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I picked up a new torque wrench today, set it to 80 lbs / ft, and went over the lug nuts on my car. Several of them were below the 80 mark, even though my old wrench had been set to 85 the last time I torqued them. That is confirmation enough for me that the wrench was indeed out of calibration.
With having to do the wheel bearings soon, and needing to remove the rocker assembly to do plug tube seals, I am very much glad I went ahead and go the new wrench. I hate to think of the carnage that might have happened had I torqued that rocker assembly down with the old wrench :ohmy:
Thanks to all for the answers / input.
I’ve never abused my torque wrench. I’m careful about not dropping it. I don’t use it as a breaker bar, and I always zero it before storing it. However, it has quite a few years on it, and has never been calibrated.
A few months ago, I nearly lost a wheel, not once, but twice. Both times, I had torqued the lug nuts to spec, following the proper star pattern, using my torque wrench, as I have done for years. Both times, I rechecked torque on the lugs the day after I initially tightened them, just as I have for years. After it happened the second time, I set the torque setting on my wrench to 85 lbs / ft instead of the 80 lbs / ft that the manual calls for, and had no more problems.
I wondered if going 30 lbs past the marked scale might cause an issue since I know that the inner working of the torque wrench is based on a spring, and we all know that pushing a coil spring too tight can damage it, and take some of the spring rate out of it, so I was wondering if by tightening my wrench up that far, I might not have compressed the spring too much, and changed it’s spring rate.
In addition to that, I know that torque wrenches need to be calibrated every so often, and my wrench is probably at least 15 years old, and has never been calibrated.
On the Accord, or at least, on my generation Accord, there is no cotter pin on the spindle nut, it is staked in place, and yes, I make certain to stake the spindle nut properly, and I use a new spindle nut any time I have to remove one. I only questioned whether it might be related to torque because even though they were after market bearings, 50k miles seemed pretty early for a failure to me, though perhaps that is not an unusual life for an after market bearing.
drthrift035 . . I will either find someone to properly calibrate the wrench, or get another, that is why I was asking about the electric digital model. They look nice, but not sure I want to spend that much coin if it still needs to be calibrated regularly. As for proper procedures for tightening fasteners, I have a copy of the factory service manual from Honda, and follow all of the procedures from the manual carefully. I fully agree, OEM is often a much better value when you consider the life expectancy of the part. When I did the brake conversion though, the place I purchased from made it seem as if everything was OEM Honda. Only after I bought them did I come to believe that the hubs were OEM, but the bearings were after market. This is life sometimes.
Thanks to all for the answers / input.
I’ve never abused my torque wrench. I’m careful about not dropping it. I don’t use it as a breaker bar, and I always zero it before storing it. However, it has quite a few years on it, and has never been calibrated.
A few months ago, I nearly lost a wheel, not once, but twice. Both times, I had torqued the lug nuts to spec, following the proper star pattern, using my torque wrench, as I have done for years. Both times, I rechecked torque on the lugs the day after I initially tightened them, just as I have for years. After it happened the second time, I set the torque setting on my wrench to 85 lbs / ft instead of the 80 lbs / ft that the manual calls for, and had no more problems.
I wondered if going 30 lbs past the marked scale might cause an issue since I know that the inner working of the torque wrench is based on a spring, and we all know that pushing a coil spring too tight can damage it, and take some of the spring rate out of it, so I was wondering if by tightening my wrench up that far, I might not have compressed the spring too much, and changed it’s spring rate.
In addition to that, I know that torque wrenches need to be calibrated every so often, and my wrench is probably at least 15 years old, and has never been calibrated.
On the Accord, or at least, on my generation Accord, there is no cotter pin on the spindle nut, it is staked in place, and yes, I make certain to stake the spindle nut properly, and I use a new spindle nut any time I have to remove one. I only questioned whether it might be related to torque because even though they were after market bearings, 50k miles seemed pretty early for a failure to me, though perhaps that is not an unusual life for an after market bearing.
drthrift035 . . I will either find someone to properly calibrate the wrench, or get another, that is why I was asking about the electric digital model. They look nice, but not sure I want to spend that much coin if it still needs to be calibrated regularly. As for proper procedures for tightening fasteners, I have a copy of the factory service manual from Honda, and follow all of the procedures from the manual carefully. I fully agree, OEM is often a much better value when you consider the life expectancy of the part. When I did the brake conversion though, the place I purchased from made it seem as if everything was OEM Honda. Only after I bought them did I come to believe that the hubs were OEM, but the bearings were after market. This is life sometimes.
I hate to see people just blindly throw parts at a problem.
First up, get a compression gauge, do a compression test. Make certain that the engine is mechanically capable of running properly. If the compression test shows problems, fix or replace the engine. If the compression test turns out good the move on.
First up, check your air filter, is it clean? How about the fuel filter? They tend to be forgotten / neglected in these cars because they are in an awful spot to get at. Timing, check it, make sure it is set properly. Spark Plugs, I’ve heard many people say that the Honda engines don’t like the fancy high dollar plugs. Stick with NGK, and use the cheap ones at that, I think they are called v power or something similar. Distributor cap and rotor, make sure they are clean, dry, no cracks, no carbon tracks, and the contacts aren’t all burned up or corroded. Also make sure the inside of the distributor isn’t full of oil. If it is, you either need to replace the distributor, or hunt down the proper NOK seal for the inside of it (Honda doesn’t sell it) as well as the O rings for the outside, and tear it down to replace those. Lastly, I would pull the timing cover, and check to see if the timing marks line up, perhaps the timing belt has stretched, or skipped a tooth.
I hate to see people just blindly throw parts at a problem.
First up, get a compression gauge, do a compression test. Make certain that the engine is mechanically capable of running properly. If the compression test shows problems, fix or replace the engine. If the compression test turns out good the move on.
First up, check your air filter, is it clean? How about the fuel filter? They tend to be forgotten / neglected in these cars because they are in an awful spot to get at. Timing, check it, make sure it is set properly. Spark Plugs, I’ve heard many people say that the Honda engines don’t like the fancy high dollar plugs. Stick with NGK, and use the cheap ones at that, I think they are called v power or something similar. Distributor cap and rotor, make sure they are clean, dry, no cracks, no carbon tracks, and the contacts aren’t all burned up or corroded. Also make sure the inside of the distributor isn’t full of oil. If it is, you either need to replace the distributor, or hunt down the proper NOK seal for the inside of it (Honda doesn’t sell it) as well as the O rings for the outside, and tear it down to replace those. Lastly, I would pull the timing cover, and check to see if the timing marks line up, perhaps the timing belt has stretched, or skipped a tooth.
No, you can not leave it that way. There is a very good chance you will damage your compressor that way. Usually, if the compressor isn’t getting a signal to engage, it is because of the low pressure cutoff switch.
The compressor relies on the freon in the system to move the lubricating oil around, and keep the compressor lubed and happy. If there isn’t enough freon, not enough oil gets moved, and the end result is generally a tragic failure of the compressor. Get some gauges on that thing, see what your pressure is. If the pressure isn’t the problem, then you will need to get a copy of the shop manual so you can trouble shoot the control system. It could be a faulty switch, or sensor as well.
No, you can not leave it that way. There is a very good chance you will damage your compressor that way. Usually, if the compressor isn’t getting a signal to engage, it is because of the low pressure cutoff switch.
The compressor relies on the freon in the system to move the lubricating oil around, and keep the compressor lubed and happy. If there isn’t enough freon, not enough oil gets moved, and the end result is generally a tragic failure of the compressor. Get some gauges on that thing, see what your pressure is. If the pressure isn’t the problem, then you will need to get a copy of the shop manual so you can trouble shoot the control system. It could be a faulty switch, or sensor as well.
I don’t know a thing about your AC system. The ones I’ve messed about with all had O rings on all the connections, however, vacuum is the great story teller for AC leaks. Vacuum it for half an hour, then close both valves on your manifold set, turn off the vacuum pump, and wait another half an hour. If it is still holding vacuum, wiggle that hose around like college man suggested. If that doesn’t cause the vacuum to drop, you should be good to go.
I don’t know a thing about your AC system. The ones I’ve messed about with all had O rings on all the connections, however, vacuum is the great story teller for AC leaks. Vacuum it for half an hour, then close both valves on your manifold set, turn off the vacuum pump, and wait another half an hour. If it is still holding vacuum, wiggle that hose around like college man suggested. If that doesn’t cause the vacuum to drop, you should be good to go.
Leaf springs are no joke. There is a LOT of potential energy stored in those springs. They can, and will break anything in their way when you release them if you haven’t relaxed that tension.
If you are going to do the job yourself, you need to be able to lift the vehicle high enough to get the wheels off the ground, then set it back down just enough to get the tension off the springs. That point is a judgement call, but if you get it wrong, when you unbolt the spring from the eye, then end of the spring will move, either up or down, depending on which way it has tension, and it can do so violently.
I have done leaf springs on passenger cars a few times, when my full size van needed them, I was more than happy to pay someone else to take that risk. Think carefully about this job before you jump on it.
Leaf springs are no joke. There is a LOT of potential energy stored in those springs. They can, and will break anything in their way when you release them if you haven’t relaxed that tension.
If you are going to do the job yourself, you need to be able to lift the vehicle high enough to get the wheels off the ground, then set it back down just enough to get the tension off the springs. That point is a judgement call, but if you get it wrong, when you unbolt the spring from the eye, then end of the spring will move, either up or down, depending on which way it has tension, and it can do so violently.
I have done leaf springs on passenger cars a few times, when my full size van needed them, I was more than happy to pay someone else to take that risk. Think carefully about this job before you jump on it.
Shop around for price. Not all glass places charge the same rate. When I needed a windshield in my Caprice a number of years ago, the first quote I got was near to $300, after making the rounds on the phone, the place I settled on did it for $165, near half the price of my first quote, and he did such a nice job, I’ve gone back to him two other times when I needed glass done.
Shop around for price. Not all glass places charge the same rate. When I needed a windshield in my Caprice a number of years ago, the first quote I got was near to $300, after making the rounds on the phone, the place I settled on did it for $165, near half the price of my first quote, and he did such a nice job, I’ve gone back to him two other times when I needed glass done.
Good luck with it. I had a 90 Storm GSI, it was a wicked little car. Too bad so many people have a bad opinion of them. The GSI suspension was designed by Lotus, the little 1.6 L would wind up to 7500, and the transmission was buttery smooth to shift.