I had a general question about using a torque wrench related to a recent rover repair. I have the kind of wrench that you rotate the bottom part of the handle until it lines up with the inscribed number of ft lbs on the handle, it then clicks as the lower part of the handle pivots slightly as the preset torque amount is reached as you tighten. What I noticed as I was tighten the front timing cover, following the rave manual on the sequence, was that you would hit the torque on all the bolts then you could run through the sequence again and the bolts would tighten slightly more before the wrench would click again. You could run through this sequence a couple times before you would get no movement of the bolt and the wrench would immediately click. I was wondering from some of you experienced mechanics if you should only tighten the bolts until the wrench first clicks and then stop? or if you should run through the tightening sequence a couple times until you get no movement of the bolt as the wrench clicks? This is something I have always wondered about, I'm not having any leak issue with my front cover but, was wondering if I did it right. Thanks

 

I'd stop at the first click with that wrench. Also, please don't take this the wrong way, but I'd spend the coin on a good torque wrench. The calibration will be certified and what you're describing won't happen. I think a lot of Snap-On stuff can be overpriced but for a good general purpose torque their TQFR series really can't be beat.

 

thanks, so is there a risk of over/under tightening with this wrench? Is it not normal for it to take several go arounds to finally hit the torque?

 

Alot of different factors will change the actual torque your putting on the bolt (length of bolt, wet/dry, coolant on it/oil on it) ARP has a ridiculously thorough write up on this.

ARP-bolts.com | ARP - World-leading Fastener Technology

Look around on the technical stuff, more than you ever want to know.

 

^^
very true.

It is normal for some of the bolts to need a slight retighten on the second go-around but not all and not by much. Definitely not like you're describing. Also, nothing inherently wrong with the type of wrench you're using.

 

Thanks for the replys. The actual additional rotation was probably another 1/8"

 

My 40 cheapo wrench has worked well and I have yet to have an issue, but I am not a professional mechanic and only bust it out every now and then.