Thread: 12 steps forward and....crACK...one giant leap backward

Originally Posted by Discovery-94

don't do the bolts up to torque until all of them are in finger tight

I was always taught to go one stage further than that (by my old man - ex Royal Air Force fitter), depending on the torque level required.

1. Finger tight all round
2. tighten up in 3 stages for fixings needing more than 30 ft/lb (i.e. for something needing 60ft/lb tighten all to 20, then 40, then 60)

And always work on "opposites" (in the same way that you have a set sequence to tighten up head bolts).

I'm sure that someone will come on here and say that's rubbish or over-cautious, but I've never had anything warp, snap or shear on me before now. Mind you, thanks to his tuition and the time he took to show me in my teens, I've been reasonably self sufficient in car repairs since I was about 17.

Diagnosing problems is what the professionals get paid for. Unbolting dirty stuff and bolting shiny bits back on in their place is by far and away the easy end (or should I say less difficult end) of the deal

Yep - thats the way to go, for sure

Originally Posted by sheerluck

Diagnosing problems is what the professionals get paid for. Unbolting dirty stuff and bolting shiny bits back on in their place is by far and away the easy end (or should I say less difficult end) of the deal

... - I think trying to self- detect by exclusion is half the fun.... "learning by doing"

and unbolting dirty things and refitting shiny things is the final satisfaction

... actually the greatest of all is when it starts to go "putt putt putt" again... (excuse my non-technical description for hearing the beast growl again after several weeks of silence - I can't wait!!!