Had a full week with zero comebacks and it felt unreal

Ngl, last week was one of those rare unicorn weeks where every job I touched went smooth. Started with a brake job on a 2015 F-150 that usually fights me, but the rotors practically fell off. Then a timing chain on a 3.5L EcoBoost that lined up first try, no drama. By Friday I was waiting for something to blow up but it never did. Has anyone else had a stretch like that or am I just lucky this time?

2 comments

2 Comments

terry9142d ago

Honestly, I gotta say a 3.5L timing chain that lines up first try sounds like a unicorn for real. Most of those I've touched needed some coaxing with the VCT phasers. Tbh, you might have gotten lucky with that one, but I'd take it and run. Ngl, a full week with no comebacks is rare enough that you should probably buy a lottery ticket while you're on a roll.

carter.thea2d ago

But @terry914, you've been at this longer than me probably, so I gotta ask - how often do you see those VCT phasers actually fail versus just needing a little wiggle to line up? In my experience, a lot of guys jump straight to blaming the phasers when it's really just the chain tensioner being a pain. I've had a few where I spent more time fighting the timing marks than actually fixing anything. Your mileage may vary of course, but I've noticed the 3.5L seems to be real picky about the exact sequence you torque things down. Made me wonder if some of those "failed" jobs were really just installation order issues in disguise.