I hate my torque wrench

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.

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.

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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.

You own a Porsche and work on it with HF tools. At least go to Lowes and get kobalt.

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.

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Crazy expensive, but this stuff is without peer in my experience: http://www.stahlwille-online.de/inde...list&pcid=4893

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.

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).

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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.

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.

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"?

Thanks Schnell - much appreciated.

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.

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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.

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.

I don't have a "go to" torque wrench. At least I don't have a cabriolet with a tip.

Thanks Ahsai - I was looking at the CDIs actually. Also, I applied your compressed air coolant emptying technique to great effect. Pretty sure there's nothing left in there now especially with the coolant tank out. Now to get the new one in! BTW, I did find that removing the hard line (black plastic pipe) under the car helped a great deal when removing the water pump. If I had to do it again it would be far quicker.

The Porsche-specific issue that eliminates many of the 3/8 T wrenches is that they are too big to use in the confined space. Further, you can't fit your head and the wrench in the space available to watch a digital readout,little colored LED lights or a dial. So you need a beep+vibrate wrench. CDI make the Snap On Techwrenches/Techangle .They may give a better warranty than S.O.? The CDI 1002TAA is around $450. CDI 1002TAA-CDI Drive Torque and Angle Electronic Torque Wrench, 3/8-Inch - - Amazon.com CDI 1002TAA-CDI Drive Torque and Angle Electronic Torque Wrench, 3/8-Inch - - Amazon.com BTW -test your HF T wrench using an old bolt in a vise .Set it to the torque you used and try to bust the bolt. In your case, you were lucky you did not strip the threads in the block ! I wonder if you put the bolts back in the wrong location? Some are longer than others and have correspondingly deeper holes ??

I was very careful about the location. When I removed two longer bolts from the old water pump, I marked the corresponding holes on the new water pump with a sharpie so that I could tell. Wish I'd applied the same common sense to over tightening.

Did you realize that 2 of the bolts are longer than the other 5 and must go back in the correct order. Anyway, why would you need a torque wrench for 7 ft lbs? It's not much tighter than finger tight. You must have felt the pressure needed when you removed them in the first place. Provided it was the original pump. All mine moved easily under a small wrench and finger pressure as I could not get my hand on the small wrench, only fingers. I guestimated my tightening pressure and its been ok for the past 12 months when I replaced the pump. Good luck with removing that broken bolt. I doubt it in the space available unless it's the lowest bolt. The engine may have to be dropped IF you must remove it. I hope it is one of the lower bolts and maybe you could get to it easier for extraction with the correct tools needed. That's a bummer for sure. I do not envy your job

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You're right - I should have realized that 7ft lbs was not very tight. When I removed the bolts form the old pump, they felt much tighter than finger tight. In general, I would rather use a torque wrench and get a consistent torque on all the bolts. Unfortunately it is the very top bolt. I can't see getting it out without dropping the engine.

I wonder if you can get a clear shot at that bolt for extraction if you remove the rear bumper, the cats and the engine brace. Still beats dropping the engine.

Looks doable. 0307151839b (Large).jpg

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+1 If this is a mostly regular gasket all the bolts really need to do is hold it tight with enough pressure to make a seal, nothing more.

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Naw, just get used to wrenching and you should be able to get them close enough without going over. No torque wrench required. IMO but what do I know, other than $5 contact cement didn't work for the rear window seam that was coming apart.

Two of the holes on the water pump have metal sleeves/inserts. Those the holes that fit the longer bolts. Very easy to remember

you could be in good shape if the bolt did not bottom out. i would remove the pump and get the smallest needle nose vice grips [it may come out with pliers] and grab on to the bolt part that is sticking out.if it comes out the most you may need is a new gasket. drilling the bolt and using an ez out is very difficult for small bolts.

If you have to drill this guy might be helpful (ask me know I know...): http://www.amazon.com/Neiko-10529A-8-Inch-55-Degree-Quarter/dp/B000XUHA8C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1435632319&sr=8-1&keywords=close+quarters+drill http://www.amazon.com/Neiko-10529A-8-Inch-55-Degree-Quarter/dp/B000XUHA8C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1435632319&sr=8-1&keywords=close+quarters+drill I just did my WP and while I don't think that drill won't fit with the engine brace on, it might if you remove it. Oh, and don't forget a good set of reverse drill bits. I bought the Irwin set on Amazon as well and they've held up pretty well. If you have more than 1/4" of stud remaining you could try a stud puller. The local Autozone should have one for ~$20. Good luck!

Thanks everyone. Super helpful advice!

Every time I see this thread, I think it's a euphemism for...something else.

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This has happened a few times on some bolts with a allen wrench end. Drill them out, all the pressure is releaved, and they come right out. So yeah, depending on where it snapped, and assuming it went it clean, and didn't bottom out, chances are it will come right out.

I had to do something like this on a busted stud left over from the DAPO (Dumb A$$ Previous Owner) of my M3. Intake stud broke clean flush with head. Dremel flat center punch, left hand drill nothing. so I got a bit 1/2 the size of the stud and drilled it all the way through. and then increased the size till it was nearly gone but shy of the threads. then it came out with tap. Ended up with a stepped stud and has been working like a champ.

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LOL. That would be the "Is my torque wrench too small?" thread. I can see this degenerating into a boobies thread. Calling KC.

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Yeah it definitely went in clean and it was the correct length bolt. Looking at the head that snapped off and checking its depth in the old water pump, it looks like there should be enough of the threaded part to come out.

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For this you should be able to take a dremel and carefully make a slot for a screwdriver if there isn't enough to grab it with anything. Just carefully since you only really have one shot at it, and after that things may get a bit more serious.

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At least on my motorcycle the exhaust studs can and do snap if you look at them wrong. Funny though, the other 3 came right out for me, and the one snapped. Ended up pissing around with easy outs for a hour or two at a friends place. Snapped one, ground it out, drilled at it more, and nothing. Finally (and what I wanted to do in the first place, which is what you did) took it on his mill and carefully removed the old stud and ran a tap through. Not that the OP will have to go this far, or hopefully not, but if things start going downhill you're screwed and it ends up being a lot of work and swearing.