Torque angle....the easy simple way to tighten the oil filter housing...

I've read nearly all of the threads on the oil fitler housing and how to tighten it with an SST cap wrench and a torque wrench.

During my 35 years of experience as a production line and service engineer in the aerospace industry, it was my job to determine the lest expensive and easiest foolproof way to perform any production and service operation.

Many readers here have related their experience with the oil filter housing and their difficulty with its removal and reinstallation with the need of a torque wrench to correctly tighten it.

Most all technical tightening of screw systems have gone to the "angular torque method," as it is more accurate than the standard torque wrench.

The best SST, as others have stated, in the Assenbacher TOY640 cap wrench. Some has shyed away from it, because a 24mm or 15/15 inch wrench is needed to use it with a 3/8 or 1/2 drive torque wrench., choosing instead, one of the inferior 64 or 65mm cap wernches that take the 3/8 inch square drive.

Actually, there is no need for a torque wrench or a socket for the Assenbacher wrench, if you use the method that I've devised.

First, place two paint alignment marks, one ofn the filter housing and one of the aluminum engine casting or housing. When reinstalling, just align the two marks again, and you will have the housing at the correct tightness.

That's all there is to it. No torque wrench and no special socket needed. You can even use an adjustable wrench.

I'd mark my filter housing, especially before my first oil change. I'd be surprised, if the dealer service tech's even use a torque wrench or even mark the position of the housing.

 

We wrote the manuals and tested the procedures. Torque or more appropriately, "fastener tensioning" is a function of the thread pitch and the mumber of rotations applied to the fastening element.

In most "angular torque" applications, the fastener is initially preloaded to a very low "wrench torque" value and then a series of angular torque rotations, especially with multipule fasteners like the screws holding a head gasket together.

My patents involved an electro mechanical method of finding the "zero point" of thread engagement and eliminated any of the errors associated with the minor "preload" torque. A second patent was for a gang wrench which applied even torque to mutliple bolts simultaneously.

A torque wrench, one which overcomes the frictional variations of two unique frictional surfaces will always have a variable +/- error. Indexing the "zero point" and angular rotation using the "micrometer effect" will effectively eliminate the frictional error of a torque wrench. That's why more and more engine head assembly methods are using the angular torque method.