Just realized I've been torquing head bolts wrong for 20 years

I was doing a head gasket job on a 1996 Cummins 12 valve last week, the one where the block is filthy and you can't see the torque specs worth a damn. I kept having to re-torque bolts because they'd click early from dirt or rust on the threads, and I figured that was normal. Then my buddy Dave who's been doing this since the 80s told me to run a tap through the bolt holes and wire brush every bolt before starting. I tried it and the torque was consistent across all 26 bolts, no more guessing. Has anyone else had issues with dirty threads throwing off their torque wrench on these older blocks?

2 comments

2 Comments

finleythomas6d ago

Dave's method is the way to go for sure.

rivershah5d ago

Read something the other day about how Dave's method basically forces you to track every single step... really makes you think about where your time actually goes. People always say they know where their day goes but seeing it written down is a whole different story. Helps to catch those little gaps you didn't even notice.