Vent: Found out my torque wrench was off by 40 ft-lbs for 2 years

I was doing a head gasket job on a Cummins ISX last week and kept second guessing myself because the torque felt wrong. So I finally went and borrowed my buddy's Snap-on digital torque adapter to check my old Precision Instruments wrench. Turns out it was reading 40 ft-lbs low on anything over 200 ft-lbs. I've been using that wrench since I started at this dealer in 2022 for every main cap and rod bolt. That means I've been under-torquing critical fasteners on probably 30 plus rebuilds. I found the calibration sticker and it expired in 2021, never even thought to look. Now I gotta figure out if I should call those customers back or just hope nothing grenades. Anyone else ever trust a wrench too long without checking it?

2 comments

2 Comments

patricia_king235d ago

Honestly, is it really that big of a deal? I feel like half the time torque is just a suggestion anyway, and if nothing's blown up yet you're probably fine.

craig.brian5d agoTop Commenter

You said "torque is just a suggestion" and "nothing's blown up yet" - what kind of stuff are you working on where that's been your experience? Are you doing suspension bolts or engine internals? I've seen what happens when you guess on head bolts or connecting rod bolts and it's not pretty.