G
14

TIL some people think torque wrenches are optional on spark plugs

Had a guy bring in his Cessna 172 last month after doing his own oil change and plug swap. Three of the four plugs were hand-tight, one was cross-threaded so bad we had to helicoil the cylinder head. Why do folks treat torque specs like they're just suggestions?
2 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In
2 Comments
kevin_wells46
Hand tight is just a suggestion, right?
5
jordan305
jordan30512d ago
Nah I mean hand tight on stuff that doesn't need to be torqued is usually fine but there's a line. Like on car lugnuts hand tight can kill you if a wheel comes off on the highway. On a fence post or a deck screw it's probably okay. People get lazy with bolts and just send it with an impact gun or a breaker bar and then they wonder why threads strip or something cracks. I've seen so many stripped out bolt holes on engine blocks from guys who thought "tight enough" meant three more ugga-duggas after it stopped moving.
1