Adam Dickson

Check break torque of Loctite 243 vs 277 with steel M4 rivnuts and stainless steel bolts

The manual calls for the fuel sender plate bolts to be thread locked with high strength Loctite 277. My concern is spinning these rivnuts if these bolts are ever removed. I have previously verified that these rivnuts will hold 17.7 in-lbs torque with a margin without spinning. So I wanted to verify whether the 277 would take more than this torque level, and whether the 243 would always break below this torque level.

I found that the 277 typically required more than 17.17 in-lbs to break, once cured. This means there is a danger of spinning out the rivnuts if this were used. Conversely I found the 243 would break below 17.7 in-lbs so the use of 243 ensures the ability to remove M4 bolts without spinning out the rivnuts.

So as well as with the fuel sender plate, 243 is used for all the bolts holding the fuel sender mounting bracket (I cleaned out the 577 used originally), and the nuts securing the sender wire lugs.

This post is from Adam Dickson