sweanders

Hi!

I've found small dots of red paint on bolts for the hood mechanism, on a few places in the engine compartment and on the bolts holding the rear and front shocks.

Are these some sort of colour code from the factory that these parts have been checked?

Erik - Denmark

Hi Anders,
Yes, I think so

Garth S

As far as I know, these red ( and often, yellow dots) are factory applied 'seals', done at the point of final adjustment/torque/etc. Note that they always cross a thread/nut junction, such that when mere commoners as us improve/remove/maintain whatever, the evidence of a broked seal is obvious. Could well have been part of the vehicle warrenty programn - as well as the assembly check-off you mentioned.

sweanders

Cool, I'm to have to go over it and see what pars that are untouched from Der Vaterland then..

borland

Also manufacturing quality control. Marking shows that the bolt was observed being tightened or tightness was later verified by an inspector's wrench.

John Struthers

I'm with all of the above particularly Borland.
In Army Aviation colored torque seal is applied after torquing.
While aviation quality control inspectors used to check EVERYTHING when an inspector becomes familiar and comfortable with the quality of a mechanics work he often only examines critical- will bring the aircraft down-
items.
Often mechanics order a color for individual shops, and sometimes for the individuals themselves -you protect the tubes of torque seal like your mothers honor-.
A secondary use for torque seal is that if it cracks and moves off line you can immediately tell that a critical torque has been changed wether by intention or not.
Of course this doesn't help anyone if the 'system' hasn't been checked.
Down in Normy's end of the country about 7-8 years ago after an engine oil change the drain plugs were safety wired and torque sealed.
The aircraft was force-landed in the Bahamas after all four engines lost power, 2 seized in flight, two were restarted for the forced landing then promptly froze up after reverse thrust. NO OIL had been replaced after draining...OOPs! The GE TT 700/701 Gas turbines on the Blackhawks used to run around $500,000 apiece ,down from $750,000 when first fielded and they are cheap compared to a 727 series. But yeah, the little dots/stripes are meant to instill a sense of craftsmanship, QC, and peace of mind .

sweanders

Thanks for the info John, fascinating what those little colour dots really are...

Randy V

It's also known as 'torque stripe'...

tuk_928

Anders,
I bought a copy of the 1989 salesman walkaround video for my 928s4 and it has a video clip and brief explanation of this process mentioned therein. Pretty neat. I never saw these "torque stripes" on my GM or Japanese vehicles of years past. I don't believe I've seen them on my BMWs either...
Go Porsche!
TUK