A farmer in Nebraska told me I was over-torquing his tractor's injector lines and causing his own leaks.

He was right. I started using a torque wrench set to 18 ft-lbs instead of just 'good and tight' and my comeback rate on those jobs dropped to zero. Anyone else have a simple fix they were stubborn about?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_ben1mo ago

That line about being stubborn about a simple fix hits home. My buddy who runs a small shop fought with a coolant leak on a common engine for weeks. He was sure it was the water pump. A retired mechanic stopped by, took one look, and told him to just replace the cheap o-ring on the thermostat housing first. My friend felt like a fool when that was it, just a dried out ten cent ring.

gonzalez.wesley1mo ago

But what if your friend was right to start with the water pump? On a lot of those common engines, the pump is the usual suspect and fails way more often than that o-ring. Starting with the most likely, even if it's harder, can save time in the long run. You chase the simple fix first and you might just waste hours on a hunch. Sometimes being stubborn and methodical pays off more than getting lucky with a quick tip.

kaib1817d ago

My cousin Mike spent three whole weekends on his old truck, positive the rough idle was a bad fuel pump. He replaced it twice. His neighbor finally asked if he'd checked the vacuum line to the brake booster. It was a cracked hose, maybe two inches long, costing less than a buck. He had the whole dash apart for nothing.