Help wanted on Engine valve clearances

[rutger kohler]

I have started to check the clearances on the exhaust and inlet engine valves.  Have been following the full members guide which is great, however I have found the clearance on the 5th exhaust valve is 0.009" rather than 0.008".  I have got the right gear to adjust it but found whilst I can turn the ball unit clockwise to increase the clearance I cannot get the clearance smaller by turning anticlockwise.  I am coming up against a very solid stop?  Have noticed in the full members guide it says if a clearance is to great the thrust block may have to be changed but doesn't say anything about coming up against a stop when tightening?

The guide also says that if the valve clearances are done in sequence the engine only has to be turned over twice. Does this mean I should be doing all the exhaust valves first then the inlet or do the exhaust and inlet for each cylinder at the same time.

[Cees Klumper]

Hi Rutger,

Others more experienced will chime in, but coming to a solid stop going counter-clockwise does not make much sense to me? It seems to me you should be able to keep turning it all the way to 0.00 clearance. Perhaps I am wrong.
Then on the sequence and number of engine turns; I really don't think this matters for the quality of the adjustment, it seems to me to be more of a tip to save some time by not having to turn the engine more than absolutely necessary. But if you have the spark plugs removed, it's not that hard to turn it. I think my Haynes manual has a suggested sequence, and I am pretty sure it's not "first all exhaust valves". Good luck on getting it in spec, keep us posted and, again, others please chime in.

[ja17]

Hello,

Since the crankshaft turns twice for every single revolution of the camshaft, A minimum of two revolutions is required for a full valve adjustment. The number of revolutions is not critical as long as you don't miss any. The ball stud tighten by adjusting counter-clockwise and loosen by turning clockwise. You should be able to screw the adjuster ball studs completely out if needed. Of coarse the rocker arm would have to be removed first. If you find that a ball stud adjuster cannot be turned, with the special crows foot tools, remove the rocker arm and slip a 1/2" drive socket over the ball stud. You can then use a 1/2" breaker bar to continue turning the ball stud. Replace the rocker arm as soon as possible and finish adjusting .

[wwheeler]

I have a couple of ball studs that are tight to turn and I do what Joe says with the socket. On those two, I don't risk rounding the hex with a crows foot wrench. The crows foot wrench works well on all of the others though. I had to replace a couple ball studs because they were too loose (very easy to turn) and could have worked loose over time. There is a spec in the BBB for minimum torque required to turn the ball stud.

[rutger kohler]

Thanks for all these replies, Cees, you were right the clawfoot spanner was hitting the side preventing it moving, got over that.  I have done all the clearances now.  Several things worth mentioing, I found that the clawfoot spanner could quite easliy dislodge the springs that holds the rocker arm in, which took a while to get over.  Also the torque wrench I have got is not really  sensitive enough at low force readings.  OK for cylinder head bolts etc.  Would like to get a lighter one say 3/8" drive or even 1/4" drive.  Some of the torque settings for the power steering unit I overhauled were also pretty light.

Some torque wrenches for sale down here are measured in inch. pounds  rather than Ft.Ibs.  I figure this is 12 times higher than ftpounds, is this right?

[UJJ]

1 lbs-ft = 1.356 Nm = 12 lbf-in
or the other way around:
1 Nm = 0.74 lbs-ft = 8,85 lbf-in

Happy wrenching
Urban

[rutger kohler]

Hi Urban, I "wrenched" myself away from watching TV to have a look at the replies, you have confirmed what I wanted to know.  Thanjks for that

[UJJ]

Were you watching F1? Probably not that much wrenching required to walk away from that nowadays.
Just like a vacuum cleaner with limited power supply. :'(
Urban