Torque wrench on your drain plug?

Status
Not open for further replies.
I have a tendency to over tighten everything so I always use a torque wrench these days. It protects me from myself...
 
Originally Posted by sw99
I have a tendency to over tighten everything so I always use a torque wrench these days. It protects me from myself...


I completely understand. I need a torque wrench for many OEM's who list 20 ft-lbs or less on the plug; otherwise, I will over-tighten it.
 
Snug. Snug plus a quarter turn. Apply the Grrrr factor. And the best, "with all my might". I love it.

I occasionally use a torque wrench on a drain plug to check my arm calibration. Sometimes my elbow joint creaks before I reach the designated torque and I need to compensate.
 
Originally Posted by Leo99
Originally Posted by DejaVue
Some drain plugs in aluminum pans have an official torque specification a good bit higher than I expected. So, torque wrench. Though I wouldn't lose sleep over the feels method.

There's not much reason to not use a torque wrench on something if possible.


I trust my feel more than a torque wrench.


I know my feel is good but for some jobs its not that good especially when messing with aluminum. I own some nice torque tools and have no problem getting good use out of them when I think its needed.
 
For my first 25 years wrenching, I never put a torque wrench on any drain plug. Just snugged it down and gave it another bump... "2 ugga duggas." LOL Never had any leaks or problems, but looking back, I was really mangling crush washers.
For the last 8 years, I have been using a torque wrench... It's hard to think I'm getting less lazy with age but I guess it's possible! The Tacoma oil plug is 28 ft-lb which is a pretty solid spec for a drain plug and I would probably continue to get away with not using a torque wrench. However, the Tacoma transmission plug is 15 ft-lb and the Corvette oil plug is 16 ft-lb... these specs are much lighter and I prefer to use a torque wrench here. And generally, I am more comfortable knowing the job is done as right as I can possibly get it, and I drive with a bit more confidence.
 
Originally Posted by das_peikko
I think my post above is the most thorough answer in this whole thread.

I agree with you. I rarely have used a torque wrench on the many hundreds of oil changes I've done over the years (used to help lots of neighbors, friends and family). But . . .

I am not as young as I used to be and just not quite as strong. A couple of times lately I used my Craftsman Torque wrench to check it. Recently my oldest daughter was helping me and I asked her to see if she could get it any tighter. She couldn't budge it with a long 3/8" drive breaker bar. So I guess I'm still good.
 
Originally Posted by Trav
Just to add something to this thread. Always be careful with aftermarket drain plugs, lots of guys use magnetic plugs that are either too short in the threads or inferior materials.
I see some of the VW and Honda aluminum pans with short aftermarket plugs about 12mm long where the OE is over 20mm, this is a PITA just waiting to happen.
Aluminum crush washers seal better at lower torque settings.


That is just one part of aftermarket bolts - the threads in American bolts are coarse vs. non-American are fine, atleast that is in the Japanese vehicles.
Used a aftermarket transmission drain bolt and there isn't a day regret that decision, it will seep over time. Put a OEM bolt but then the threads were messed up.
 
The difference is in the sizing, Japanese and Euro cars are usually metric the US uses a lot of SAE so yes the threads will be different.
 
There's a lot to gain using a torque wrench and nothing to lose. This is especially true if you already have one sitting in your toolbox.
 
Never. But if I had the tool... I figure since I made it through 15+ oil changes on Jag X300 without issue with an aluminum pan notorious for over-torquing damage I must not be bearing down too much.
 
Originally Posted by TheLawnRanger
There's a lot to gain using a torque wrench and nothing to lose. This is especially true if you already have one sitting in your toolbox.


Since when did we start talking common sense here?
lol.gif
That about sums it up nicely.
 
You don't really need a torque wrench for the oil-drain plug.

14-mm-socket Toyota drain plugs specify 27 lbfâ‹…ft. If your wrench is 8-inch-long, you need to apply 27 lbf * 12 in / 8 in = 40.5 lbf. You can estimate that manually. Also, when the gasket is crunched, it will suddenly stop turning anyway and the torque will increase exponentially -- that's another sign that you've tightened it correctly. Do not overtighten it. I had several drain plugs that had completely loosened because of too hard nonmetal OEM washers (now, they use soft gasket-material coating over aluminum) and they still wouldn't leak even though you could remove the plugs with your fingers. Always use a new washer.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top