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I finally admit torque wrenches on spark plugs are worth it
For years I was the guy who just snugged them up by feel, figured I'd been doing it long enough to know when it's tight enough. Then about 6 months ago I had a cylinder head strip out on a Continental engine because I overtightened a plug during a rush job. The repair bill for that one mistake was around $1,200 not counting the downtime. Now I grab the Snap-on torque wrench every single time, no exceptions. It's annoying to have to dig it out of the toolbox but that one experience convinced me good. Has anyone else learned this lesson the hard way with a specific component like that?
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sandra_bennett5925d ago
Learned that same lesson stripping drain plug threads on a hurry job.
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jakejones25d ago
OH COME ON, don't let one bad experience turn you into a torque wrench evangelist. I've been putting plugs in by feel for twenty years and never had a single issue.
@sandra_bennett59 probably had a drain plug that was already half stripped from the previous gorilla, not from her hand tightening. You guys are convincing yourselves you NEED a tool for something your hands can do just fine. A torque wrench isn't going to save you from a rushed job either - you still have to set it right and actually use it properly.
Besides, on aircraft engines those plugs are supposed to be torqued in a sequence, and by the time you dig out the wrench and find the right spec, you've already lost more time. I bet half the guys who use torque wrenches on plugs are still stripping threads because they're cranking them down past the click trying to "feel" the spec anyway.
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