Tried a new torque wrench on a head gasket job and the difference was huge

I was doing a head gasket on a 6.7 Powerstroke last week and decided to compare my old clicker wrench to a new digital one I borrowed. The old wrench felt fine, but the digital readout showed I was off by almost 15 foot-pounds on a few bolts during the initial pass. I went back and re-torqued everything with the digital tool, following the exact three-step sequence. The engine fired up clean with no leaks, which wasn't always the case for me on these jobs. Has anyone else made a switch like that and noticed a real improvement in consistency?

3 comments

3 Comments

andrew9162mo ago

Man, I've been trusting my old clicker like it was gospel. Might need to borrow a digital one before I accidentally launch a valve cover into orbit lol.

elizabeth_gonzalez2mo ago

Honestly those old clicker torque wrenches are pretty solid if you take care of them. People built entire engines with them for decades. Just check the calibration once in a while or when you drop it. Unless you're doing aerospace stuff, you probably won't actually send anything flying.

the_sean1mo ago

Ngl I used to be the guy who thought you had to have the fanciest digital torque wrench or you were basically gambling with your engine's life. I'd see someone using an old clicker and I'd be like, "bro get with the times." But honestly, this really changed my mind. I started reading more about it and talking to old school mechanics and they all swear by the simple clicker ones. It makes sense, less electronics to fail, and if you just take care of it and don't drop it, it'll probably outlast the digital ones anyway. I'm thinking I might just grab a nice used one and save the money for actual parts.