bal

I recently bought a 3/8" torque wrench from Harbor Freight. I've been happy with the 1/2" one that I have. I used it for the first time today to tighten the bolts on the water pump and manage to break one of the bolts (the one at the top of the water pump). I used it (very carefully) to torque up the idler pulley and the click is so subtle that you can too easily miss it. Despite the old adage that a poor workman blames their tools, I still hate my torque wrench I used to have a 1/4" torque wrench but it was calibrated in inch pounds and I found it annoying to convert and rarely needed to torque with a 1/4" drive.

On a positive note, the new water pump is in, as is a new thermostat. The water pump looked pristine and had 40k miles on it. I also managed to get the coolant tank out and am now trying to figure out how to get the new one in... fun! I plan to leave the water pump with its sheared bolt alone and check for leakage.

Hurdigurdiman

a few months ago I made a posting on the changing of a new water pump, specifically on how tight to tighten the screws (2 of which are longer than the other 5) .Hand tight or the gasket will be crushed and could be the cause of a new leak. Sorry you didn't see my posting. No sealant of any kind to be used on that gasket.

crashclint

Yep, I did my Boxster before I read the original post and ended up wasting a gasket but no broken bolts.

I have both the Harbor Freight 1/2" and 1/4" and both are really accurate as long as you don't yank on them and use a steady pull but I do prefer my Dial Torque Wrench but can't always fit it in tight spots. I used the 1/4" and did the conversion.

Joe Ricard

You own a Porsche and work on it with HF tools.

At least go to Lowes and get kobalt.

crashclint

I have compared my HF torque wrenches against my Snap-on Dial Torque wrenches enough times to feel comfortable using them, it is all about the pull.

GrantG

Crazy expensive, but this stuff is without peer in my experience:

http://www.stahlwille-online.de/inde...list&pcid=4893

Schnell Gelb

Possibly a bad idea to leave the sheared bolt - w/p flange will warp with heat and leak.
I prefer to use s/s studs instead of bolts for the M96 assuming you have access.
The HF torque wrench -I agree with you and have had the same problem. The issue IMHO is the 'click' is too weak/small/quiet. As an accomodation I try to put a finger on the pivot pin at the top of the HF Torque Wrench.Then you can feel the whenthe handle yields at your torque limit.
An alternative I like to use is a 1/4" Aircraft Mechanics dial-type TW -assuming you can see the dial.
The Snap On Tech wrenches are effective because the vibrate and beep.The simplest 3/8" one is "TECH2FR100". The angle one is more.ATECH2FR100B.The models with an "A" at the end of the part # gave the most problems. "B"= better. But they still have a surprising # of complaints on Garage Journal.Very,very expensive for an unreliable tool.
I hope this helps.

bal

Yes - nothing wrong with some HF tools. There's a thread on one of the garage forums that has people posting their experience of various HF tools. Some are terrible, some are good and some are excellent. As crashclint says, it is about the pull. With hindsight, I should have realised that a 10Nm torque (or whatever the right number was) would be pretty much hand tight and using a wrench with a long lever was dumb.

Let's hope I can get the coolant tank back in and everything buttoned up. Then we'll see how the water pump works out and whether it needs professional intervention (I'm not sure how I would go about removing the sheared bolt given the space constraints. I expect that one would need to drop the engine or invent a miniaturization ray).

bal

Well crap. The bolt sheared near the head so some of it is actually in the mounting hole of the water pump, but I see what you mean. Regardless of whether it leaks or not, it is going to annoy the hell out of me. Any thoughts on bolt extraction? I just don't think there's space to try with the engine in.

Joe Ricard

My all time favorite torque wrench and the "go to" in my tool box is a Deflecting beam Craftsman. It is at least 30 years old. Just make sure the needle is on zero when you start.

Schnell Gelb

I feel your (broken bolt) pain.
Broken bolt extraction is a whole new thread !
Very briefly:
The most important task is to put a Center Punch mark dead center on the broken bolt. It is worth spending a lot of care to do this.
Repeatedly soak the bolt with Kroil or PB Blaster over sevral days.
Grind a flat on the broken bolt face. Dremel or HF equivalent is your friend. Take your time. If you screw this up ,it will be more difficult/cause damage.
Use a L.H. drill bit and reversing drill to drill a perfectly centered hole at least 1/2" deep in the broken bolt. Keep it perfectly parallel to the bolt !The broken bolt may come out now.
If not ,slowly insert a screw extractor (L.H.thread).If it does not extract with gentle force drill deeper & or larger diameter.If you get all muscular with this you'll shear of the extractor in the broken bolt .Now you have a real problem !
HF sell all the tools you need for this.
Hope this helps. Look on You tube for "broken bolt extractor"?

bal

Thanks Schnell - much appreciated.

Ahsai

Bal, sorry to hear your problem. Just for the future, it's better to use an inlb torque wrench on M6 bolts. The general rule of thumb is DO NOT use the first 10-20% range of the torque wrench as it's less accurate at that range.

A good quality torque wrench is about $150 and it's best to have at least 3. A 30-200 inlb (for M6 bolts), a 5-75 ftlb (majority of the bolts such as drain plug, brakes, alternator, etc.) and a 40-250 ftlb (for lug nuts and suspension)

The Kobalt ones are good and they are made in Taiwan but my favorites are Precision Instrument and CDI (USA made). Both are great. You can also look for NEW snapons on eBay at about 30% discounted from Snapon.

crashclint

Great advice, I have been lucky and had bolts back out using a LH drill bit.

If part of the bolt is sticking out you may be able to use a composite dow and hammer to tap the bolt on it's edge in the same circular motion as you would with a wrench and slowly back it out.

porsche-t

I had a torque wrench that I bought from Harbor Freight and used it for 10 years (It is now nothing but a breaker bar). Spent the money and bought a Craftsman digital ft/lb wrench and an in/lb, Nm wrench for the smaller bolts.