Took me 2 blown head gaskets to realize my torque wrench was lying

I kept chasing head bolt torque specs on a 7.3 Powerstroke and snapping studs left and right... checked the torque wrench against a beam style at a shop in Tulsa and it was off by 30 ft-lbs. Has anyone else had a cheap click-style wrench mess with their work like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_val2mo ago

30 ft-lbs off... how is that even possible

oliviadixon2mo ago

Did you ever check if you were using the right torque sequence? Operator error is more common than bad tools.

james67225d ago

Operator error is more common than bad tools"... sure, but a 30 ft-lb discrepancy is straight up tool failure not user error. Click-style wrenches are notorious for drifting out of spec if you drop them or never calibrate them, so @the_val it's definitely possible if the mechanism is worn. I had a Harbor Freight one that was dead on for light bolts but fell apart at higher torque, so it's not a stretch to see a cheap wrench being way off.