LOL, it was crazy. They looked up the torque spec which was in inch pounds and tried to tighten it to foot pounds. They broke one bolt and went on to the next one in the pattern. After 2 broken bolts at the lowest (first) 'torque spec', they decided to call the teacher over. He pulled everything and we talked. They got the bolts out without the head. I decided to come in and finish it with him. (though I wasn't much help, he does things very fast)

I picked up a few tips from him though. Get a weak impact and some new style swivel impact sockets. (3/8" drive) Set it to the lowest setting and start all of your bolts by hand and tighten with the weak impact. (not tight at all) You can go very fast doing this. He also introduced me to liquid electrical tape and a lube made for rubber parts such as injector o-rings. (I can't remember the name) I also learned that the Precision Instruments torque wrenches are basically the same as Snap-On. The head doesn't say Snap-On and it ratchets a little different but the rest is the exact same thing. I will never get enough experience to know what he knows. (I just don't do it enough)

 

The only think I like about snap on is if you use an extension (which will mess with the torque) it calculates it automatically

 

Huge difference between 72 in lbs and 72 ft lbs. I believe final torque spec is 12 ft lbs per the service manual.

 

As long as you use a straight (non swivel) extension and keep it on the same plane as the socket, there should be no difference in torque reading. It's when you change the angle that you start running into issues.

 

The torque wrench I am referring to is the "Precision Instruments PREC3FR250F Silver 1/2" Drive Split Beam Torque Wrench with Flex Head" found on Amazon for a little over $150.00. The Snap-On is about $400.00. I have had both in my hand and I can only tell a difference in the color and the ratcheting head. The Snap-On did seem smoother and probably had more teeth. What I like is that you can leave it set at 100 foot pounds. (my wife's minivan lug torque spec) Most of the other torque wrenches need to be 'unloaded' or they can get off over time. I'm not fancy and in the digital torque wrench world. Then again I don't want to change batteries in my tools either. What I don't like is that the setting is not super granular. If a torque spec if 156 lbs, I have to set it to 150 and give it a tiny bit more. I bought the digital torque tester thingy from Harbor Freight to test all of my torque wrenches and they are all really pretty accurate. (even the ones made of pure Chinesium)

 

So I finally got the 2nd bolt/bolt extractor drilled out and re-tapped. Ended up using a 1/8" Bosch masonry bit from Home Depot and it worked like a charm to get a nice pilot started through the bolt extractor. I wish I would have just used that to drill the bolts out to begin with. Live and learn. I think I can finally start replacing the gaskets haha.

 

Got everything buttoned up and she seems to drive a lot better. Much more responsive and no more hesitation. Still have a slight whistle under the hood somewhere. Does the stock air hat have a gasket where it mates to the throttle body?

 

Yes it does

 

So I put the air hat gasket in and it seemed to calm the whistle down. I have put a little over 100 miles on it and it is starting to do the hesitation thing again. Will do it in 3 & 4 at low RPM's. Best way I can describe it is when you are reeling in a lure and a fish is nibbling at it. That is what the hesitation feels like. I can hit the accelerator and it will downshift and smooth out when I get above 1700ish RPM's. I have a 99 Cherokee that uses same MAP sensor. I think I will try and swap that over to see if that has anything to do with whats going on. Also, I did install a 180 degree thermostat, but it really isnt getting much past 150 on the dash gauge. Not sure if I'm getting a bad reading or have a bad thermostat. Here's what I have done so far:

New:
Plugs
Wires
Cap
Rotor Button
Plenum Gasket
Intake Gaskets
Thermostat
Transmission Rebuild
Front 02 sensor

 

So temp reading on the dash is off. It runs at 180 according to the live data feed from my scan tool. I believe I have isolated the hesitation/shudder to when the torque converter is locked up. It acted like this before I rebuilt the transmission. I did put a new torque converter in with the rebuild, so I think the likelihood of haveing 2 bad torque converters is unlikely. I replaced the governor pressure solenoid (with the oversized one) but did not replace the lockup solenoid. Im not sure if that could cause the issue. I have never had a CEL come on and I can clearly feel when the TC locks up. I know the front end could use an alignment and the tires could probably stand to be rotated and rebalanced. Not sure if this could cause that hesitation/shutter. From what I understand, the hesitation/shutter I'm feeling could be happening the whole time, but is more pronounced during lockup. Any thoughts?