Main bearing torque lower on two caps?? Mistake...

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dgibby

dgibby

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I think I already know the answer, and will be correcting it, but curious of what others would do.
Replaced the rear main seal and mixed up my torque specs and didn't tighten two caps the same as the others. ARP bolts and the spec is 110 ft pounds but only torqued two of them to 95 ft pounds. Motor is done, ready to drop in.
Would you leave them or go back and fix it?
 
Retorquing them now will be a whole lot less work and expenditure than finding out they fall out with 24 percent less torque holding them in place... Retorque them now, unless you like the thought of taking everything back apart to correct a spun main bearing and then having to clean the metal shavings out of everything.
 
14% difference.

Just IMHO... I think most of the distortion of the block and caps to make them align to where it was machined, is done long before you get to those levels of clamping force. The extra clamping force is there to counteract the distorting forces from the rotating crank, rods, etc. So if you are hammering on the engine hard, then I sure would fix it.

If just cruising, then I would not freak over it. If you used the ARP lube, then you are well past the stock bolt clamping forces anyway.

But then again, if it is on the stand.... how much effort it is to drop the pan?
 
:BangHead::BangHead: Fix it now or worry that you'll have to fix it later.
 
Me, I’m anal. It’d drive me crazy. It’s out of car I’d personally pull the pan loosen them all and retorque. Also make sure to seat the thrust bearings properly. That’s just me.
 
I still worry when I know everything is going together like it’s supposed to! I know of a few bad experiences where ARP bolts weren’t torqued to spec, but it was a newbie relying on torque instead of a stretch gauge to tighten them. I still would pull the pan and retighten it, I would imagine the acceptable tolerance on stretch is a maximum of 5%.
 
He said he is gonna fix it relax guys lol.
Yea id have to fix that. Im thinking that nm9stheham ls probably correct and it woudlnt harm a dang thing but just knowing would drive me nuts.
 
Yes, As I said in my first sentence, I am correcting the problem.
Just wondered if I was being overly cautious, clearly I'm not.
Thanks for the input.
 
Yes, 14%, thank you, i skipped coffee this morning and still paying for it...
 
dgibby said:
Yes, As I said in my first sentence, I am correcting the problem.
Just wondered if I was being overly cautious, clearly I'm not.
Thanks for the input.
Click to expand...
FWIW..... if I was in the situation of heading into a race, and then somehow realized that I had done what you describe, it would be hammer down and go, without a moment of hesitation.... I race rallies and the engines get a lot of off and on hammering time at RPM's. But this would not worry me. LOTS more to go wrong.....
 
For me I've had things go wrong even when nothing should.
 
Yeah, had a run that for every one thing I fixed, five went bad.
But not worth the risk to me not to torque them correctly.
 
Stretch is what comes to mind.

Milodons, arp, different torque specs. Like 85 vs 110.

Mine were in at 85lbs, stretch gauge, nothing fell out.... in fact, the cylinder wall blew out, the rod in that hole plowed through it...but crank is great, cherry.

Hmm...
 
I've taken pans off because I thought I missed one because I didn't note it on the sheet. I can't stand that.
 
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