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Help! Valve adjustment to Tight?

 
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Levans  



Joined: 04 Nov 2002
Posts: 80
Location: Perth, Western Australia

PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2005 3:22 pm    Post subject: Help! Valve adjustment to Tight? Reply with quote

Hi all,
this morning i decided to attempt to adjust my valves as the ticking is becoming very noticable.
i took the cam cover off and started to check a few valves that had the cam lobes facing up.
But i am unable to even get the gauge thought the gap between the lifter and low side of the cam.

warm (intake = .20m)
(exhaust = .45m)

Are they too tight? or am i doing something wrong?
i have only checked about 4 valves so far and all appear to me to be too tight.

I thought because of the ticking noise that they have too much gap?

will it only be 1 or 2 valves that i have not checked yet that have too much gap?

do i adjust the valves out that appear to be too tight?

please help!
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Ozzie  



Joined: 12 Mar 2005
Posts: 4448
Location: Townsville, Qld. Australia

PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2005 5:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You have to turn the crank by hand and adjust a few valves. Turn it again and adjust a few more.
The Haynes manual should be able to tell you the correct procedure.
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Levans  



Joined: 04 Nov 2002
Posts: 80
Location: Perth, Western Australia

PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2005 6:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

i have just gone through all of the valves and the only thing i have done is untightened 2 exhaust valves which are too tight.
this still does not explain the tappet noise i am hearing.
i think it is tappet noise because when the engine is started cold the tappets are loudest and then as the engine warms up it becomes more quiet.

what else could it be?
you obviously cant have tappet noise if the tappets are too tight, could you?


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Ozzie  



Joined: 12 Mar 2005
Posts: 4448
Location: Townsville, Qld. Australia

PostPosted: Sat Apr 16, 2005 7:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Did you check them according to the Haynes Manual?
The check should be done at TDC.
Someone else on the forum can correct me if I am wrong but I think:
Rotate the crank to TDC (use flywheel mark) and do 1 and 4.
Rotate the crank 360deg and then do 2 and 3.

Your profile does not say if yours is a Turbo or NA.
There may be some differences.

It sound like tappets/lifters and they should only be adjusted when the engine is hot because of expansion of metal etc.

Check also for distributor noise, injector noise, timing belt and pulley noise, water and oil pumps.

I had what I thought was a bad tappet noise last week but it was a spark plug lead breaking down and shorting out.
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emoore924  



Joined: 13 Apr 2004
Posts: 2822

PostPosted: Sun Apr 17, 2005 11:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've done a valve adjustment about a million times.

Get a piece of paper and a pencil. Write the following on it (sorry, I have to use dots to get the spacing right. You don't need the dots.)

4...3...2...1..... --> front of motor
E.I.E.I.E.I.E.I...--> front of motor

1) take off the valve cover.
2) Put a wrench on the crank pulley bolt. (down past the water pump) Be sure car is out of gear or a) you'll wonder why the pulley is so hard to turn (assuming hand brake is on) or b) on about the 5th valve adjustment, you'll wonder why all of a sudden you're trapped up against the garage wall by a car that's magically made its way ax the garage floor...
3) Assuming US spec car, stand at passenger side fender. Look at the cam. You can adjust any valves where the cam lobes are pointing up. There is no particular order. That's what the paper's for -- to keep track of what you've done.
4) For each valve adjusted, write down the feeler guage that will fit, and the one that won't. For example:

4.........................
E............I.............
015Y......004Y........
016N......005N......

This means for the #4 exhaust valve, the .015 guage fits, the .016 does not. For the #4 Intake valve, .004 fits, .005 does not.

5) When you've adjusted clearance, TURN THE CAM so it spins 2x by turning the crank pulley.
6) Check the clearance again.
7) Rotate the cam so a new set of lobes is pointing up and do again until you've done all 8

Better too loose than too tight. This is because if you make the clearance too tight, the exhaust valves don't get enough time in contact with the head to transfer the heat and you burn a valve.

Some say it is better to adjust hot than cold. I've no opinion other than I don't like burned hands.

It is possible (and likely) your real problem is that you've got one or more cam lobes that are squared off. As you're adjusting, look at the tip of each cam lobe. If one or more are flattened off, you need a new cam. Also, observe the top surface of the follower. Pitted followers are no good either (and often accompany flattened cam lobes). They will need to be replaced.


Last edited by emoore924 on Sun Apr 17, 2005 11:44 am; edited 1 time in total
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Paul  



Joined: 02 Nov 2002
Posts: 9491
Location: Southeast Wisconsin

PostPosted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 11:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The easiest way to adjust valves is to put the car in high gear (ignition off), then push it until a lobe is pointing straight up. Determine if it is an intake or exhaust valve by looking to see if the valve lines up with an intake or exhaust runner, then adjust it.

If you cannot get the feeler gauge to fit, try smaller ones until you determine what the existing clearance is so that you know how many 1/2 turns you need to turn the adjusting screw.
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Mike924  



Joined: 12 Aug 2004
Posts: 2601
Location: IoW UK

PostPosted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 5:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Levans wrote:
what else could it be?
you obviously cant have tappet noise if the tappets are too tight, could you?


emoore924 is right; worn cams and/or followers (tappets) will sound noisy no matter what the clearance is set to.

If the noise is not too bad, adjust the clearances as best you can (again, as emoore says, too loose is better than too tight) and put up with it. If it starts getting really bad you'll probably have to look into spending some money on new components. Hopefully just tappets initially but you could be looking at a new or reground camshaft.

Another thing: wear could be due to poor top-end lubrication. So, before you go putting any new stuff in, check that the right amount of oil is getting up there.
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Joes924Racer  



Joined: 03 Nov 2002
Posts: 11964
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 19, 2005 5:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Few good answers here..Ive done it alot too.

Just remember start at #1 in the distributor and #1 cylinder is ready to check
intake is is at the front with exhaust in back. after you get it adjusted
you got to turn the motor over one revolution or
so the distributor points to the next one this will mean cylinder #3 is ready to adjust the firering order is 1 3 4 2. so just because the distributor
moves from 1 to 2 and 3 and 4 the firing order is 1 3 4 2. Its easy
to get mixed up and adjust the wrong valves if you go to fast say for
instance. Its pretty basic as long as you remember that.
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Levans  



Joined: 04 Nov 2002
Posts: 80
Location: Perth, Western Australia

PostPosted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 8:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

after adjusting the tappets to haynes spec i am still getting the tappet noise which at cold start is really noticable for the first few minutes of driving. after seeing the cam and the lifters, i would say they are in pretty good shape.
i have also seen my mates cam lobes in his 924 and are no where near as good condition as mine, and doesn't suffer from the tappet noise.

i have no idea why i am still getting the tappet noise,
here is a pretty accurate drawing i made to show the worst lobe on my cam.

http://home.iprimus.com.au/lee_evans/cam1.jpg

surely this isnt bad enough wear to make all this tappet noise?
should i adjust the lifters closer to the cam to counter the cam wear?
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Mike924  



Joined: 12 Aug 2004
Posts: 2601
Location: IoW UK

PostPosted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 1:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Levans wrote:
surely this isnt bad enough wear to make all this tappet noise??

I would have thought that any wear which is visible is enough to cause the tappets to be noisy. And from your drawing, the wear (if it's not meant to be a different profile cam) looks quite significant.

Levans wrote:
should i adjust the lifters closer to the cam to counter the cam wear?

Most definitely not! The clearance applies to the heel of the cam, and the 'wear' is at the tip.

Just a thought: if the little screw adjusters are at the end of their range (or past it!) they could be introducing a 'looseness' when you run the engine.
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My924gtc  



Joined: 14 Aug 2004
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 1:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'd say it is time for a new cam and hopefully not followers but depends on pitting.
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Levans  



Joined: 04 Nov 2002
Posts: 80
Location: Perth, Western Australia

PostPosted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 10:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

im going to do an oil change soon and see if that will help as it has not been changed in a while, will a thicker oil be the better solution?
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My924gtc  



Joined: 14 Aug 2004
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 10:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Levans wrote:
im going to do an oil change soon and see if that will help as it has not been changed in a while, will a thicker oil be the better solution?


If all you are looking to do is mask the issue you can put some STP engine treatment in it and that goo will quite the noise a bit.

If you want to solve your problem you are going to have to replace the cam if it is as worn as is indicated in the sketches.
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Joes924Racer  



Joined: 03 Nov 2002
Posts: 11964
Location: Oregon, Denver Colorado native!

PostPosted: Thu Apr 21, 2005 10:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

try changing out the most inwardly turned adjusters with
thicker ones...everthings original itake it by the looks
of your avitar..hery is that car green looks pretty sharp
it is is it. You need to take out a few ofthe adjusters and get thicker
ones. Its true also if yuo switch out the cam bearings caps like
onto another head youll experience chatter.. This means you have to
have the head checked for alignment here and have it line board if
its out. Though if the cam bearings capps are torqued down and the same ones this isnt the prob.
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numbbers  



Joined: 05 Nov 2002
Posts: 1910
Location: Highlands Ranch, Colorado

PostPosted: Fri Apr 22, 2005 10:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, first off, these cars have solid lifters. Solid lifters will always make noise. Some tappet noise (clicking) is normal. Second, tight valve adjustment will make less tappet noise. If anything, your valve adjustment must be a little loose.
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