Shoutout to the guy who torqued bolts with a cheater bar on a Cessna 172

Was doing a prebuy on a 1978 Skyhawk last week and found six oil pan bolts torqued to what felt like 80 ft-lbs instead of 15. Had to helicoil three holes because some hotshot thought more force means better seal. How many of you have seen busted hardware from people ignoring spec sheets?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_wade29m ago

Oh man, the 'good n tight' method. That phrase gives me the shivers. You're dead on about the spark plugs too, I saw a guy once who didn't use a torque wrench on a Lycoming and just cranked them down until his arm said stop. Three helicoils later and he still argued that "they were never loose". The worst part is these people are usually really confident about it, like they invented a better way. It's a miracle more planes don't fall out of the sky with that kind of thinking floating around.

logan5258h ago

There's always that guy who thinks torque specs are just suggestions... 80 ft-lbs on an oil pan is basically asking for a lesson in thread repair. Bet he used the same logic on the spark plugs too, probably tightened those until the porcelain cracked. You gotta wonder if these people ever read a manual or if they just go by the 'good n tight' method their uncle taught them. At least you caught it before that engine started leaking like a sieve on the first flight.