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Four years of torquing heads wrong before a buddy stopped me at the shop in Tulsa
I been turning wrenches on diesels for about eight years now, but it wasn't until six months ago that I found out I'd been torquing cylinder heads completely backwards. A buddy of mine from an old shop in Tulsa came by to help me on a 5.9 Cummins rebuild, and he watched me start tightening from the middle out like I always did. He just laughed and said I was pushing oil into the wrong spots cause I wasn't following the exact bolt sequence the manual called for. I pulled out the book and sure enough, I'd been using a generic pattern for years thinking it was close enough. That mistake probably cost me a few head gaskets and a lot of time chasing leaks I could've avoided. Has anyone else found out they were doing a basic step wrong for way too long?
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spencer_ross14d ago
Pushing oil into the wrong spots" is a great way to put it. I spent two years on my first diesel rebuild using a torque wrench that was way off calibration because I dropped it on the concrete floor of my garage. Never checked it, just kept cranking away. Blew three head gaskets before a guy at a parts store asked me when I last had it tested. Felt like a real genius when he handed me the loaner and everything finally sealed up.
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alex_coleman14d ago
They say you learn something new every day, but this kind of stuff makes you wonder what else you've been doing wrong for a decade... I feel your pain on that torque wrench thing. I bet half the stuff in my toolbox has been dropped more times than I can count. Mine's got a nice little dent from when I knocked it off the bed of my truck onto the driveway and just figured it was fine since it still clicked. Probably explains why that last head gasket job on my old 7.3 took three tries before it stopped weeping coolant. Made me feel like a real rookie for someone who's been doing this long enough to know better.
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