a torque wrench is usually not very reliable outside of it's middle 50%

so if you want something to use on head bolts you'll need to use something that works in inch pounds

your new 1/4 inch drive inch pound torque wrench may have been defective

 

I got one of those $230 digital torque wrenches from Sears. Its 3/8's drive which I figured would be more accurate for light jobs like on a motorcycle. Speaking of heads and spark plugs (what lead to your problem, right D-toes?) I just used my new digital wrench to put plugs in my F4i this week. The book spec was 106 inch pounds so I just kept turning and turning short strokes and finally put each one in there til it read about 100" #'s. Hope that **** was accurate.

 

lol

i heard those digital ones are the ****! ...but i'm not about to drop $230 on one.

speaking of f4i heads....after replacing my head, i had my old one to place with...i hand-tight an old used spark plug in it, and tried to tighten it as hard as i could with a 1/4 driver.

i'm not kidding when i say i put ALL the force i could into it, and it would not strip!!!!

...either the myth about the head threads being weak because their aluminium is false, or i'm just a weak *** motha****er.

i'm gonna go with option A!

from now on i'm gonna tighten the **** outta my plugs

 

on the digital torque wrenches you don't need to constantly watch the meter

when you get really close the handle will vibrate and when you hit your spec it will beep
the problem with the digital kind is that they will let you overtorque bc they don't have the click style mechanism built into them

personally i'm not a fan of them

also, for things will very light torque or delicate threads never check your torque. even with the standard click style torque wrench this will add a minute amount of additional torque and could strip out your threads

 

Pretty much all true. For parts where breaking is a risk I usually stop just a few inches or pounds shy.

Also this digital model didn't cost me a dime thanks to Sears swapping me out a new one for my busted old cheap one and giving me the high dollar one without thinking about it.

 

i thought spark plug threads were "delicate" but i guess they aren't cause i couldn't strip em.

 

****! ****! ****! ****! ****! ****! ****! ****! ****!

i officially have the WORST like with re-building motors.

so i went to pep-boyz, bought some moly grease stuff....after an hour...i line everything up and put it back together..

start the bike, it sounds fine!

so i start screaming like a bitch...out of excitement that i got it to work...then i see a **** load of smoke coming from the front of the motor

thought it was just some oil off the headers but it kept getting worst and worst. i examined the headers while the bike was running and i noticed 2or3 leaks from the head gasket!!!!

WTF?!!!

note that

1. i did NOT re-use the same head gasket.
2. cleaned the **** outta the head before i put the new gasket on
3. torqued all the bolts down

after a few minutes of the bike running, the idle started fluctuating real bad...meaning i have low compression which can be caused by a blown head gasket?

HOW CAN THIS BE POSSIBLE?

...the only thing i can thing off are
1. when i was cleaning the old gasket material off the head, i made a few very light scraches.
2. someone at pep-boyz told me you have to buy new head bolts because they strech

I'm reaalllly ****ing pissed, someone please tell me wtf i did wrong.