Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: Tegger
Originally Posted By: The Critic
I used the factory approved method. The lobes were pointing at about 9-10?
That's the difficult method. A tiny bit off and the cams are sitting on their ramps.
Originally Posted By: The Critic
What other methods would you recommend?
Turn crank by hand until the four lobes you want to adjust are pointing straight up to the sky. Now adjust those. Repeat until another four are pointing straight up, etc. until all are done. I guarantee that you'll find all those "tight" exhaust valves will now be found to be way too loose.
Another note: Be extremely careful HOW you insert those feeler gauges! If they're even slightly twisted or angled when you try to insert them, they will give a false reading. For example, if .012 "goes" with resistance but .013 ALSO "goes", then the gauges are being held on the wrong angle. If .012 "goes" with resistance and it's being held at the correct angle, then .013 will NOT go.
Okay, I re-did the adjustment.
Made it a "tight" 0.009" on the intake and a "tight" 0.012" on the exhaust. I made sure that the next size up (0.010 and 0.013, respectively) did not fit in.
The engine sounds great now. There is no more faint clattering during acceleration (which was present before I did anything). The vibration idle is now even less.
Thanks again for the help.
Glad to help.
There are two tricky parts to a valve adjustment:
1) getting the cams off their ramps, and
2) making sure you're measuring the clearance properly.
The first is easy, as described above. The second is harder. Since valve clearances are always a range, I use the go, no go method. This method simplifies the adjustment process.
Example:
-- Suppose the clearance is specified as .006 to .008.
-- Arrange three feeler gauge leaves out of their stack: .006, .007, and .008.
-- When adjusting a valve, set the clearance so that .007 goes in feeling like it's making very light contact on both faces. You may need to try different angles and to flex the feeler gauge a bit to find the "true" clearance.
-- Tighten the locknut and try the .007 again. It might have no contact at all any more -- and that's OK!
-- Now try the .006 It should NOT go no matter what.
-- Now try the .008. It should NOT go no matter what.
-- If the above is true, then you are within spec: Somewhere between .006 and .008, but not above or below either number.
A final point: Inspect your gauge set for any sort of burr on the ends of the leaves. I've seen cheaper gauges that have had a burr on the ends of the leaves that needs to be gently filed off.