Little Porsche Boy

I got the money. Can't resist a tool sale. Now the only question is which one(s) to buy. I don't have my Haynes manual in front of me to check the torque specification ranges used most often. I figure I'll spring for two of the three wrenches on sale to cover most of the situations. The three sizes on sale are:

25-250 in. lbs.
10-75 ft. lbs.
20-150 ft. lbs

Which two should I buy to cover most of the wrenching on my 944?

adrial

Nice! I need to go buy one anyway...

I would do the 10-75 and 20-150

None of those are small enough to do the oil pan bolts, though.

The 250 isn't large enough to do the REALLY tight bolts on the 944, so I would rather have the 20-150. With its smaller range I expect it'd be more accurate than the 25-250.

Little Porsche Boy

What torque do the oil pan bolts call for?

adrial

3 ft lbs then 6 ft lbs
(or 4 Nm then 8 Nm)

Little Porsche Boy

3 ft. lbs., that's about hand tight isn't it?

z3bra

The 25-250 is inch pounds not food pounds. To convert, multiply foot pounds by 12 and that's your torque in inch pounds.

For really low torque stuff like the oil pan bolts on most cars, using an inch pound wrench is the only way to fly. There's a lot of relatively low torque bolts on the 944's and I think an inch pound wrench is absolutely invaluable for that. Just look at it as a 2-20 Ft lb wrench that can actually give you proper torque for the little stuff. You wouldn't use a 3/4" drive ratchet with adapters to loosen a bolt with a 10mm head would you so why do something more important like torquing down bolts in an equally hamfisted way?

Little Porsche Boy

Sounds reasonable. So, from what you're saying the inch/pound wrench is a must have. I agree. Now, which one of the remaining two would be more appropriate. Which torque range would I use more, the 10-20 ft/lbs or 75-150 ft/lbs ? These are the ranges not common to both wrenches.

z3bra

I'd go with the 20-150 if you can only get two of the three, the 2-20 range is covered by the 20-250 inch pound wrench.

I think that 20-150lb one is the one I've got anyway, are these the Sears torque wrenches with a rubber handle and a little magnifying window in the hand girp for reading the setting? If so I'll warn you up front they're a pain in the hiney to read if the window gets dirty from things like dirty hands from working on your car. Not a bad wrench but the window design leaves a bit to be desired.

z3bra

This is the kind I was talking about except it's the 25-250 Ft Lb version instead.

Sears item #00944597000

adrial

My bad, I didnt notice it was in inch lbs.

Off to sears I go...

Terry Jamison

zbra,

The wrenches are ones with black rubber handle and a small plastic window. They're the Sears 'Microtork' line of torque wrenches.

Jeremy Himsel

Z3,

How's the turbo coming????

Chris_924s

IIRC the torque sequence on the oil pan is a 3x. 4 then 6 then 8 ft lbs.

It's a PITA if it's still in the car.

Magown

They have an inch lb torque wrench at Sears that will cover everything from 5 - 22lbs. That's what I used on my oil pan and a few other bolts that require minimum torque.