019. Same deal. My fancy digital one kept giving me readings that were off by a few degrees. The cheap one was spot on. Used it on an old Chevy 350 and it showed the distributor was a tooth off. Fixed the idle in ten minutes. Now that pawn shop light stays in the truck toolbox. Expensive stuff ain't always better.