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Please stop using impact guns on oil drain plugs
I saw three cars this week with crushed oil pans because someone zipped the drain plug back in with an impact. That extra 2 seconds with a torque wrench saves you a $400 pan replacement.
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rowan_roberts4914d ago
It's frustrating to see that kind of damage when a little care would have prevented it completely. A torque wrench really is cheap insurance.
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milesj7014d ago
...and I read somewhere that a dealer tech actually admitted they use impacts on drain plugs all the time because it's faster for flat rate hours. That stuck with me because @rowan_roberts49 is right, a torque wrench is cheap insurance compared to the repair cost. I've been doing my own oil changes for years and I always hand tighten the plug first, then give it the final click with a torque wrench set to spec. Some of the newer cars have aluminum pans that strip way easier too, so impacts just crush the threads. The real kicker is that most of those plug gaskets are designed to seal at a specific torque, not by feeling "tight enough" through an impact gun. Take it from someone who learned the hard way on a beater Honda once, that extra 30 seconds saves a whole lot of headache.
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