Dial indicator valve adjustment method explained

[greglepore]

Boy, I'm going to hold off on a planned valve adjustment until someone can tell me if that Clickadjust gadget works. If it does, hopefully Wayne will pick them up so that I don't have to order one elsewhere. It certainly looks like da bomb for a 911 adjust, if the clicks are fine enough.

[FA-18C]

Has anyone tried one of the Click Adjust gizmo's yet???

[Jay Auskin]

These 911s aren't as much fun as leaning over the fender to adjust a Chevy with a running engine..

There really isn't a good place to rest your beer on a Porsche as there is on the Chevy engine

[aigel]

What would be the advantage of doing this with a dial indicator? I mean, I can scratch my right ear with my left hand and make my life more "interesting", but what's the point?

George

[5axis]

Originally posted by aigel
What would be the advantage of doing this with a dial indicator? I mean, I can scratch my right ear with my left hand and make my life more "interesting", but what's the point?

George

Direct reading.

The .004 feeler gage could be thought of as half a "go/no go" gage set. Even with a .005 feeler the best you can do is say you are somewhere in between .004 -5 .
The dial gives a direct reading. I know I am at .004 or .0045 or maybe between .004 and .0045, so call it .00425
Maybe overkill, but If you have the means, why not?

[aigel]

I don't know about the precision of this method. At least with the engine in the car and trying to lign up the indicator, I can not see that you are much better than with a feeler gauge, two feeler gauges 0.04 and 0.05 if you have to.

0.04 +/- 0.02 is the spec right on the decklid of your engine compartment. I think valve adjustment is overkilled plenty... All you need to make sure is that they aren't too tight. If you can get a .04 feeler gauge in there, there is no way you will compress that by 50% of it's thickness. If the valves are too lose, you will loose some power and have some noise with no other adverse effects.

Happy adjusting!

George

[William Miller]

George, thanks, I needed that. Facts plus some reality. Nothing against those who want perfection, but for many of us what you just said makes real sence. If you have the right holder and after you have done it once or twice the feeler gauge is the simplest and probably the most repeatable for many people.

Just one question for quick confirmation. Does the gap get bigger or tighter as the engine wear?

[fuelie600]

Sorry guys,

I gave up on the click adjust. I had 2 problems: First, the screw driver bit in the click adjust was too thick to fit the Porsche adjuster, and Second, the tool wouldn't fit between the Cat and the leftside exhaust valves.

The are thinner screw driver bits available, but I didn't mess with it. I did it with the feeler guage.

[RoninLB]

I always use the feeler. But for entertainment I tried the dial to have some hard info on a previous thread on this subject and the dial indicator was influenced by the rocker attachment imprefections.. and a member measured the routine feeler blades we use and he said the .004 is slightly thick.

FWIW, Superman loves the dial indicator method.

[aigel]

William:

The gap gets tighter as the engine wears. The main wear takes place on the valve and the valve seat. What happens is that the valve 'sinks' deeper into the valveseat. This wear is much larger than wear to the rocker, tip of the valve or the cam, resulting in a tighter gap over time.

Exhaust valves and their seats see a lot of heat and they generally wear quicker. If you look at real high mileage engines, the exhaust valves often are sunk in very deep. (I am unsure if this is true for the flat 6, I have seen it on many water cooled engines.)

On the flat six, the exhaust valves usually need more adjustment (opening up the gap) than the intake valves. On my adjust, 80% of the intake valves were still dead on, while all of the exhaust valves were too tight to fit the 0.04 blade.

Cheers, George

[Superman]

Yep, Superman likes the dial indicator method. I've come to the conclusion that .0035 is much quieter than .004, and since I adjust them perhaps more frequently than others, I can ensure they do not get tight. when I find a valve that is not correct, I know what the new (incorrect) gap is. I know how far to adjust. And I can add those figures to see how far a valve has had to move in order to seat properly.