A field mechanic told me my torque wrench technique was all wrong

I was torquing cylinder head bolts on a 6.7 Powerstroke last month when this old field mechanic walks over. He watched me for a second and said "you're fighting the bolt, not following it." He showed me how to use a slow steady pull instead of jerky motions. Has anyone else had to unlearn a bad habit like this after years of doing it a certain way?

2 comments

2 Comments

saraho481mo ago

Nah, sorry but this whole "follow the bolt" thing sounds like mechanic mysticism to me. Torque wrenches work the same whether you pull fast or slow, it's just a spring and a click mechanism. Putting some elbow into it gets the job done faster and I've never had a head gasket failure or pulled threads doing it my way. Old timers love to act like there's some secret knowledge nobody else has.

henrys741mo ago

Oh man, you just described my entire tool collection. The torque wrench I have is probably older than me and clicks whenever it feels like it. Last time I used it on spark plugs it clicked before I even touched the thing. I've definitely done the "yank it and hope" method on more bolts than I'd admit. But honestly, if following the bolt pattern means I don't have to redo the job three times like I did with my intake manifold, maybe there's something to it. Or maybe I just need to slow down and stop treating every job like a pit stop.