ok i was almost done installing a new thermostat today and water pump and i was torquing the bolts for the top radiator inlet pipe that hold in the thermostat. So im doing it all by the book, and i was only gona torque it to 14ft-lbs when the manual says anywhere from 13 to 16ft-lbs would be fine. one of the corners of the inlet pipe cracks off. im like wtf? so before i go digging for through junkyards another one, is this gona happen again? is 14ft-lbs too much?

one more thing. the FSM that i used was for an SR, but i figured that the coolant systems couldnt differ that much. was that a stupid thing to do?

oh and i was torquing all 3 corners gradually. not one at a time.

 

That is a freak failure. 14ft-lbs isn't enough to break anything. Just make sure to inspect the new one you get. I have a feeling that the original one might have had a crack to begin with.

By the way, there's no reason why people should not have the right FSM for their S chassis. www.zeroyon.com has all of the USDM FSMs for every 240sx. Everything except S13 with SR in english (which does not exist) is available for free download.

 

general rule- on anything other than headbolts, or internal engine parts "tight" is good enough. no need to break out a torque wrench.

nothing wrong with being anal about it though at all.

 

thanx. very informative

 

Depending on if you have good judgement of "how tight". I had a fucking tard break off 2 bolts in the head, trying to reinstall the rocker arm rail in a Neon. Then some other bolt i can't remember. long story short-he got the wrong sized helicoils, and i fired him, and had to do 2mm's bigger with timeserts, so that freaking rockerarm rail ain't goin nowhere!

 

well, common sense is pretty much needed.

 

I did the same thing to mine my thermostat is held by 2 bolts I am one of those people that needs more common sense when it comes to tightening shit I go overboard maybe its because my motor rattles lose the tightest bolts even with lock tight.

 

go by the OEM torque specifications, and if it breaks...you know it wasn't as strong as it should've been!