Tech Gurus - Valve Adjustment Nut falling off into engine?

[aigel]

Originally posted by MOMO3.2
I had the car flatbeded to a P-Car mechanic and he confirmed that an adjustment nut had come loose from a valve and was just about to get sucked into the motor.

Sorry, Mike, but vaves don't get sucked in the engine if the adjustment is way loose. They actually will stay closed. You adjust the rocker arm tip to valve clearance. You do not do anything tot the valves. The spring and the retainers are what hold valves in place. You only loose springs and retainers if there is some hard contact of the pistons with the valves due to other circumstances.

This mishap was the result of my error. Honestly, for $250.00, I will be paying to have the valves adjusted from now on. That much money saved is not worth the headache.

HOLD ON! $250 is a pair of Kumhos. Well worth the hassle. Also, if anything goes wrong like with ZCAT's engine, you KNOW what happened. ZCAT can say that he tightened the nuts well. If you have a wrench do it, no matter how good he is, you will never know what really happened.

George

[mskala]

What is the proper torque for those?
I never see it in the manuals I have.
Thanks,
Mark S.
'70 914-6

[aigel]

I think that you won't see it in the manuals because you can't get a torque wrench on them. Snug. I'd say 15 ft-lb tops. That's just a guess though. If you overtighten, you can mess up the studs and have trouble getting a smooth adjustability next time... This is one of these fasteners where it helps to have some wrenching time and have a 'feel' what a nut / stud of that size easily takes an needs to stay in place.

George

[speeder]

George said it, unfortunately a torque wrench isn't realistic on these but they are small nuts and studs so "snug tight" is the rule. If you have sensitive hands and are using the right sized wrench, (not to big/heavy for the size of fastener), you can actually feel the threads "bottom out" and begin to stretch, depending on the amount of stress you should have a feel for "tight". This is general advice, not specific to valve adjusters.