If you’ve read many of my wrench-turning stories before, you may have heard me extoll the virtues of visibly marking fasteners in between the buried wang jokes and hidden references to ’80s industrial bands. After a particularly bad experience with a broken Mustang Watts link fastener a…
So it works no better than a paint pen but is somehow better? This article fails to make any point at all and seems to be someone just rambling about something they think is better for no discernable reason.
Ben said:So it works no better than a paint pen but is somehow better? This article fails to make any point at all and seems to be someone just rambling about something they think is better for no discernable reason.
Well, the mark is more persistent and easier to identify as broken than a paint pen. Sorry I thought I was more clear about that part.
But maybe its best feature is being a dedicated tool for an important job that won't get cross-used as something else or improperly stored or depleted when you need it most. It feels like it has the most value is being a hyper-specialized item with a single application that it's perfectly suited for while being suited for nothing else.
In reply to Ben :
"the glob cracks in place rather than stretching, or dislodging from either the fastener or substrate. It also holds on fairly tight, but it’s removable once you actually intend to remove and re-install the fastener. It sort of chips off the surface rather than wiping off or smearing off."
JG Pasterjak said:It feels like it has the most value is being a hyper-specialized item with a single application that it's perfectly suited for while being suited for nothing else.
That sums it up.
I work for a major OEM where something like this is quite important. We use paint markers.
That is pretty commonly used at quick oil change places, on the drain plug.
We used it in aviation.
I've been meaning to get some for the bigger jobs I send out. I put a new top end in an RMK600 last week and I should have put something on the head bolts and cylinder bolts, just in case people decide to "fix" things themselves.
I used this on my racecar all the time. Now I use it at work.
One of the BIG advantages of this is that you don't need to look at the fasteners too closely.
It typically breaks off a fairly large chunk of the material if the fastener loosens a bit. That makes it easy to spot from across the room.
No mark on the fastener means that it did get loose.
With paint markers you still need to get close enough to see if the marks are lined up.
We use it at work now on equipment that would require a shutdown to inspect closely. With this you can check from further away while the equipment runs. If you can see the mark, chances are it's still German (gudandtite).
We use a similar product on every single nut and bolt at work. Makes such a difference when a customer complains about something being loose and sends a picture back.
"Well. You loosened it. Thats why its loose."
I was under my car two days ago looking for the source of some suspension noise. One of the rear sway bar mounts was loose. Unfortunately, didn't resolve the problem.
As I'm looking over the suspension, I saw that the camber bolts had a couple of colors of paint on them, but the colors don't line up. Time to get it on a rack.
While cleaning up, I thought I should remember to ask a question on the forum for a recommendation for marking fasteners, then this pops up today.
Should I be worried?
JG, I for one, thought your writing was exceptionally well done with humor and clarity! What more could we ask from a guy who also wrenchs and drives at a high level?
Article title is misleading. The marking has nothing to do with making the connection tight or keeping it tight. All the paint does it tell you if something has changed. It could have loosened on its own or someone took a wrench to the item.
The title needs to change.
Great Comic Redd Foxx said he was brought into court by a woman for "breach of Promise", she said he promised to take her to Florida. Redd said, "Your Honor, I only said I was gonna tamper with her".
BURZA said:Article title is misleading. The marking has nothing to do with making the connection tight or keeping it tight. All the paint does it tell you if something has changed. It could have loosened on its own or someone took a wrench to the item.
The title needs to change.
The article doesn't describe how to use a torque wrench. Because it isn't about how to use a torque wrench.
Its about how to tell if someone has loosened a bolt or if a bolt has worked itself loose.
Not quite sure what the issue is, considering the context
Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:I was under my car two days ago looking for the source of some suspension noise. One of the rear sway bar mounts was loose. Unfortunately, didn't resolve the problem.
As I'm looking over the suspension, I saw that the camber bolts had a couple of colors of paint on them, but the colors don't line up. Time to get it on a rack.
While cleaning up, I thought I should remember to ask a question on the forum for a recommendation for marking fasteners, then this pops up today.
Should I be worried?
The algorithm sent me a note letting me know you were having issues and it inspired this post Eric.
Do you want to know what you're going to have for lunch Thursday?
We use nail polish for this at work.
Contacted manufacturer, they said try WW Grainger and Amazon. Gave up on Grainger's website. Bought 4 colors on Amazon from various vendors.
I will be curious as to their shelf life, as 4 tubes will last me 10? years.
I'll likely do what I do with my other adhesives, resins, epoxy, etc and keep them in my dedicated 40F refrigerator.
Not sure yet how I will assign color: by car, date, item, system, criticality, etc
Could this also be useful on lug nuts for track days,, considering heat, vibration, anti seize, etc
In reply to Ben :
If the fastener moves (ie backs off) it tends to crack and fall off, no second guessing, "did it move or am I imagining things?".
we use this on our enduro car, makes the fri and sat night nut and bolt check go much easier/faster, especially when your non-mechanically inclined teammate is helping while holding a beer...
MadScientistMatt said:We use nail polish for this at work.
What color works best Matt? 
From the looks of that nut, it's been ugga-dugga'd off (and maybe on) a few times...with an old, worn out socket. But judging from the rust on the threads of the bolt, not recently.
I've been using Permatex Bolt Mark which seems readily available in Canada (amazon.ca, Canadian tire etc.) but doesn't show up on Permatex.com.
I tried using a paint marker but found it was hard to see and the paint didn't go on very nice under my 40 year old car (grease, oil etc.). This stuff you just put a glob on and it is very easy to see (bright yellow in my case). It's also easy to remove as it kind of breaks off in one chunk rather than a bunch of paint marks that will always be there.
I like the picture in the article of it on the strut base, both on the threads and between the nut and the strut. I've just been marking the threads which tell you if they've come loose but don't tell you if whatever you are clamping is moving around or not (good way to try to track clunks or holes that aren't as round as they used to be). I'll start adding that second glob so I can see if there is any unwanted movement I haven't noticed.
Good article!
jcc said:MadScientistMatt said:We use nail polish for this at work.
What color works best Matt?
Red acrylic. Ask any orc - the red ones go faster
More importantly, I think this article raises awareness first of all, about the value of this practice, as many home mechanics may not have even had an awareness or thought about incorporating this practice into their wrenching work. So thanks for shining a light on this, and hopefully those who weren't aware of the benefits, are now.
RaceRed said:More importantly, I think this article raises awareness first of all, about the value of this practice, as many home mechanics may not have even had an awareness or thought about incorporating this practice into their wrenching work. So thanks for shining a light on this, and hopefully those who weren't aware of the benefits, are now.
Yeah if anyone takes just one thing away from it I hope it's this.
For me, the real benefit of the paste is not so much the way it works (although the way it works is exceptionally well suited to the task), but the fact that it is a specific a limited use case, which means—in my world, anyway—it's going to get used more often and more properly than the other acceptable but non-specific solutions I'd been employing.
Sometimes it's just nice to find an important tool that functions for your particular brain worms.
And, yeah, I did see that there were several color options available, was instantly stricken with option paralysis and said "Yep, red it is!"
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