Wasted 3 years torquing oil pan bolts by feel, then a spec sheet set me straight

Tightened an oil pan on a 2012 Civic to what I thought was snug, and the gasket squished out like a wet pancake... turns out the spec was 8 ft-lbs and I'd been doing around 40 the whole time. Who else learned torque specs the hard way after trusting their wrists for years?

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kai46318d ago

That 8 ft-lbs number sounds crazy low til you realize most torque wrenches barely read accurately that low anyway. I mean, I've seen guys snap bolts chasing specs that were basically the same as wrist-tight on a cold day. Maybe it's not the end of the world if your oil pan wasn't leaking before, but yeah, wet pancake is a pretty good sign you were overdoing it.