Newbie's Valve Adjustment Mistake
 

So like many first timers to valve adjustments, I was very disappointed to hear that the valves were noisy once I completed the job. I guess I just didn't understand how tight was tight and made some if not all too loose. The noise is killing me.

My questions are:
1) If I open her up try again (I keep fighting the urge to just pay someone to do it), do I need to buy new gaskets and locking nuts. I assume I do.

2) If I jack up one side at a time, how high should I go. Is there a standard anyone has used? Don't feel like draining oil again.

3) Should I buy the Baum Tools product, or stick w the Pelican one? I did not have too much issue finding the space once I got the hang of it, but any help at this point is a good thing.

Thanks in advance for any answers and tips. I am fairly frustrated and mad at myself for not doing a better job first time around.

Chris

It is sooo worth it to just pay the P mechanic $250 and let them deal with it. Too much of a knuckle buster and time waster for my tastes. + after you spend the money on new gaskets and the valve adj tool/blades....its worth it to go to a garage from the start.

1) Yes you need new gaskets, unless they are silicone
2) Better to drain oil IMO.
3) ?

As long as you don't break it you can reuse the gasket. I've done it many times.

You need not drain the oil either if you jack up one side at a time.

How else are you gonna learn to do it right if you don't allow yoursef to screw up once in a while without hurting anything?

Joe

your valve adjustment is like kissing your wife- who do you want to do it?????

Sonic - do they really do valve adjustments for $250 out there on the West Coast? Back East here it is waaaaaay more then that which is why we do them ourselves :)

Chris -
1) Assuming the gaskets aren't broken, I'd reuse them and the nuts
2) Get it as high as you can and still get into the engine compartment so you can do the top side
3) I'd recommend the tool from Island here on the board. IMO that tool outclasses the others.

Good luck.

I had the same opinion as you after the first time I did it. I was cussing at the book saying, how in the hell is this a two mechanic job!!! And I was ready to take it to the mechanic. Then after waiting a few months to cool down, I did it a second time, and it was SOOOOO much easier. Once you get the ac compressor and heater blower motor out of the way it there is plenty of room to work. After you get "the feel" down it really is pretty easy. Try to resist the urge to take it to the mechanic. You will feel so much satisfaction when you get it right. At least too loose is better than too thight so you're not going to cause any damage if you wait. Good luck.

Chris,
Go for a tight drag on the feeler as you pull it across the gap. Then repeat all when you have done #6. 2nd time round is easy.
Ned Monaghan

Is that tool still available? I'd pay good money if I could only find one! :)

P.S. I don't think you'll have any problem reusing the gaskets (if they are not broken) or the nuts. I'd replace the crush washers however. I had several small leaks at the studs when I tried to reuse the crush washers that went away with new washers. The crush washers seem to be designed to "crush" and form a seal only once. After that, they are just like regular washers.

On this valve-tool; I haven't had a batch made in a while. I can't say when I will have another batch made; life has been too busy lately. I'll post, when I do know.

In the mean-time; I'll suggest anyone looking for one, put a "WTB - island valve tool" ad in the classifieds. I know some people bought these tools, and then decided they would $impley have their shop do the valve adjustments and such.
. . . Or, they bought two (one to load w/ .005 as a "no-go gage) and and have gotten good enough with one, they can let the other go. . . .maybe. (?)

Thanks for the compliments, Doug.:)

Yeah, my mechanic charges $250 and another local Porsche mechanic gave me a quote of $220. It depends on where you take the car, but there are many Porsche mechanics out here so perhaps competition drives the prices down a bit.

Ill gladly pay $250 every year for a job that would otherwise take me 8 hours of my own time.

Thanks to all for your encouraging words as well as advice. I will give it some time and try again in the near future. I bought this car not only to drive but to have the experience in maintaining a classic. This will be just step in a long learning process.

The harder it is, the more I want to be able to do it. Because the harder it is, the fewer mechanics will do it right.

I've done valve adjustments on my '88 for 6 years now, and it does become routine after the first 3-4 times. Just keep at it!

If you can get the next bigger size feeler gauge in, it is too loose.

Pretty simple, really.

From my own experience, and from reading too many great Pelican threads, I believe that the newbies are even more anal than the average Porsche owner. and are worried about adjusting the valves too tight. So they rattle.

I adjust my valves so that the feeler needs some effort to pull out of the gap. Hard to say how much, certainly not enough to rip the feeler. They sound (almost) as quit as a Husky sewing machine (my wife has one).

The job is really quite easy, and very gratifying, so do it, man!

$250 sounds a lot of money for something that takes me about an hour to do.

You can re-use the gaskets and nyloc nuts. If you see a little oil film leaking onto a nut you can always just replace that on later.

Like with everything practice makes perfect, I have done about 10 valve adjustment now and like everone I stuffed up a couple of the early attempts.

Just check each adjustment 2 or three time and make sure you are happy with the gap before you move onto the next one.

That is an excellent test. I've done that for years to checck how I'm doing. And the smaller the gap, the bigger the difference between the correct and the next size. For instance, the difference between .004 and .005 is 20%! Whereas, the diff between .006 and .007 is 15% and so on. (my pushrod 914 motor needs .006, and big V8's, more)