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Old timer told me to stop using impact wrenches on valve covers, made me listen
I used to zip valve covers down with a 3/8 impact set to like 10 ft-lbs. Thought I was saving time. A guy I work with, been doing this 40 years, pulled me aside after I cracked a gasket on a Cummins ISX. He said 'that gun is still too strong, the gasket swells uneven and you'll get a leak in 6 months.' So I switched to a T-handle 1/4 inch ratchet and do it all by feel now. Has anyone else had an old timer's advice on torque actually save you a comeback job?
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aaron7085mo ago
My old foreman made me torque head bolts by hand on my first rebuild. He said a click wrench can lie if you're not dead on the spec. That engine ran for years without a single leak. You really do learn the feel after a while.
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adam_nguyen75mo ago
Fast is usually how you end up doing things twice.
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wade_perez3mo ago
Wait, hand torquing head bolts? Like with just a wrench and your arm, no torque wrench at all? That's wild lol. I mean I get the whole "feel" thing after doing it a bunch, but trusting that on something as critical as head bolts sounds like a gamble to me. One slipped wrist or misjudgment and you're pulling the whole head back off.
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