meego
Well-Known Member
I’ve never used one. I just get the Milwaukee big boy out when I want to snap the head off things
This happened to me three of four years ago. I gave up trying to "rip" the plug out and just empty it through the dipstick (TD5). Tis a bit of a pain but no dirtier once you get used to it.
I’ve always wondered why/how someone can get a sump plug so tight, it can’t be loosened off again
Me too
I think it's called "lack of torque wrench" or knowledge of how to use one !I’ve always wondered why/how someone can get a sump plug so tight, it can’t be loosened off again
discool
Well-Known Member
Just a lack of engineering knowledge/skills
I do up a sump drain plug finger tight and with a ring spanner just ‘nip up’ to a new copper washer. Job done.
Diff drain plugs are a bit different but the skill to know when enough is enough when tightening.
Much the same when I have changed spark plugs, there is a torque setting but I never use either of my torque wrenches.
hughdavies
Well-Known Member
Its the fear that it could unscrew and loose all the oil and the engine that causes it. Just a little bit more to make shure, I had to use a 3ft bar to get it off so I will do the same to put it back.
meego
Well-Known Member
Couldn’t agree more. I very rarely use a torque wrench, but maybe being an engineer and 40 odd years of loosening and tightening nuts and bolts gives me an advantage. Folks need to learn and understand that not everything with a thread needs to have the weight of the world on it. Especially if they are going into softer alloys etc !!!Just a lack of engineering knowledge/skills
I do up a sump drain plug finger tight and with a ring spanner just ‘nip up’ to a new copper washer. Job done.
Diff drain plugs are a bit different but the skill to know when enough is enough when tightening.
Much the same when I have changed spark plugs, there is a torque setting but I never use either of my torque wrenches.
Absolutely, some of the young uns at work are terrible, a guy in a 1 year old transit, which was spewing oil from the crank.
I said that needs sorting ASAP, "oh, It's in for service In a few weeks".
Doubt it will have any oil left by then.
I have similar sockets but the problem is that the bolt is so flat that there isn't as much "meat" as would be necessary for it to bite properly.Well now I've got to the end, may as well put my four penneth worth in.
Similar problem with my Disco'. Local garage used a socket which cuts into the bolt to hold it then a ratchet gun.
Followed by a new sump plug.
What mystifies me is that it is me who has serviced this vehicle ever since I got it in 2014 and for years this wasn't a problem, I always use a torque wrench so I have no idea why suddenly it became so impossible to undo and has led to my having to pump or syphon the oil out of the dipstick tube.
Expensive garage decoration then?!
meego
Well-Known Member
It could be a form of “Galling”, where surfaces bind to each other. This is more common with stainless steel fasteners though.I have similar sockets but the problem is that the bolt is so flat that there isn't as much "meat" as would be necessary for it to bite properly.
What mystifies me is that it is me who has serviced this vehicle ever since I got it in 2014 and for years this wasn't a problem, I always use a torque wrench so I have no idea why suddenly it became so impossible to undo and has led to my having to pump or syphon the oil out of the dipstick tube.
discool
Well-Known Member
Umm, okay halfway right.Expensive garage decoration then?!
The 18in x 1/2in wrench was purchased way back in 1988 for when I had to refit a cylinder head following the replacement of its camshaft, since then its just used on wheel nuts, so thats just once a year with the disco… and then put back on the garage wall.
The small 3/8th wrench purchased as the disco required a full set of steering ball joints so need to torque up the taper nuts, and again when fitting a replacement water pump… in my opinion both safety critical items.
Nothing else has gone wrong so the small wrench is safe in its blue case and in a toolbox.
People with nothing much better to do, probably students(!) have done research on this and found out that if a torque wrench is not used people tend to overtorque small nuts and undertorque big ones, which kind of fits in with using not much different strength on the spanner or breaker bar.Umm, okay halfway right.
The 18in x 1/2in wrench was purchased way back in 1988 for when I had to refit a cylinder head following the replacement of its camshaft, since then its just used on wheel nuts, so thats just once a year with the disco… and then put back on the garage wall.
The small 3/8th wrench purchased as the disco required a full set of steering ball joints so need to torque up the taper nuts, and again when fitting a replacement water pump… in my opinion both safety critical items.
Nothing else has gone wrong so the small wrench is safe in its blue case and in a toolbox.
I hate tightening steel bolts into aluminium having had bad experiences when much younger with stripped threads. And I would not dream of not using one to torque down a cylinder head. For a lot of nuts and bolts I just use common sense, but like you, where critical I err on the side of caution and get the TW out. Or I do the maths using my own weight where I do not have a powerful enough TW, hub nuts on my Disco 2 for instance.
