Caboose

My dad and I are now about 16 hours into an oil pan/motor mount change on my 85.5 944 and on the down slope. It is one of those hope I don't do it again soon jobs. We have searched all over for a ft./lbs torque wrench that would measure 6 ft/lbs but all we find start higher. How would you guage the torque on the oil pan bolts w/o a torque wrench...we will torque in order as in clarks garage and just make sure they are all pulled down snug and a bit more?
Very frustrating but I don't want any of these vibrating out later... Any info would be appreciated. By the way Clarks does not mention removing the power steering feed from the pump that is attached to the crossmember so beware you could bend and ruin that line. Have to take it off from two bolts on the crossmember and off the back of the steering gear.... FYI.... would it be correct to tighten the gasket until the aluminum spacer stops the bolt or is that to tight? I want it tight enough but I don't want to squish the gasket out of place.

billthe3

Considering that 20lbs was enough for me to strip out the water pump bolts on my 86, I would imagine 6lbs is barely past finger tight. Er, that doesn't make any sense. I guess I meant to not do anything very tight to prevent stripping out bolts. Unless you like helicoils.

luckett

Use loctite if you're worried about them backing out.

Caboose

Thought about using blue loctite, but my main concern is getting the gasket tight enough that it does what it's supposed to do, seal.... plus all bolts are in, just not tight yet.....guess we could pull them one at time and re-do with loctite.

FRporscheman

You need an INCH-POUND torque wrench. They have a range from like 50-180 in-lb, so 6 ft-lb would be 120 in-lb.

Go buy one NOW, before you strip any holes, or otherwise do this job wrong and regret it later! I got my in-lb torque wrench from Harbor Freight for $30!

inactiveuser92616

^^^ ding ding ding

TNT25169

I also support the inch LB tq wrench. Be careful, the craftsman ones only click once to let you know they are tight, not like the big ones that are loud and obvious. Also, when using something as specific as 6lbs of torque in a precise order and 2 stages of torquing....guessing on torque values is probably not the best way to go about making sure the little guy doesn't leak in the future but that's just my 2 cents.

S2cab

The Craftsman one is not very good. Sometimes no click at all. I don't trust the one I have. Try getting an SK one if price is a concern.

Yummybud924

make sure to follow the torque sequence and do NOT overtorque them.

I did this in the summer and something didn't go exactly right and my oil pan gaskt split in 2 over one of the holes and one side is bulging out.

I did use an inch pount torque wrench, you need one. Non of my bolts are falling out.

this job wasn't hard, other than getting the engine to allign on the motor mounts...... that took a lot of cursing and prying with a pry bar.


other thing, make sure to run a tap through the new motor mounts, I later found out that one of the threads wasn't all the way through so I ended up using a super short bolt.

this job is just very time consuming and not fun at all.

V2Rocket

Wouldn't it be 72?

J Silverman

72 is correct.

schwank

I bought an in-lb torque wrench at harbor freight. It's not the best one out there but it gives me more confidence then a hand tightening. Used it extensively in my build last winter and everything held up brilliantly through 11 track days this summer, including driving the car to and from the track.

I do plan to get a nicer one evertually but...

xsboost90

the gasket has spacers in it to keep you from over tightening and crushing the gasket. Run the bolts all down and go over them hand tight until they stop- do not tighten any more than that. Too many people rely on specs and end up stripping stuff out trying to reach that # IMHO. Loctite is your friend.

Caboose

Job Complete! We successfully completed the test drive tonight after a laborious 20 hours.
A few thousad curse words later we were enjoying the wind in our hair as we cruised with OUT the harmonious vibrations of a collapsed motor mount.

Overall the job was harsh, and as a side note, BE SURE you CLEARLY mark the relationship of your power steering knuckle and splines. FIND YOUR TOP DEAD CENTER on the rack and pinion BEFORE you disconnect the crossmember. =)
We had it all put together and then realized the locking nut would not fit into the steering knuckle because the rack had shifted because we had been pushing on the tie rod ends and moved it. You would of laughed at the way we acted when we realized this...

Cheers! Happy New Year!
-Boose

Zero10

What do you guys do about the 2 or 3 bolts you can't get a torque wrench on because the pan goes overtop? I've always just used a 10mm wrench and only my pinky finger on the end of the wrench until they're snug and feel the same as the ones I just tightened with a torque wrench (which are of course now slightly looser due to the gasket compressing)