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

For people complaining it doesn't take the correct batteries-- well you opened the wrong compartment. The batteries go into the end of the handle, not behind the display. If you received a "Durofix" tool instead, it is indeed the same tool, because the ACDelco's are made by this company and rebranded. Anyway, I've used this tool for my spark plug replacement job and it worked great. It seems to be very accurate. The only complaint is that I wish it had a lit screen because in tight jobs you may have the tool in areas where you can't look at it straight on and there's not a lot of light.

Did my first ever engine rebuild with this and I couldn't be happier. Easy to figure out, torqued heads down with precision. Exactly how it's pictured and described. Good quality tool at a very affordable price

It's easy to find wrenches with low max torque range or high max torque range. But "somewhere in between" was way more difficult than I thought? For me, the range of this wrench ACCURATELY provides meant I didn't have to buy TWO different wrenches ... nice! I have a 20-150 ft-lb wrench for larger stuff, but for small-mid size fasteners (as typically found on cars and motorcycles) I wanted a wrench ACCURATE at the lower end of the torque spectrum which the 20-100+ ft-lb wrenches are NOT (read those calibration specs carefully, they all have caveats about their accuracy at the lower end of their range!) Using the larger wrenches at the low end of their range (unless you have a high-end expensive model) is inviting disaster on smaller critical fasteners. So not worth it for me. This wrench came with a calibration certification with my wrench's serial number on it and accuracy was more than acceptable for my use. It comes with a nice sturdy plastic case. Requires 4 AAA batteries which didn't come with it. Has a couple of neat features I may or may not use like "Trace"mode" which shows real-time torque as you tighten. It's constructed, feels and handles like a top quality tool. How long it lasts and remains trouble free electronically remains to be seen ... but for now 5 stars.

I originally wrote this review after owning the wrench for about a month and using it on one major project. Now after a year and more uses, I'm adding additional observations and adjusting my rating from 5 to 4 stars. It's still a good buy IMO, but see below for the full details and things you should be aware of when buying this torque wrench. It's a bit pricey, but this torque wrench is perfect for smaller and more precise jobs. It's far more accurate at lower torques than the craftsman, and easier to use, and to make sure you're torquing everything down right. Digital tone rather than physical click when reaching the set torque, and works on both left and right handed threads, unlike the craftsman. Also unlike the craftsman, this wrench uses AAA batteries which are cheap and easy to replace, and even includes a nice storage case with a slot to keep a spare set of batteries. It toggles easily between Ft Lbs and Newton-Meters on the digital display, sounds a warning beep when getting close to the torque setting, and actively displays the torque readout while you wrench on it. After a day of use, it started displaying the message 'Err' on the LCD when first powered on, but it goes away after a second and still works as normal. I don't know what that's about, but figured worth mentioning. The only other problem I've had with this is that the automatic shut-off timer is relatively short--maybe a minute. That means if you put it down between bolts or take too long wrenching on a bolt to finger-tight before you start applying enough torque to get a reading, it might shut off on you and need to be turned back on. It's a minor annoyance, but you should always make sure it's still on immediately before starting to apply measurable torque if you're not able to read the screen during, or you might miss the important beep if it's not. It only goes up to about 34 NM (25 ft-lbs), so for anything above that you'll want a heavy mechanical torque wrench. This is a very good low to medium-low torque wrench though for the jobs requiring a softer touch like engine work, and fills in the gap below the heavy torque wrenches nicely. The minimum settable torque is 5 NM (3.7 ft-lbs), and while you can still read the display counting up from ~1 NM before reaching that value, I would not trust it for anything lower than that. In fact, I probably wouldn't trust it for anything lower than 7 or so NM (5.2 ft-lbs), as I've had bad experiences so far with trying to use it on ultra low torque jobs like plastic brackets where it seemed to distend the plastic before reaching the specified torque values (in the range of 4-4.5 NM), so to be safe I would say use a finer tool for anything very low in torque value, since the size and heft of this tool, combined with a potentially lower accuracy at the low end of its spectrum mean it could be easy to damage or strip things that require an exceptionally deft touch, so in those cases you may want an even smaller, more precise wrench for the low end stuff, and delegate this to the middle jobs. Between this lack of trust at the lowest torque levels and the turns-itself-off-too-soon issue, I'm knocking it one star upon this re-review, but it's still an excellent buy and worth the money IMO.

Bought this to do a Mini Split install. I needed 11-13 ft/lbs for the 1/4” line flare nut and could not find an accurate mechanical torque wrench that was accurate at low torque. The Harbor Freight 3/8” torque wrench claims to work down to 10 ft/lbs, but isn’t accurate (applies way too much torque). Most 3/8” torque wrenches start at 20 ft/lb. This wrench is a little tricky to program (don’t throw away the user guide) but once I got the hang of it I was okay. One other note - if you’re using a Crows Foot wrench (not a socket), and you are holding the torque wrench straight up and down, you should use the Crows Foot at a right-angle (at either 3 O’clock or 9 O’clock position if you imagine the head of the torque wrench is a clock face). It’s tempting to put the Crows Foot facing straight away from the end of the torque wrench (12 o’clock position) but then you have increased the length of the wrench and will not be applying accurate torque. I don’t quite understand the physics behind it, but figured I’d pass it along because it was a mistake I almost made. YouTube has videos explaining it better than I can.

I have often needed to torque something to specifications and did not own a torque wrench that could torque as low as required. Problem solved now. I love the sound that alerts you that you are approaching and then meets the number specified. I will be getting the high torque wrench soon, I hope. I have wanted one of these ever since seeing one on a YouTube video. My Prius now has every nut and bolt I had to take off and reinstall, as well as the spark plugs and coil packs torqued to specifications. And that baby now purrs like a kitten!!!

Other reviews complain about small LED words and numbers. That is true but when programed all you need to see is the red warning light when you reach the torque. I love it and it is well built. How long the batteries last, unknown. Like everything with cell batteries, long term storage, you should remove the batteries so they will not destroy the connectors when they leak overtime.

I really wanted to like this torque wrench. It's a nearly perfect sized wrench for medium-small fasteners that don't require a larger torque wrench (i.e. 35+ ft-lb), and are too large for a 1/4-in drive torque wrench (i.e. 50-150 in-lb). It's about 12" long, so pretty much ideal for fasteners in the 10-20 ft-lb range. And, being digital, it reads out in ft-lb, in-lb, N-m and kg-cm, so it works nicely with both metric stuff and SAE (older American cars and such). After using this wrench only a few times, I noticed that if I watched the display (in T or P mode, it doesn't matter) the torque alarm would start to beep AFTER THE SET TORQUE HAD ALREADY BEEN EXCEEDED! For example, if I set the torque at 15 ft-lb, it won't start beeping until about 16 ft-lb, and it will not go to a continuous tone (indicating that you have reached the set value) until about 18 ft-lb, or about 20% OVER the set torque. That is a serious flaw, and it renders this torque wrench useless at it's sole job of allowing you to torque fasteners to a known torque. After playing around with the wrench a bit more, I realized that it seems to work correctly when it's set to the N-m scale, but not in ft-lb or in-lb modes. (I did not test kg-cm.) It overshoots when in ft-lb mode (as in the example above) and it undershoots when using in-lb mode (it will start beeping / continuous tone BEFORE the set torque is reached). It seems to work as intended when using the N-m scale. I tried replacing the batteries, and that had no effect. Given all of this, I simply don't trust this torque wrench enough to use it, even in N-m mode. I'm past the warranty period, so it looks like I now have an expensive paperweight.