how to torque the head bolt underneath the ac box

[cerberusaardvark]

title says it all. i cant get my t55 bit and torque wrench to fit under that box. even though my ac system isnt working, its still pressurized.

since it doesnt work can i cut a slit in the box for clearance then rtv and duct tape it afterwards?

 

[malohnes]

Good question. I removed my whole AC system to gain access and then decided to chunk it all since it was never used anyway and in need of repairs my pocket book wasn't willing to make. It may be best to remove the evap assembly blocking access to make sure you get the head bolt torqued to spec.

You can cut the box. I did that rather than buy a non-AC one and mine has been fine for 3 years now.

 

[Anime]

Get a hydraulic torque wrench.

The lower-cost manual alternative is an offset adapter:

Which you can either buy or fabricate from cutting an extension in half for either end and a piece of steel bar. Drill a hole in either end of the bar, cut the extension in half, and weld the extension halves into the holes. Offset adapter.

You can also make a super-duper shallow-depth offset adapter by just welding a T55 bit to a steel bar and then putting a square hole for the torque wrench in the other end.

It'll slightly affect the torque reading due to the extra length and therefore torque, BUT should be minor enough on head bolts not to matter if it's not excessively long, though you'll want to be extra extra careful when doing the final step of torquing to yield.

Barring either of those, you'll either have to remove/loosen the A/C box to get to it with what you have now, or you could find/make a custom shallow T55 bit that will let the torque wrench head fit in the space.