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I have an AmPro 3/8 inch torque wrench (120 – 960 inch pounds) that I use for the smaller torques. Lately, I have been having trouble breaking bolts with it even when I have not reached the desired torque yet. Broke a water pump bolt recently on a Honda Accord and I never did hear or feel the thing click.
Tonight, I was tightening the valve cover bolts on a BMW and the manual said 18 foot pounds (or 216 inch pounds). I was feeling like the bolts were getting pretty tight, and no click yet. So, I moved it down to 200 inch pounds, still no click. I did not want to chance it so I just stopped when everything felt snug.
Is this a familiar problem for anyone? Do you have a brand you really like? I take it AmPro is more on the cheap side.
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It sounds like you need to have the torque wrench re-calibrated.
I had a off-brand torque wrench years ago that experienced the exact same problems as you are having.
Strange you should have a torque wrench prob as ” my ” SK 1/2 drive torque wrench ” gave up the ghost ” over the weekend. I am not familiar with the brand you have but I also have a 3/8 drive husky torque wrench that I like a lot. will replace the broken sk with a half inch drive husky ( read many good reviews ) FYI- stay away from the craftsman microtork torque wrenches. people have had nothing but probs with them ( btw- I own many craftsman tools and like them but won’t buy the torque wrench )
Twiggy… that’s an awesome idea. Never heard of that before, and I’m with Beefy, a tutorial would be very sweet indeed ;P
Well if you watch eric’s video you would know a torque wrench is not used to take things off. i have had a cheap 20 dollar torque wrench for now 5 years and never had a issue with it. I have to say the strongest area of a Torque Wrench is the middle so if it reads 260ft pounds that means its best results are at 130lbs of Torque
All places calibrating torque wrenches will not touch the cheap made in Taiwan made torque wrenches.Get yourself a good high quality one and don’t lower down to zero when not in use,lower it to lowest torque setting instead.Ruins the clicker mechanism when ran down to zero.
Sounds like you need to have the calibration checked to me, most tools-on-wheels can do some basic testing and even alot of stores offer that sort of service ( I believe SEARS) even if its not their torque wrench. To be honest I had a Performance Part torque wrench and the thing was crap. Only thing it was good for was beating the piss out of something. It wasn’t a clicker and it just sucked heavy, coming out all the time, not reading, trouble bringing down to zero…
As mentioned most shops who preform calibrations won’t even look at a wrench like that.
Save yourself some pain and get a nice torque wrench (Despite 619DioFan, I had a lot of luck with my craftsman and have not had to have it recalibrated yet). But to be honest… my snap on was 150ish dollars. the Craftsman was 80ish-90 dollars, the Mac was about 150ish.
They’re all pretty close if you busy used or a new one on the cheap. Find a deal and snag it, and take it (new or not) immediately to have it calibrated and your set. Its unfortunate but alot of them are slightly off the get go. Bummer.You can check your torque wrench with a luggage scale. You just need to measure out from the center of the socket to where you have the scale is on the handle. The torque is the reading on the scale multiplied by the distance. I do this every time I use my torque wrench for something critical and this method gives me very repeatable results.
Quoted From twiggy02919:
You can check your torque wrench with a luggage scale. You just need to measure out from the center of the socket to where you have the scale is on the handle. The torque is the reading on the scale multiplied by the distance. I do this every time I use my torque wrench for something critical and this method gives me very repeatable results.
Wow, I don’t even know what a luggage scale is. Any chance you might make a video or pictorial how-to of this process Twiggy? I would love to see it.
Quoted From Kdoggkelly:
Well if you watch eric’s video you would know a torque wrench is not used to take things off. i have had a cheap 20 dollar torque wrench for now 5 years and never had a issue with it. I have to say the strongest area of a Torque Wrench is the middle so if it reads 260ft pounds that means its best results are at 130lbs of Torque
I don’t think he meant he was taking bolts off with it man. It sounds like he is not getting the proper setting when he dials it in, and it’s snapping off smaller bolts as he is installing them if I read it right.
Will do this weekend, I’m not good with videos but maybe some pics will do…
It’s simple and it works. I use the luggage scale because they have a marker that records the highest reading. I bought mine at Marshalls for $5.
Quoted From Beefy:
I don’t think he meant he was taking bolts off with it man. It sounds like he is not getting the proper setting when he dials it in, and it’s snapping off smaller bolts as he is installing them if I read it right.
That is correct, I don’t use the torque wrench for removal. The problem is tightening the bolts.
At any rate, it sounds like, based on the comments above, I need to either recalibrate, or get a new wrench. I think I am going to opt for a better quality wrench.
Thanks all for the help.
I think getting a better quality torque wrench is your best bet ( especially sense you are building a new motor- you will need it ) would like to get my sk torque wrench repaired ( it is a very good quality one ) but unfortunently the last sk dealer that was here in town closed up shop , will be buying a new one this weekend ( going with the husky 1/2 inch drive to go with the husky 3/8 inch drive I already have )
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