TIL I'd been torqueing cylinder head bolts in the wrong sequence for 5 years

Got a call from a buddy last month about a rough running 6.7 Cummins in his '14 Ram. I'd helped him reseal the head gasket a few years back and he said it started leaking again. I pulled out my service manual for the first time in forever and realized I'd been starting from the middle and going clockwise instead of the actual star pattern. No wonder that job came back. Took me 3 hours to redo it, but it's been holding pressure now for weeks. Anyone else ever follow an old timer's shortcut that turned out to be dead wrong?

2 comments

2 Comments

blair_allen1mo ago

I've definitely been that guy following a shortcut that turned out to be a longcut to a redo. My neighbor's Ford 300 straight six taught me that lesson the hard way too.

matthewh281mo ago

Man those straight sixes will humble you quick. Used to think I knew everything about engines until I tried to shortcut a timing job on one of those. That thing fought me every step of the way. Took three tries and two weekends before I finally got it right. Really changed my whole approach to working on stuff. Now I take the time to think through the steps instead of just jumping in.