inch pounds feel too light, lol

[Donleecampbell 6]

Ok I replaced the rod piston , rings in my m12 kohler. The service manual stated 200 inch pounds for the old rod which i was installing. i bought a torque wrench for inch pounds previously but never used it until now. it feels way to light, lol. im used to more torque i guess. is that normal for small engines? i removed the balance gears also. I was going to leave them cause other than smoking and low power the engine ran smooth. but i wiggled them and almost passed out, lol. they were crazy wobbly. 

Edited July 2 by Donleecampbell

[adsm08 3,146]

That's about 16.5 ft lbs, not a lot of torque, but even bigger engines don't go super nuts on rod caps. A 5.0L is 28 ft lb plus some degrees.

[kpinnc 14,584]

4 hours ago, Donleecampbell said:

is that normal for small engines?

 

I agree it seems too light. But I have never seen rod caps come loose. Short of the crank pin being out of round or some other issue, they will be fine. 

[ebinmaine 72,425]

Good choice culling those balance gears too!

[Wild Bill 633 877]

Realize during the compression stroke, the crank is pushing the piston up, the load is on the rod end not the cap end. During the power stroke, the piston is pushing down on the rod end not the cap end.

[953 nut 59,780]

11 hours ago, Donleecampbell said:

Ok I replaced the rod piston , rings in my m12 kohler. The service manual stated 200 inch pounds for the old rod which i was installing. i bought a torque wrench for inch pounds previously but never used it until now. it feels way to light, lol. im used to more torque i guess. is that normal for small engines? i removed the balance gears also. I was going to leave them cause other than smoking and low power the engine ran smooth. but i wiggled them and almost passed out, lol. they were crazy wobbly. 

That is what the service manual calls for.            Good catch on the grenade gears.

[Gasaholic 286]

wait 'til you try the torque specs on some small #10-32 screws - they can be as little as 5 to 6 inch pounds - in some applications, over torquing those screws can pretty much ruin the part (Thinking carburetor flanges on Briggs pushmowers, etc.) It's ridiculously easy to over-torque by hand (Just "feels snug" would be well past 15 inch pounds) so I always used a torque screwdriver. Amazingly enough when removing those same screws a day or two later, they took a LOT more torque to loosen them.   Oh yeah, the flywheel screen screws on many Kohlers is another example.. as well as fuel pump screws (all too common to find them overtightened and warping the flanges)   Torque screwdrivers can be your friend, and well worth the investment. (as well as looking up even standard fastener torque specs where none are otherwise specified)  I had 8 different torque wrenches and screwdrivers in my tool box. Just about everything got torqued, and never had anything come loose due to not being tight enough. 

[Kenneth R Cluley 589]

Regularly repair bicycles and small parts are torqued to Newton Meter specs which are even lower than inch pounds, Electrical connections are also supposed to be torqued. Only way is with screwdrivers and allen or torx bits in screwdriver head.