That's what the instructions and service manual call for, a progressive torquing from 40 to 80 to 100 inch pounds. That's barely 6 ft. lbs. But if your torque wrench is not accurate, or you don't pay close attention, you could easily go well over that and snap something. I'm always extra careful when using my small torquer.

EDIT: Bad Math Alert. It should read "That's barely 8 ft. lbs."

 

nope. It's a 6mm thread. divide 100 inlbs by 12 and you'll get footlbs. That's about 8.3ftlbs. 8.3ftlbs is perfectly fine for a healthy 6mm thread bolt. 104 inlbs is actually what i torque cam caps on 4 stroke dirtbikes down to. Same size and thread bolts and they are going into aluminum just like these are.

 

Oops, brain fart. I mixed up inches and ounces. 16 ounces to the pound, so 100 oz. lbs. is a little over 6 pounds of ... something.

Thanks for the correction.

 

going to try it now, keep in mind guys im in australia. different time zones haha.

 

oh another quick question

the aramid gasket will be ok once i take off the lower plenum again? is it re-useable? i havent started the engine yet so i think it shall be fine?

 

well i got the lower plenum off again and yes the bolt is sticking up out of the lower plenum

bad news is that the 2 nut trick wont work because there isnt enough thread on the screw

looks like i might have to file down the sides and try to remove it with some pliars. tried to do it without filing the sides but cant get a good enough grip.

time running out... need to go to work. public transport it is today i think

 

needle nose vise grips.

 

ok tried the vice grips, and they worked. got the bolt out replaced it with the one from the guide pin. all sweet.

now i must be the unluckiest guy, or maybe the bolts have been weakened from the previous time i tightened them up.......

put the lower plenum back on bolt no. 1 snapped this time. not even at 40 inch/lbs tourque. it snapped cleaned. pulled the lower plenum back out and managed to just get it out again the same method as before. now i need to go to nissan and re order these ****ing bolts. i need to get all 6 again as i fear they may be very weak. im even going to change number 7 over incase it was previously stressed.

:/

arrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh now im late for work.

 

dont use a torque wrench, hand tighten them good (thats what I did). I believe once the gasket heats up it will expand and you'll have a good seal.

 

BE VERY CAREFUL if you're going to hand tighten them! You can easily exceed 100 inch pounds with hand tools. That isn't very much force. The instructions have a section on tightening by hand.

Mark, there's got to be something else going on. Those bolts shouldn't be breaking at 100 in. lbs. They can take FAR more stress than that. The reason it's only 100 in. lbs. is because the aluminum of the plenum can't take the extra stress. You can warp it enough to prevent a good seal or possibly strip out the threads.

Are you tightening per the directions, i.e. in stages? All the bolts to 40, then 80, then 100? If you did one bolt up to 100, I could see the other bolt holes getting slightly misaligned and causing extra stress, but you seem pretty careful, so I kinda doubt that happened. The only other thing I can think of is the torque wrench you have is badly out of spec. Unfortunately there's no real way to recalibrate it at home. I'd suggest either borrowing a known good one, or buying a new one.

 

yeh i did do them up to 40, 80 then 100

i think the tourque wrench is just stuffed?

i will do them by hand, and not even put that much force the 2nd time around.

screw tourque wrenches im gonna return it and get my $130 bucks back.

i have to wait 10 days for these replacement nuts to come from nissan japan... everyone in nissan australia is out of stock (figures, just my luck)

oh well.... i think i take the record for longest ever motordyne plenum installation. 2 weeks.

 

Well good thing is that you got that to work for you
Bad thing is you keep breaking more
so I would definitely do it by hand and order extras just
for future mishaps.

Look at it this way as long as you didn't drop a bolt into the block
you good. Think positive

 

please dont jinx me

lol

i got that rag securely in place over the top of the block!!

 

You might be able to hammer it out and reinsert a new bolt from the underside.

 

Are you sure you are reading your torque wrench in inch lbs i cant beleive it would snap at 40 inch lbs. Assuming your torque wrench is in inch lbs it has to be malfunctioning. I dont know if you have a harbor freight tool by you but they have an online website and the 1/4 inch torque wrench i bought from them ran me 20 bucks and works just fine.