Heard a guy at the parts counter say he never uses torque wrenches on intake manifolds

I was picking up oil filters this morning and overheard this older mechanic telling the parts guy he just tightens them by feel. No torque wrench ever. I dont know why that stuck with me but it made me think about how many things I do by the book when maybe I dont need to. Still gonna use mine on head bolts though lmao. Has anyone else picked up little shortcuts like that from just being around the shop?

3 comments

3 Comments

owens.laura10d agoMost Upvoted

Laughing at that guy until he strips a thread on a plastic intake and has to helicoil it at 4:45 on a Friday. I use a torque wrench on EVERYTHING now because I learned the hard way that "by feel" turns into "by snap" real quick with aluminum threads.

henry15010d ago

Hear you loud and clear on that one. I stripped a bolt on my valve cover once because I thought I had the feel for it, ended up having to tap it out on a Saturday morning. Now I double check the torque specs every time, even for simple stuff, because that extra 30 seconds is way better than an hour of fixing a mistake.

jessica33110d ago

Serious" is a strong word. Honestly, half the time people act like stripping a bolt is a personal tragedy. I've definitely snugged things up by feel for years and never had an issue. Maybe I'm just lucky, but a plastic intake manifold seems pretty forgiving anyway. Helicoils work fine and it takes ten minutes. Feels like a lot of drama over something you can fix with a trip to the auto parts store.