Old timer in Tulsa told me to trust the torque wrench, I didn't...

Been turning wrenches for 8 years now, always thought I had a feel for it. Guy who trained me back at the regional shop in Tulsa, Jerry, kept saying to just trust the torque wrench on cylinder base nuts. Last month I skipped it on a Continental IO-520, went off feel alone after a jug swap. Sure enough, two flights later I got a pushrod tube oil leak and had to re-torque everything in the hangar for 3 hours. Jerry was right, that 70 ft-lb figure is there for a reason. Has anyone else tried to eye it and paid the price?

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torres.elizabeth2d ago

Guessed 65 ft-lbs on my Lycoming once, spent Sunday redoing all twelve nuts...