Torque Question...

[ineedacottage]

I was torquing down my flywheel today (first time using a torque wrench) with a borrowed torque wrench from my brother in law - he is away on vacation so I can not ask him any questions now - but it is the type where you twist it to the ft/lb setting on the handle and it gives one click when it hits the torque setting...how accurate are these?

I was having a difficult time until I used the claw end of a hammer in the flywheel teeth braced against a protrusion by the flywheel with a little metal arrow pointing towards the flywheel...then it seemed almost too easy; I could generate a lot of torque due to the leverage (it has at least an 18" handle). My other question is can I over torque with this type of torque wrench? Will over torquing cause any damage?

I guess I just want to make sure I used the torque wrench correctly and torqued the flywheel properly.

Thanks for your help.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Torque Question...

sound to me like you did it right. yes you can over torque. acccuracy, close enough.

 

[ineedacottage]

Re: Torque Question...

What are the consequences of over torquing?

The reason I ask is I had it set to 105 ft/lbs and I was trying to find various ways to hold the flywheel and must have tried about 15 times...I heard a click in some of those instances, but almost right away something would slip so I was unsure until I found the above mentioned technique. So, to over torque would it have to be set higher than 105 ft/lbs? It would seem so to me, but I am unsure...

Thanks a lot for your help!

 

[57whitehouse]

Re: Torque Question...

once the torque wrench clicks, you stop pulling it, you can continue to pull it tighter after the click and over tighten it. so stop after the click. some people let it click, back off, and then do it again until it clicks. that's ok, just don't keep pulling after it clicks.

 

[ineedacottage]

Re: Torque Question...

Ahhh,ok. I think I did do that, because I was expecting the torque wrench to click and release sort of (if that makes sense) and not allow me to keep pulling. After that I did do a few pull, click, back off, pull, click, back off etc.

Sounds like there is the slight possibility that I over torqued by your explanation. Besides the obvious of stripping the threads when over torquing is there any other damage that may happen now when I run the engine?

Thanks a lot for your help guys!

 

[57whitehouse]

Re: Torque Question...

best thing to do now is loosen the nut and re-torque it correctly. i can't answer if any damage is done.

maybe one of the other guys can give advice on that.

 

[F_R]

Re: Torque Question...

Gross over-torquing will spread the flywheel taper and it won't fit correctly any more. It can even break the taper at the keyway. Once it is spread, there is nothing you can do with it except replace it. However, you probably didn't go to such extremes, so I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[ineedacottage]

Re: Torque Question...

Thanks a lot for everyones help! I really appreciate it.

I think I will loosen the nut and re-torque it for peace of mind. Like imported_F_R said, I probably did not go to such extremes, but for something that will take 5-10 minutes, I'd rather be safe than sorry!

Thanks again for everyones help!

 

[F_R]

Re: Torque Question...

overtorquing usually comes from some clown tightening it with an air impact wrench.

 

[ineedacottage]

Re: Torque Question...

overtorquing usually comes from some clown tightening it with an air impact wrench.

Haha! Yeah that is sort of what I figured from your explanation - I may be a clown but I don't own an impact wrench!

Thanks again for the help!

 

[Scaaty]

Re: Torque Question...

Torque settings are for new, clean threads. Old stuff will add friction, so if anything, you might STILL be under torqued...I think your fine

 

[mikesea]

Re: Torque Question...

hopefully its not tooooo late,but watch the hammer leverage against your timing pointer,its not very strong,and I seen many break

 

[ineedacottage]

Re: Torque Question...

hopefully its not tooooo late,but watch the hammer leverage against your timing pointer,its not very strong,and I seen many break

So that's what that is - thanks!

It's not to late as I did loosen and re-torque and it all worked perfectly - took about 5 minutes. Started her up on the muffs at home, ran her for about 20 secs and shut her down - everything looks good. I'm taking her to the lake tomorrow!!

I will remember that for any future flywheel pulling/torquing (it looked pretty strong to me and made it so easy). I think next time I will pick up a flywheel holder to make it a little easier.

Thanks a lot for your help!

 

[6228SH]

Re: Torque Question...

in case you dont know,you should back off the tension to 0 on the torque wrench now that your done.

 

[ineedacottage]

Re: Torque Question...

in case you dont know,you should back off the tension to 0 on the torque wrench now that your done.

Good guess! I did not know that. Thanks a bunch for the tip!

 

[ineedacottage]

Re: Torque Question...

Torque settings are for new, clean threads. Old stuff will add friction, so if anything, you might STILL be under torqued...I think your fine

I missed this earlier - thanks for the information - I did not know this either (do I know anything )!

Thanks again for everyones advice and help - I really appreciate it!!