Valve adj. on a scale of 1-10
 

I am going to attempt to do a valve adjustment on my 1976 911s
2.7 this weekend. I was curious as to the difficulty involed. On a scale of 1-10. If anyone has had problems in the past please share them so I know what to look out for.

I finished it about an hour ago. Its not tough but its a ***** to do. Takes time.


***** = B I T C H

i would give it a "3" if:

1). you take your time
2). you think about what you're doing
3). you get the correct tools including the small feeler guage with a blade that is tightly held in place by the small nuts, and several spare blades
4). you read and refer to the Pelican Parts Tech article, or the chapter in "101 Projects"
5). get a good set of silicone beaded valve cover gaskets
6). you don't torque the living crap out of the nuts that hold the valve covers in place
7). you carefully mark the spark plug wires so you connect them back up to correct cylinder

if you ignore these steps, it will turn into a "8".

i usually set aside 2 - 4 hours for it so i'm not rushed. after you've done a few valve adjustments, you'll find they go faster. in some cases, you might find that a specific valve's clearance is correct and does not need to be adjusted. that also makes it go quicker.

but don't rush things, and you'll be just fine.

Adjusting the valves are easy - deciding when your adjustment is correct is much more difficult. Using the .004 feeler gauge inside of a black hole, holding the screw and tightening the nut all at the same time takes a little practice and patience. First valve adjustment will take you all day. Second should take a couple of hours.

What did you remove to make it easier ie. A/C pump, Intake Box,etc?

According to my own technical article:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/911_valve_adjust/911_valve_adjust.htm

It's a three out of ten!

-Wayne

If you want unrestricted access, remove the left side heat tube, A/C compressor, outside half of air box (on later cars) and the oil filter (which you probably will anyway if you are changing oil at the same time). Its really not a bad project. Its also a great time to change the oil, plugs, cap, rotor, those old belts, air filter, polish up your valve covers, etc.

I followed Wayne's book, and found it to be not to difficult, just time consuming the first time through.

If you bought the feeler gauge that has the blade held on by 2 screws at the end...use some loctite on them. I found that after a couple of hours of futzing with that tool that one of the screws had worked its way loose and was ready to fall off into my engine. Just a thought...

-BG

Take your time. To help out, get the prep work done the night before (drain oil, jack up car, remove a/c compressor, remove air filter box, get all tools ready). The following day, you can jump right into the delicate adjusting work fresh. Don't drink any beer until after the adjustment. Get a feel for just how much a valve should wiggle when you feel you've perfectly adjusted one of the exhaust valves. The acquired feel will come in handy when you get to one or more of the impossible to see intake valves.
Don't overtighten the valve covers & don't rotate the crank backwards if you miss a timing mark.
Allot all day & don't rush & you'll be okay.
regards,
jlex.

My experience was miserable for my 2.4. So much so, I ran to this board in a panic for help! I purchased the newer tool and could not get that 90 degree bend on the blade and had one hell of a hard time adjusting. I went through the "feel" technique more appropriate for the more experienced and screwed it up.

Removing all needed items, marking, setting up and getting all that was easy. It was in the tool!!!!! Cylinder number six has to be similar to removing a hook from a sharks jaw in the dark!!!!

Make sure you have plenty of blades if your using the screwed on type (6+ to be safe), use the loctite as discussed earlier. Have plenty of light and plenty of patience.

I rate my experience a sub - 5.

Good luck

Bob

Do you think I should just bend a regular feeler guage? Not that the $10 for the custom one is a problem, but it seems like that a bent one would have a little extra length.

I bent mine to U shape and works just fine. One can actually hold it with 2 hands. Although my car is old and not much stuff in the way.

Bending a regular feeler gauge probably will not work. The special tool is required so you can push and pull the gauge strip to check the tension. If you just bend a long strip of gauge material it will be too flexible.

[b] would give it a "3" if: [b] and wayne gives it a 3.
Get the tool you need.

Since an engine rebuild is a 10, yeah 3 makes sense. It won't feel like a 3. You may end up doing it twice. It'll take several hours probably.
I have allocated this sat for my valve adjust, and it's definitely a few thousand miles late. I'll anticipate 2 to 3 hours. I won't drain the oil, I'll put a pan down and let it leak.
I don't have a cat, so the left exhausts are easy just working around the small exhaust pipe I have replacing the cat.
I have a cone air filter, so I don't need to remove the air box (you'll remove the whole AFM by unbolting it if it applies to you, from the rubber neck and it's mounting bolts).
These things save time. Around the cat, it's almost impossible to do anything on that side.

The first one took a couple of hours to remove and replace the parts (night before) and a ouple of hours to adjust (triple checking) I used the special tool and a regular feeler gauge the first time. I also used the .003 and the.005 just to double check. I left the plugs in, some say take them out ( I didn't want to take a chance of anything dropping in).

i remember reading a thread where dr.island had designed a valve adjusting tool. are these available again? if so i would like to get on the list for purchasing one. tia. ric

Probably too late to ask, but does it matter how I select them? I've always spun the crank with the distributor cap off, noted which spark plug wire it was going toward, then as it got close to say, 3, then I'd look for a mark on the pulley and line it up. If they line up right as 3 is going to get spark, then it's 3. But I skipped around a lot...doing all the intakes on one side etc....is there a problem with doing it that way? (not that it matters at this point, but since I'm going to do them).

what is the final verdict on removing the plugs? Sure makes things easier. Some said carbon can get in there and mess up an adustment causing you be too tight in the end....realistic problem or no?

it doesn't matter what order they're done in, but i wouldn't remove the plugs.

oh, and i guess a 3 but only 'cause (as someone else - kurt - pointed out) an engine rebuild is 10. its not THAT easy!

Thanks for all the help. I think I can handle a 3.

On the 3 or 4 valve adj. jobs I've done with Marcesq we used two of the Island tools. One for .005 stock and one for .004. We use the .005 to double check and make sure it's not too loose. I've done this twice with the engine out of the car, which really makes it a cinch. I thought Marc's clearance was too snug the last time, but everyone who has heard it says my engine sounds super.