Murphy's law

[Torn Mind]

When one thing breaks, other things just break at around the same time, even if they are not dependent systems.

Fuel pump dying, but not dead. Just so happens that it's plastic and torqued on tighter than many suspension bolts.

Brake hose failing. Then I learned the factory overtightened the brake line and made it impossible to remove. Then when I tried to remove the hard line, I turned the other end's flare nut the wrong way. Then I had to get a new union and hose. Removed the master cylinder.
Even a new Toyota caliper had torn boots for caliper pins.

Then exacerbating problems by "cleaning" a MAF.
Recently installed Valve cover gasket by Fel Pro apparently is defective and already dying.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

When one thing breaks, other things just break at around the same time, even if they are not dependent systems.

Fuel pump dying, but not dead. Just so happens that it's plastic and torqued on tighter than many suspension bolts.

Brake hose failing. Then I learned the factory overtightened the brake line and made it impossible to remove. Then when I tried to remove the hard line, I turned the other end's flare nut the wrong way. Then I had to get a new union and hose. Removed the master cylinder.
Even a new Toyota caliper had torn boots for caliper pins.

Then exacerbating problems by "cleaning" a MAF.
Recently installed Valve cover gasket by Fel Pro apparently is defective and already dying.

I'm not so sure it works that way. I always have some repair on my 30-year-old SUV during an average year, but the vehicle is running out of things at the end of their MTBF lives.

You mentioned a fuel pump. Online guides suggest a fuel pump will last for about 100,000 miles. But that's a statistical average, and any given fuel pump might last for twice those miles. Here's my anecdotal contribution.

I had an idiot light for "tank empty" coming on when the tank was full. I correctly (eventually correctly) diagnosed this as a defective fuel-gauge sending unit (on the gas tank), because both the gauge (which was working) and the flakey idiot light drew their signal from the same device. I chose to have the gas-tank removed so they could replace the item. It took three months to get the new unit from a warehouse in Japan, where it had been located.

Once the tank was removed in this initial replacement operation, it was a wise thing to replace the fuel pump, which had lasted 202,000 miles --- also installed on the fuel tank. Vehicle performance with the new pump improved. Not sure about the fuel-level sending unit, but the pump was long past its expected life-span. Yet, mechanics servicing the car would say that the old one was still working. It was, but not as well as a replacement.