Something Wrong after Valve Adjustment

[arbita1]

I did a valve adjustment yesterday and I don't know if it was my wife yelling at my 3 year old or my next door neighbor constantly talking to me in the middle of it, but I think I F'd something up.

If I adjusted a valve too tight or put one way off of adjustment...what would be the systems?

The engine is running very rough.

[Shoepop]

Is it popping through the intake or exhaust? Did you get the plug wires back on the correct cylinder?

[cgarr]

Running rough would be too tight and it might be popping thru the intake or exhaust. Too loose is just going to be noisy.

[kodioneill]

Never have a wife or a friend around when your wrenching! Plug wires are a good a place to start. Check Zundfolge.

[Zeke]

I'll go with the plug wires. We all mix them up at least once.

[arbita1]

I checked the plug wires. They're all right. I wish that was it.

[kodioneill]

Did you remove the plugs for the adjustment?

[arbita1]

Originally Posted by kodioneill

Did you remove the plugs for the adjustment?

Nope.

[80-911SC]

a trick i used on my plug wires was zip ties red on the front cylinders yellow on the middle two and green on the rear ones so they went in like a stop light

[Shoepop]

Originally Posted by arbita1

I checked the plug wires. They're all right. I wish that was it.

Did you check that all were snapped on the plugs tightly and all in the distributer cap are making good contact? If so pull one wire at a time and see which cylinder is the problem. Chances of screwing up up all the adjustments are slim but as they say s*it happens.

[aadrew10]

I would do the whole process again. More practice can't hurt.

[Zeke]

Disable your ignition properly and turn the motor over with the starter. Prop the throttle open a bit. won't hurt to remove your fuel pump fuse. If you have a valve that out of whack, you will hear it in an uneven cadence of each 2nd revolution. Or, you should be hearing a loud tapping noise with the car running. It's one of the other or it should run OK even if the valves are not adjust very well.

Otherwise, look beyond the valves. We have all bumped a wire or something when working the valve adjustment.

[arbita1]

I'm going to go back in tomorrow and re-adjust everything. I have this feeling that I adjusted the wrong valve in the sequence. Sucks that I have to drain out that new oil now.

[porsche8777]

You don't need to drain the oil. Jack up and do one side at the time.

[Zeke]

Yes, you can do the lowers one side at a time. Just remember your sequence and don't let the wife yell or the neighbor bother you.

But, if you have a real clean pan to dump the oil and the bottom of the motor has been cleaned up, dump it for ease. It takes a while for the oil to go back to the other side, so it gets messy if you hurry the job.

[Brando]

Valve adjusts are something that require undivided attention. Plug wires are good? Did you pull the plugs as well or just the wires. If you changed plugs you may want go through and make sure they're all seated and torqued proper.

If you were distracted you may have gone 120* further in rotation. That would put all the valves at that point out of adjustment. Best of luck getting it resolved.

[kidrock]

maybe the incorrect Z1 mark was used?

[arbita1]

Ok. So all is well again. I redid the valve adjustment. The No. 3 and I think 4 cylinders were way too tight. Probably compressing the valve spring. What happened was I attempted to use the new VAS tool without fully understanding how it worked. After some back and forth on Rennlist yesterday, I finally understood it. So I had originally started the job using the tool and then went back to the feeler gauge because I didn't feel comfortable.

Today I used the VAS tool (correctly) and it was a breeze. Most of the valves were good except those two. I redid them all anyway.

What great practice. It only took me about 2 1/2 hours to complete. Engine is smooth and quiet now. I haven't driven yet...but all looks good.

[80-911SC]

judging by the two issues you have had with your engine you really need to keep your wife and neighbor our of you garage before they really screw something up.

but on the flip side it does give you someone to blame for over tight valves and an advanced timing gun(that would be the neighbor turning it on you), blame the wife for the valves, and the kid whatever comes up missing ............

[Shoepop]

Great to hear. Now learn the feel of .004" without tools and you can do it in half the time and with a lot less aggravation.