https://www.ebay.com/itm/113871234755 New it's about $20 more. Kind of overkill for the average joe, but might be handy for someone who does a lot of battery rebuilding. 48 in lbs is the torque spec on the hybrid bus bar nuts. Not sure what the original purpose would of been under Toyota, usually OTC tools are dealer tools, not sure if they made factory tools, and I'd imagine they would have a robotic machine with 28 sockets that tighten all the bus bar nuts on one side at once.
Looks kind of slow... At least compared to my screwdriver gun, which lowest clutch setting is a wee bit under 48 in lbs. So you put all the nuts on till the clutch slips, then double check all of them with socket wrench that's makes them slightly tighter.
For one time use, is a harbor freight torque wrench decent for the bus bars? I only have a 1/2 digital which only goes down to 150 in lbs, and a 3/8 which goes down to 100, both quite a ways off from 48 in lbs.
The tool (part number 00002-11000-01) was used in Special Service Campaign 40G, an HV battery modification for first-generation (2001–2003) Prius cars.
a torque wrench is just way overkill for this job, it's not a transmission valve body. just use a 1/4 inch wrench and just grab the head of it instead of using the handle and tighten.
No, no. no, a MILLION TIMES NO! Your background and experience? On another thread, someone they were working with, somehow drilled into the battery box. Imho, to not use a good torque wrench on the nuts for a traction/high-voltage battery, isn't that far from drilling blindly into voltage/current battery box assembly. High voltage, high current devices/items should not be touched/modified, unless the person has as least basic knowledge/training. The assembly specs and instructions, are specified for a reason. Do people think that engineers just make up specifications and instructions? A part may not be a long lasting part, nor a sturdy part. That's because, 99.99999% of the time, that's the result of having to meet a cost requirement. A fool can finger tighten lug nuts, then drive the car a few feet, and claim they are the next Einstein. A fool can eat fabric softener packets, and show/claim how "cool" they are. A fool can try choking themselves until they pass out. A fool can drink 16oz of Benadryl liquid. Just because some number of idiots don't immediately die, or show immediate after effects, that does not mean what they do, or suggest, isn't stupid. Do it correctly! Do not put your life, and possibly the life of others, at risk. Below, both torque wrenches have a low-end of ~44 in/lbs. Imho, "for my comfort", for the clicker-style, your need for 48 in/lbs, is "too close" to the minimal 44 in/lbs rating of the torque wrench. Fwiw, after using a digital torque wrench for low-value-torques, *I* view the low-value-torque clicker-types as toys made solely for use by foolish newbies. Code: https://www.amazon.com/ACDelco-ARM601-3-Digital-ft-lbs-Notification/dp/B004VYUQI2/ ACDelco ARM601-3 3/8” (3.7 to 37 ft-lbs.) Digital Torque Wrench with Buzzer and LED Flash Notification – ISO 6789 Standards with Certificate of Calibration $99.99 https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-1-4-in-Drive-Torque-Wrench-H4DTWA/206743985?ITC=AUC-125873-23-12070 Internet #206743985 Model #H4DTWA UPC Code #037103299277 Store SKU #625319 Husky 1/4 in. Drive Torque Wrench $74.97 Torque wrench is calibrated to +/- 3% accuracy Torque wrench features a range of 40 in./lbs. to 200 in./lbs. Solvent resistant dual material comfort grip Imho, the number of non-professionals, that correctly store their clicker-style torque wrenches, is likely a very small. Sad! That results in a very poor accuracy, of the low-end range, of an incorrectly stored clicker-style torque wrench. Even the super cheap torque wrenches come with instructions on proper storage. Read the instructions for how to properly store a clicker-style torque wrench. Use Google for how to properly store, and maintain clicker-style torque wrenches. Good Luck!
There are very similar tools, used for tightening 5/16" hose clamp worm screws. They're typically calibrated to 60 inch pounds and are <$20 Wrench Torque For Hose Clamp - Plumbing Clamp Torque Wrench - Amazon.com or this if you just add your own 5/16" or 8mm socket Sanliang Torque Screwdriver Wrench Driver Bits Set 10-70 Inch Pounds lbs for Maintenance,Tools, Bike Repairing and Mounting. (10-70 in-lbs) - - Amazon.com
Another suggestion plumbing T wrench releases at 60 in/lbs $13, but for another $6 I would get the HF torque wrench. Its 5/16 - 8mm. https://www.lowes.com/pd/AMERICAN-VALVE-Torque-Wrench/1244081
I slept at holiday inn, and my experience is mostly working on real cars with issues. I'll keep you guys updated when my car catches on fire because I didn't use a torque wrench. Keep the job simple don't make it look like very complicated and you don't need to claim to be certified working on these. When I initially work on cars, I tend to follow torque specs but over time you get the general idea of how much torque to apply by feel, as what I said this is not a transmission valve body or an engine requiring precise torque because of "constantly moving parts". You'll have other issues with this car and it's not because you didn't use a torque wrench..
I know of many experienced people who have similar knowledge of the 'feel' of what a certain torque spec feels like and would likely agree with you. For the inexperienced torque wrenches are a good way to be confident a fastener is amply tightened and a good way to gain experience. If you know what 48 in*lbs torque feels like then all well and good. The battery bus bars are one of those that have a 'goldilocks' torque requirement – not too tight, not too loose, but just right and not for reasons of constantly moving parts.
I'm with @highmilesgarage on this! If you're turning a wrench all day for a career you know when torque is important and when it's not. Proper torque is a way to optimize the strength of a fastener. If that fastener is too tight it can fail at a lower force; it's its too loose it can fail at a lower force in other ways. But if it's just right it's as strong as possible. Every fastener has a torque value based on it's size and composition. And there's places in your car that matters. And places in your car it doesn't... I've found the most common place pro mechanics fail to use proper torque when they do battery pack work is the 14mm bolts where the back seat back are mounted into place are almost always too tight due to using an impact driver for larger size bolts. And I always get excited when those bolts are too tight because sometimes it means the battery pack on the old Prius is newer than the car. And after several dozen battery packs torque values are nowhere near as important as how easy it is to miss tightening a bolt and sometimes the pack won't function when you do that and you have to pull the pack and check your work, which is sad. But with over a 100 connections that have to be correctly made in a pack you put back together, you quickly learn to build redundancy and simplicity into your process so everything is double and triple checked, regardless of how accurate you are at torque specs on a fastener that's never going to need to be optimized to be as strong as possible.
Speaking of voltage...I've noticed there isn't any with the orange plug removed. I can touch pretty much any terminal on the bus bars and not feel a thing. At least doing one side at a time.
Similar to the famous last words of many electricians.....maybe someday everyone will get the joy of seeing a friend get his thumb and forefinger vaporized. It changes your entire outlook on touching electrical things..... The voltage is always there, there's just less paths for continuity depending on where you touch. Hopefully, anyway, or the touchee may join my friend...
