Old timer at a shop in St. Louis told me to stop using an impact for oil drain plugs

He said I was gonna strip out the pan threads eventually and handed me a beam style torque wrench. Been doing it by hand for 6 months now, no more worrying about over tightening.

3 comments

3 Comments

reesej271mo agoMost Upvoted

@the_wendy brings up a good point about crush washers. I've had plenty of those aluminum ones get deformed and start leaking if you don't get the torque just right. The beam wrench is definitely the way to go for low torque stuff like drain plugs, but make sure you're not cranking on it like it's a lug nut. Set it to the spec in your manual, let it click or read the needle, and you're golden. That old timer did you a solid.

the_wendy1mo ago

Yeah beam torque wrenches are great and all but you gotta make sure you actually know the torque spec for your car. Not all oil pans are the same and some drain plugs are aluminum or have crush washers that need a specific setting.

wade2501mo ago

Oh man, you just triggered my PTSD from the time I overtightened a drain plug and spent a weekend drilling out a stripped pan. Feels bad man.