First valve adj. went well

Blackdimonds · Blackdimonds's Garage

I just finished up my first ever valve adj. It was pretty easy, and went as planned. It is as everyone says "it takes a few tries to get the feel of the gauge, and where to place it, but it gets much easier with practice." I did find that the #1, #2, and #6 exhaust valve spacing was very loose. One intake valve, #3, was a bit tight, but other than that everything looked good. I hope that by fixing the exhaust valves that were off will cure that very slight "tapping" noise I was hearing.

Thanks to Pelican for the great tech article on the subject,

rstoll · 12-30-2001, 04:15 PM

Great therapy heh Paul?

cegerer · cegerer's Garage

I plan to give it a try in the Spring. Any tips that weren't covered in the tech article, Paul? -- Curt

Early_S_Man · 12-30-2001, 04:57 PM

If the P-213 gauge is new it will be greasy ... to protect against corrosion in storage!

Be SURE to clean an degrease it thoroughly, including taking off the tiny screws and nuts, and clean them especially well! When you reassemble them, put Blue Loctite on the threads!!!

Failure to do this important step can result in those tiny screws and nuts falling into the engime ... adding a bit of unnecessary excitement to the valve adjust job ... GUARANTEED to mess up your Saturday afternoon!

cegerer · cegerer's Garage

Thanks Warren.

makaio · 12-30-2001, 06:33 PM

Ditto to what warren says. I had that exact incident happen to me on my first valve adjustment. Additionally, I would suggest bending the p-213 at the bottom, so the feeler blade is 90 degrees to the handle. It makes it a little easier to get into the nooks.

Blackdimonds · Blackdimonds's Garage

I did exactly what Warren suggested, and it works great. I would also suggest buying a few extra blades for the tool. I went around the car twice to double check things, and went through 3 blades in the process. I bet you go through more blades the first time you try this job, but next time I guess I would only need 1 or 2 blades. I also cleaned the top of the headers off while the valve covers were off (a little more room without the covers there).

mm86911 · mm86911's Garage

Just did my first valve adjustment today as well. . . am now at one with the car! No problems - checked work twice using the same blade for the entire job. Great opportunity to do some detailing while all is apart. Will probably bead blast the valve covers next time around (at 5K a year it's gonna be a while)

Ted Stringer · 01-02-2002, 04:47 AM

I wish I could say the same. I just did my frist valve adj. and it went ok until I finished and started the engine. The valves are making more noise after the adj then before. Most of my valves were tight and I don't think that the valves were closing all the way until the compressison closed them.

I am taking the car to the wrench to find out if I did it right and it is just the moter or I am a complete klutz.

Ted Stringer · 01-02-2002, 10:05 AM

report from the wrench: Valves are alright!! A little loose, but nothing to worry about. He said I did alright for a first timer.

old_skul · 01-02-2002, 01:20 PM

Ted, it's good to see that someone did the same thing I did. I did an adjustment last summer and wound up having to take it to my wrench. Same deal - a little loose (although he glared at me for trying to do it myself).

Guess I'll try harder next time.

JDaniel · JDaniel's Garage

So how long did your first valve adjustment take you?

I'd say the actual adjustment was about 3 hours for me (adjusted, re-adjusted and then adjusted again).

This doesn't include the 1/2 hour jack up/down, the 15 minutes of airbox/heater stuff, the 45 minutes of trying to remove the fan nut, 10 minutes of panic, 30 minutes looking for the little nut/bolt from the feeler tool that fell off, 45 minutes at the hardware store trying to find a new bolt/nut fort the feeler tool, or the 3 hour Pelican break I took in the middle to regain my sanity.

The next day I found some serious valve noise, so I jacked up one side at a time and re-checked the valves. Eeek, some were loose. This time it took less than 3 hours total.

I'll bet I can do it under 3 now, including the oil change.

Blackdimonds · Blackdimonds's Garage

Here is the time table for my first try. If I did zero cleaning, and worked quickly, I could do it in 3 - 4 hours total. I think it's worth it for the $400 - $500 they want at my local shop to do the job.

Day one.
10 am brother came over to help out
11 am we finally get started on the project.
12 pm we have the car up on jacks, valve covers off, and oil is draining, 5.5 qts (did not do a full oil change, just what came out of the valve covers).
1 pm had a ***** of a time getting the right spot located on the first valve (broke first blade on the tool).
2 pm had all the valves checked once, had lunch and called it a day.

Day two.
12 pm checked all the valves again (rotated crank 2 full cycles before I checked them for the second time.
1 pm started cleaning
3 pm put everything back together and played a little with the warm up regulator (tapped the plug in just a tiny bit), started it up and it runs great. The car has never started as easy (due to playing with WUR), and it sounds very strong with no tapping noise from the valve covers! I can't wait for the snow to stop so I can get out an giver a try.

I am now getting ready to start a pedal cluster rebuild, and a torsion bar and bushing upgrade. Things will get more dificult with these two projects.

Ted Stringer · 01-03-2002, 04:35 AM

My wrench actually encurages me to do as much of my own work as possible. He knows that I gonna try, so he will actually give me pointers to get the job done rigth. Kinda like Roland, Warren, and John Walker

I didn't even bother to look at the clock when I started my valves so I don't know how lonk it took..

Jdub · 01-03-2002, 07:14 AM

I just finished my third valve job. Almost all of my valves were loose, and I figured this out by using a better technique.

It is very easy to think you have the valve adjusted correctly, but often the blade is not kept in the same plane as the top of the valve/bottom of the adjuster and so a pinch is felt that is in fact a misaligned blade giving an off reading. With the small amount of room in there, it makes it tough to work the blade across and get an accurate feel.

My solution is to hold the blade on the tool parallel to the valve top by slightly pushing the blade against this surface. When I do this, I suddenly get a nice smooth motion.

I knew the valves needed work, but I pay almost .50 cents per 8x1.25 nyloc nut and so at about $25.00 I was being cheap and avoiding the job! Lazy me!

John

john walker's workshop · 07:05 AM

do a search for "better valve adjust tool" and see the picture of it from one of my old posts. it really is an easier tool to use and you won't run out of blades for a long time. also, there's no little nuts to fall off.
by the way, how would i post a link to an old post like that on this page?

Rot 911 · 01-03-2002, 07:30 AM

Do a search for "better valve adjust tool" go to that thread, highlight the web address for the thread, click on "edit" then "copy", go back to the thread you want to post the old thread to, the click on "edit" and "paste" so now you have the old thread here! http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=52062&highlight=better+valve+adjust+tool

john walker's workshop · 01-03-2002, 08:38 AM

thanks kurt!

Bruce Johnston · 01-03-2002, 06:49 PM

I just finished my fist adjustment and I sure can hear the valve noise now. There has got to be a better way. Does someone like John Walker, who has adjusted lots of valves, know about how far to back the adjuster after it is snug to get it into the ballpark? What damage will I have by not readjusting the valves or should I redo them? On the positive side I haven't found any oil leaks after replacing the oil return lines.

VenezianBlau 87 · 04:32 AM

Bruce:

Awhile back I think John Walker mentioned that us guys new to 911 valve adjustment tend to adjust them too loose. I can see how I might have erred a little on the loose side. I was surprised how tight they were to begin with except for two loose intake valves on the right side. It sure took me a long time but I really enjoyed the task and Wayne's step by step was great!
-----------------
Bob Sauerteig
'87 Carrera

edit: I was VERY lucky since I used the P213 tool right out of the bag without checking fasteners or using locktite. I just recently read about how often the little nuts are lost.