PSA: That cheap $40 torque wrench from Harbor Freight just cost me a head gasket job

I used one of those cheap click-type torque wrenches on a 2005 Civic head gasket last month. After 50 miles it started overheating and I found out I only put 35 ft-lbs on the head bolts instead of 60. Bought a $150 digital snap-on torque wrench from a used tool guy and redid the whole thing. How much did you lose trying to save a few bucks on a basic tool?

2 comments

2 Comments

parkera221d ago

That cheap Harbor Freight torque wrench got me too... cost me a timing belt on an old Civic. It's like the whole 'buy nice or buy twice' thing. People cheap out on the one tool that actually holds an engine together.

nancybailey1d agoTop Commenter

Hold on @parkera22, I gotta push back here a little. I've been using a cheapo Harbor Freight torque wrench for YEARS on all sorts of stuff, including timing belts and head gaskets, and it's NEVER let me down. The trick is to not treat it like a precision instrument, you gotta click it slow and steady, not just yank on it. Half the time people blame a bad part or a user error on the tool. If you're snapping bolts or having belts slip, odds are you either misread the torque specs or you're not clicking it all the way. I think HF wrenches are fine for backyard mechanics, you just can't be careless with them.