engine and drivetrain valve adj question

[mikea]

can you slide the feeler gauge equally well between the back of the cam lobe

and the wear pad on the rocker arm?

I find it hard to get the feeler on top of the valve stem as the FAQ suggests.

comments?

we are talking M10 engine

thanks

mike

Berkeley CA

[tlapham]

It is hard to adjust it in the cam lobe because it gets pinched easily. you can get it in all of the eccentrics, you just have to bend the feeler gauge a bit for the ones in the corners.

[Tommy]

You're supposed to do it at the valve stem. The gap would be different measured at the cam. As said you need to bend the feeler and after some practice it's not a problem.

Also make an adjustment tool out of coat hanger or similar wire. 10 cm piece, one end bent about 90 degrees and other 30 degrees. With this it's easy to turn the adjuster while the nut is loosened so that adjuster moves but not too easily.

hth, Tommy

[tim385]

If you get a small allen key that fits in the eccentric hole then cut off the other end close to the bend , so you end up with a L but the bottom leg of the "L" is quite short, you can now use it to move the eccentrics around and being an allen key the material it is made of is nice and tuff.

[Mike Self]

a .009. If the .009 doesn't go and the .007 is a firm but slip fit, I know I'm good to go. You can also buy stepped feeler gauges that will accomplish the same thing but with a single leaf.

As for an eccentric adjuster, make one out of a large enough piece of wire so that if you drop it, it won't fall down one of the oil return holes. An allen wrench small enough to fit surely will. No, I haven't done it but came close; that's why a made a larger tool! Mine has a loop in one end that's too large to fit in the oil return hole.

mike

[jimk]

Get a set if the bent gauges. Sears sells them, others surely do as well. These reach in easy. Fought the straight ones for 30 years and got a bent set this year.

[SteveJ]

I had a couple of sets of feeler guages. I took a .006 and a .008 out of the bunch, made the bends, and then put them on a key ring so they are ready to go for a valve adjustment. Sort of a Go/NoGo set.

Oh, and FYI- those nuts on the adjustment are .8 pitch. Most of us don't have those in our tool box.

(Reminder to self- I was supposed to order some of these on my last parts order. Blunt, if you read this, remind me.)

[TobyB]

Most of us don't have those in our tool box.

I carry a few just because of that... they're not too hard to strip!

... and don't ever stick the feeler up against the cam.

You run the very real chance of scratching it, and that can be bad.

t

[Guest Anonymous]

and after you've decided on .008 cold and made a bent tool to just get into the spot without binding is the real deal......the blade has to slip gently inbetween the adjuster and top of the valve stem without binding.....a bit of motor oil from the valve cover low spots.... and keep the blade totally flat wrt the end of the valve it wont tend to bind if lubricated....then a gentle sliding motion that doesn't compress the valve spring. thats how you know its within spec. the stepped guage or the under/over guage clinches the deal.

[TobyB]

...funny, and I adjust them 'till there's equal drag (valve to valve) on the

gauge...

It all works. We're discussing tenths, here....

t