Appreciation post: the old timer at our shop in Akron who caught my torque wrench habit

Wade Mason · 2026-10-25T23:35:04.59244+00:00

Last month I was doing head bolts on a 2012 Civic and Ray, who has been turning wrenches since the 70s, stopped me cold. He asked if I was setting the wrench back to zero after every job, and I had to admit I never did. Turns out I had been leaving it cranked at 80 ft-lbs on the bench for close to two years, which is why my readings felt sloppy on the last few motors. He grabbed our shop's calibration tester and mine was off by about 6 ft-lbs across the range, enough to matter on a head gasket. I felt pretty dumb standing there with a wrench I trusted for so long. Now Ray checks the shop tools every 90 days and I do the same with my own box. How often do you guys send your torque wrenches out, or do you just test them in house?

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Appreciation post: the old timer at our shop in Akron who caught my torque wrench habit | Auto Mechanics - Chatter Central