Old timer told me I was torquing bolts wrong and he was right

I had this older mechanic, Frank, watch me do a head gasket job on a 4.0 Jeep about two years ago. He didn't say anything until I was done, then he just shook his head and said I was relying too much on my torque wrench and not feeling the bolt. I mean, I always thought if the wrench clicked, you were golden. But he showed me how a lot of bolts, especially on older blocks, have crud in the threads that makes the wrench click early but you haven't actually seated it right. He had me clean every bolt hole with a tap and blow it out before even starting. Took way longer but I haven't had a single leak since then on any gasket job. Has anyone else found that no matter how good your wrench is, you still gotta prep the threads like crazy?

3 comments

3 Comments

wrenh791mo ago

Actually, tap and die sets should only be used for cleaning gunk not cutting new threads into the block.

grace9261mo ago

Did your buddy help, or just stand there watching it strip out?

wyatt_fox681mo ago

How come nobody talks about chasing threads in aluminum? That stuff strips like butter.

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