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Bone head mistake

Started by jrgreene1968, March 31, 2019, 04:33:01 PM

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jrgreene1968

Yesterday I pulled my camchest apart, mainly to check crank runout for gear drive cams.. which it has more than I want. Anyway, while I was in there, I replaced inner cam chain and inner hydraulic tensioner. Buttoned it all back up, except the exhaust, and quit for the day.. recently had back surgery and my back was throwing fits. So.. last night I'm laying in bed and all of a sudden I thought..damn..did I torque the screws on that inner chain tensioner.
So today, I pulled it all back apart, because there wasn't no way I could ride it wandering about those 2 damn screws. Got it apart only to find they was torqued. I've been spinning wrenches for a living for 34 years, But you wouldn't have known it this morning  :banghead:

sfmichael

Colorado Springs, CO.

Hossamania

If the government gives you everything you want,
it can take away everything you have.

Langwilliams

I just did a cam change last week an I have the same questions running though my mind....only I'm wondering if the tq wrench was set right. I always set the tq wrench right in the middle an give it a little extra snug...it didn't break an it's torqued  with blue lock tight so I shouldn't worry but I do anyway.


I did a dumb thing though...I installed a cam bearing with the letters facing the wrong way an had to drive an hr each way to get a koyo bearing from someone that stocked them.

92flhtcu

Wish I had a dollar for every time I had to go back in something after I had a thought like that, and, yeah, it is usually middle of the night time thought at that!
It happens, I'll probably do it again..
Need a bigger garage

koko3052

Quote from: Langwilliams on March 31, 2019, 05:01:12 PM
I just did a cam change last week an I have the same questions running though my mind....only I'm wondering if the tq wrench was set right. I always set the tq wrench right in the middle an give it a little extra snug...it didn't break an it's torqued  with blue lock tight so I shouldn't worry but I do anyway.


I did a dumb thing though...I installed a cam bearing with the letters facing the wrong way an had to drive an hr each way to get a koyo bearing from someone that stocked them.

How do you set a "torque wrench in the middle and then give it a little extra"? :scratch:

Hossamania

I've gotten better, but there was quite a spell when working on carbs, I would get it all mounted back on the bike and see the spring sitting on the bench. Sonofa bi...
If the government gives you everything you want,
it can take away everything you have.

fleetmechanic

We've all seen that leftover parts may well not be spares.

04 SE Deuce

I have trouble multitasking when doing that type of work.
I can have music playing but would normally prefer to hear everything I'm doing.
Having  an engaging conversation with somebody will net the same questions you had.

Langwilliams

How do you set a "torque wrench in the middle and then give it a little extra"? :scratch:

spec is 90-110 I set it at 100 an when it clicks it give it a touch more...wrench can be plus or minus 4 or 5 percent so guess I worry it's 5% low

koko3052

So your "touch more" is much more accurate than setting the torque at 110 and doing them all the same?  :wink:

Pop-pop2

 :agree: with the above. They do calibrate torque wrenches, unless it's a harbor freight.
The ol' tighten it til your elbow pops is no longer applicable  :potstir:

IronButt70

Quote from: fleetmechanic on March 31, 2019, 05:54:05 PM
We've all seen that leftover parts may well not be spares.
When I was turning wrenches in the marine industry I had to attend OMC factory school every 2 years to keep updated on new whatever. The final "exam" for one instructor was he gave you a complete powerhead dissembled in a box. You had to put it back together and it had to pass muster in the test tank. His favorite trick was to put a few extra parts in the box, like crankshaft needle bearings, so you had stuff left over after putting to engine back together. I knew about this from another friend but there were several students in the class who took their engines apart to try and find where the extra parts should go. I think his point was to pay attention to details or maybe he was just a spudhead. Who knows.
No one else put you on the road you're on. It's your own asphalt.

Norton Commando

Quote from: IronButt70 on April 01, 2019, 06:21:09 AM
Quote from: fleetmechanic on March 31, 2019, 05:54:05 PM
We've all seen that leftover parts may well not be spares.
When I was turning wrenches in the marine industry I had to attend OMC factory school every 2 years to keep updated on new whatever. The final "exam" for one instructor was he gave you a complete powerhead dissembled in a box. You had to put it back together and it had to pass muster in the test tank. His favorite trick was to put a few extra parts in the box, like crankshaft needle bearings, so you had stuff left over after putting to engine back together. I knew about this from another friend but there were several students in the class who took their engines apart to try and find where the extra parts should go. I think his point was to pay attention to details or maybe he was just a spudhead. Who knows.

Sounds like a mean trick!

Jason
Remember, you can sleep in your car, but you can't drive your house.

les

When we've done these jobs so many times that we can do them in our sleep, at times we get that startling thought, "Did I torque that bolt?  Did I put that o-ring in?"  I've been working on improving my approach to make sure I'm always mentally check listing everything I do.  Basically for the reason that I don't want to be staring at the ceiling in bed at night.  Like you, I hate that feeling.

Good news:  I can do this in my sleep.
Bad news:  I can do this in my sleep.

Hossamania

Talking  with my indie, he said he has done thousands of cam and tensioner swaps, and can do it in his sleep also, but still uses the manual every time and double checks his process as he goes so he knows he doesn't miss anything.
I don't do a lot of them, so I triple check myself with the manual as I go along, and before final button up and fire up to make sure I got everything. Sadly, when in the middle of a project like that, I tend to sleep with it until complete, as it is out of my comfort zone.
Projects at work, rarely do I sleep with them, but it still happens occasionally.
If the government gives you everything you want,
it can take away everything you have.

IronButt70

When I was building outboard racing engines I used to lay out every part in the order of assembly. If no parts were left when done I was good. Tried to make it as Murphy proof as possible.
No one else put you on the road you're on. It's your own asphalt.

Tynker

When I am doing any internal work on a engine,I make a check list of all the steps in order of re assembly. As I do each step, I check it off the list. It makes it hard to miss anything, and no extra parts, at the end.
Earl "Tynker" Riviere

Fat11Lo

My uncle used to have a friend that owned a machine shop. He would have his guys tear engines down he would do all the machine work and send them over to my uncle's shop on a handful of pallets. That's when my uncle would call me and ask me to come over and put them together. The Cat and Cummins weren't bad it was the 2 stroke Detroits that would get you. You could use all the parts and still have it assembled wrong. Doing this taught me quite a bit about using parts and service manuals.

PoorUB

I was getting ready to drop an engine into a car, it was hanging on the chain hoist when the "light" came on. I put it back on the engine stand, pulled the oil pan a spun the connecting rod nuts down and torqued them! Could have been a bad one!
I am an adult?? When did that happen, and how do I make it stop?!

roadkingdresser

After reading this I feel a hellova lot better knowing I'm not the only one scratching my head and losing sleep . When i was rebuilding cat motots , even though i didn't have any parts left over i still lost sleep thinking about what was goin to happen when the driver got it.
roadkingdresser

JC 92FXRS

Welcome to my world...  :embarrassed:
Guess we all have to live with it...
Jeff
"never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence"

Pop-pop2

I know what you mean on the Detroit Diesels. Lots of different length bolts. Easy to get them mixed up. Had a kid in the shop one time that would say "I've done that", or "I can do that", whether he had or not. Long story short, he left out the welch plugs for the wrist pins on a silver 92. I noticed them on his box two days later. Asked if he had extras. Said he didn't know where they went. Told him in the wrist pins, so it doesn't run away on crankcase oil. He said, I'll wait and see if it comes back. Told him it would be better to own up to the mistake and call the customer, before it gets expensive. He finally did. Somehow it didn't run away and he got it fixed right.

jrgreene1968

I'm generally very thorough due to working on 10,000 cubic inch stationary engines , a small mistake on one of them can be several thousands of dollars.
I guess I had to many distractions Saturday working on the bike.. grandbaby was in and out of the shop, asking papa this and papa that, lol. I did have it right.. I don't know what made me think about those damn 2 screws. But I'd much rather pulled it apart to check, than have it grenade.

PoorUB

When I was rebuilding the engine for the car the owner would stop by and visit. After he saw what happened with the rod bolts he headed out the door and told me that I would do a better job without the distraction! He was riding me a bit to get it done. He said it would get done faster without his help!

I rarely forget something on an engine rebuild. I tend to double check my work. For example, the rods and mains got a final check before the pan goes on, more so if it sat over night.
I am an adult?? When did that happen, and how do I make it stop?!

Rockout Rocker Products

Way back in HS auto shop.... watched a guy with a VW bug up on the lift with the driver's door open. Proceeded to lower the car..... with a big roll around diagnostic center under the door  :dgust:
www.rockout.biz Stop the top end TAPPING!!

Hossamania

That must have been exciting for everyone around!
If the government gives you everything you want,
it can take away everything you have.

jmorton10

I used to be a flat-rate Chevy mechanic.

At one point, I almost got into a fist fight with the service manager who was a raging a-hole.

I came back from lunch one day & they had towed in a 1970 SS 454 Chevelle with both the motor & 4 speed Muncie trans apart in the trunk.  I go to the service manager & ask him WTF am I supposed to do with this??

He tells me, just put it together & get it running.  I told him fine, I will do that but we are throwing the flat-rate book out the window -if it takes me 2 weeks to sort/check out all the parts & then reassemble it all I'm getting paid for 2 weeks of labor.  He's like "that's not how it works, you know that!!".

I actually got to the point that I drove my truck in to load up all my Snap-On tool boxes & go down the road when the owner of the car walked in.  He realized what was going on & said to me "I took this thing all apart & then realized I was way in over me head when it came to reassembling the thing LOL".

He told me "screw that a-hole service manager, I'll pay you in cash whatever the job takes to get it running". He was a GREAT GUY so I said sure we can work with that & that's what we did.  It was a super bad-ass car when I got done with it & the kid was ecstatically happy with it.  I had made some hot-rod mods to it when assembling it & it was a rocket.

~John
HC 124", Dragula, Pingel air shift W/Dyna Shift Minder & onboard compressor, NOS

TXChop

Happens to everyone. Lately, i have been using a sharpie  to mark off bolts and taking pictures. I have pics of timing marks on every cam job i have ever done since 2002. Well since i had to do one of them twice in 2002.

doctorevil

OMG glad to know i am not the only one with a sharpie and a paint pen in my shirt pocket. No guessing where i left off when the phone rings or everbody drops in.