Think! Would a spark plug have lower or higher torque than oil drain plug? If the book tells you that oil drain plug needs higher torque than spark plug, something is not right. Spark plugs generally call for between 15-20 ft-lb of torque.
Torque wrench for oil change - necessary or not?
- Thread starter sr17
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From BMW E36 manual
"Torque the two plugs to 25 Nm (18 ft-lbs) for the 17mm or 60 Nm (44 ft-lbs) for the 19mm drain plug."
Many models over the years have used large drain bolts with high torque values.
These do come loose if not torqued pretty close and they will strip without warning at slight over torque.
After 35 year of doing this every day i don't think my arm can calibrate to 44 lbs laying on my back under a car with a half inch ratchet.
I guess the trick is knowing when to use a torque wrench and when it really doesn't matter.Personally if it larger than a small screw and its in going into aluminum its getting torqued properly.
"Torque the two plugs to 25 Nm (18 ft-lbs) for the 17mm or 60 Nm (44 ft-lbs) for the 19mm drain plug."
Many models over the years have used large drain bolts with high torque values.
These do come loose if not torqued pretty close and they will strip without warning at slight over torque.
After 35 year of doing this every day i don't think my arm can calibrate to 44 lbs laying on my back under a car with a half inch ratchet.
I guess the trick is knowing when to use a torque wrench and when it really doesn't matter.Personally if it larger than a small screw and its in going into aluminum its getting torqued properly.
His torque values are correct. The vehicle does indeed use one-time use crush washers.
sr17,
I assume that you do not currently have a torque wrench? If not, are you planning on doing any other maintenance to your vehicles? If so, I would get one. I recommend a Precision Instruments split beam that can be had for ~$100-125. It will hold calibration much better & isn't affected by not returning it to zero like a typical clicker. A traditional beam wrench can be difficult to see in certain circumstances.
sr17,
I assume that you do not currently have a torque wrench? If not, are you planning on doing any other maintenance to your vehicles? If so, I would get one. I recommend a Precision Instruments split beam that can be had for ~$100-125. It will hold calibration much better & isn't affected by not returning it to zero like a typical clicker. A traditional beam wrench can be difficult to see in certain circumstances.
Fumoto Oil Drain Valve.
Don't need to worry about oil drain plug torque anymore.
I do use my torque wrench for my oil filter though
Don't need to worry about oil drain plug torque anymore.
I do use my torque wrench for my oil filter though
Not necessary, over time you get a "feel" for how it should be.
Keep it centered, and don't cross thread and you will be fine.
Stamped steel pans tighten hand tight and then snug up with the wrench. You have to be more careful with aluminum pans. Tighten hand tight, and just a little more with the wrench. Not too much more. (A little less then the steel pans)
Keep it centered, and don't cross thread and you will be fine.
Stamped steel pans tighten hand tight and then snug up with the wrench. You have to be more careful with aluminum pans. Tighten hand tight, and just a little more with the wrench. Not too much more. (A little less then the steel pans)
I never used a torque wrench on my USA-made vehicles but always do on my '95 Civic- 34 foot-pounds from memory. And always a new crush washer.
Using a torque wrench on the drain bolt is recommended but not necessary. When the only torque wrench I had was a bulky half inch drive beam type, I never bothered. Didn't have any problems. Now I have one easier to use while crawling under the car, so I'll tighten with that.
I had a drain plug almost fall out in the 70's. I'm guessing the service station grease monkey tightened it finger tight then forgot to snug it. This was the first of two incidents that started me doing my own changes.
Based on that experience I always made sure they wouldn't fall out, and sure enough - I got one real tight once, and quickly grabbed a twelve point socket to remove it and rounded it off good. The mechanic ended up using an air chisel to back it out and accused me of using a cheater to tighten it.
Since then - I get it finger tight - then use a short (4-5") open end to tighten. No problems for over twenty years since.
Based on that experience I always made sure they wouldn't fall out, and sure enough - I got one real tight once, and quickly grabbed a twelve point socket to remove it and rounded it off good. The mechanic ended up using an air chisel to back it out and accused me of using a cheater to tighten it.
Since then - I get it finger tight - then use a short (4-5") open end to tighten. No problems for over twenty years since.
I use a torque wrench when doing oil changes, although lately I've run into problems. On the Sienna, the threads came out with the drain plug. And today I changed the oil on my Saturn and the drain plug came out with less than 5 ft-lbs of torque. After draining I found that on top of the rubber washer I put on there was whats left of a nylong washer on there.
I got lucky on that one and hope it holds the torque this time.
Anyway, I think the spec is 23-26lb-ft, so I set the clicker to 22 then torque it then take a regular ratchet and snug it up just a hair. This lets me get a feel for toque values as I naturally over-tighten fasteners and have to consciously restrain myself from doing so.
I got lucky on that one and hope it holds the torque this time.
Anyway, I think the spec is 23-26lb-ft, so I set the clicker to 22 then torque it then take a regular ratchet and snug it up just a hair. This lets me get a feel for toque values as I naturally over-tighten fasteners and have to consciously restrain myself from doing so.
I don't think break away torque has any correlation to tightened torque. For example, lug nuts tightened to 90 ft. Lb. might require much more to break them loose after months of exposure to the elements. You shouldn't use a torque wrench to loosen things anyway....it can damage them.
Another trick I do: After many months sitting idle, I test my wrench on a bolt mounted in a vise to make sure it is operating correct at the given torque. I have seen people ruin threads because the wrench went haywire.
"I naturally over-tighten fasteners and have to consciously restrain myself from doing so."....Must be a common illness among many of us!!!!!...Just a little more........
Another trick I do: After many months sitting idle, I test my wrench on a bolt mounted in a vise to make sure it is operating correct at the given torque. I have seen people ruin threads because the wrench went haywire.
"I naturally over-tighten fasteners and have to consciously restrain myself from doing so."....Must be a common illness among many of us!!!!!...Just a little more........
I have been a professional tech for over 20 years and I do not torque oil pan drain bolts. You are better off using a short ratchet or box end wrench because you will have a better feel for how tight the bolt is. A long torque wrench can feel vague and it is easy to over tighten the bolt if you are not careful (especially for a DIY'er).
Torque is also not the definitive measure of whether a bolt is 'properly tightened'. It only tells you how much twisting effort was applied to get the bolt that tight. If the threads on the drain plug are messed up (which is common) it will require more torque to get it properly tightened. If you trust a torque wrench in this case the bolt will be 'loose'. Also many torque specs are for 'clean and dry threads'. An oil drain plug will always have oil on the threads which is going to skew the 'proper' torque spec.
Torque is also not the definitive measure of whether a bolt is 'properly tightened'. It only tells you how much twisting effort was applied to get the bolt that tight. If the threads on the drain plug are messed up (which is common) it will require more torque to get it properly tightened. If you trust a torque wrench in this case the bolt will be 'loose'. Also many torque specs are for 'clean and dry threads'. An oil drain plug will always have oil on the threads which is going to skew the 'proper' torque spec.
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