Valve Lash Madness

[martyr]

Valve Lash, Feeler VS Dial Gage

Gone around both sides twice and still ticking like mad.

Using my feeler gage is tough as I believe the area where the rocker arms contact the valve stems are pretty beat up.

What I was wondering,
Has anyone used a dial gage to set valve lash?

What I was think of doing was mounting a dial gage centered over the pushrod cup or the valve stem and then simply rocking the arm back and forth while turning the nut in or out till I get the proper lash measurement.

Any harm possible or has anyone ever tried this?

Reason being even with my nice two step feeler gages I still can't seem to get dependable readings.

Thanks Marty

 

[dangerranger83]

I did the same to mine and it still has a tick to it, but it is something that I have come to love, rather listen to it then my gf yelling at me. Rather have one tick though then it sound like a dryer full of marbles though.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

Are you adjusting it cold. Let the engine fully cool down overnite and pull all the plugs and stick your finger in a plug hole and turn the crank with a socket until you feel compression. stick a skinny screwdriver in the plug hole and feel the piston hit the top. loosen the rockers for that piston enough to get the feeler in loosly then slowly tighten until until you feel slight resistance. Each piston has to be on TDC on the compression stroke I did it that way and have not heard a noise for two years now. If you have alot of sludge in the upper end I used ATF in the oil to clean it out. add 1/2 a quart of ATF into the crankcase and run it about 100 miles then give in new oil and filter. Do that just before you change the oil two or three times and it will dissolve the gunk in the upper end just dont run it very long it will clog up the filter. Change the PCV reg with tune ups to keep the gunk from forming again.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

Intake .014
Exhaust .016

 

[martyr]

Google is my friend

I found an article online about using a dial indicator to find valve lash.

They mention using one if the valve stem to rocker surface is irregular which is what I was looking for.

Yep cold and .014/.016

Thanks Marty

 

[kimcrwbr1]

You can also try running some seafoam thru it to get the valves to seat up properly. Get the engine up to temp first and at an idle pour 1/2 a can in slowly not to kill it and quickly shut it down. Wait 1/2 an hour or so for it to soak in good then start it and run it around 3000 rpm until the smoke clears. It will clean out the carbon buildup and get the valves spinning again. The more it smokes the more carbon there was. Then try adjusting the lash.

 

[enginepaul]

You don't need a screwdriver - or anything in the plug hole to tell when you are at TDC. The manual has good instructions. There SHOULD be a tic with solid lifters. Besides, it is part of the charm.

The dial gauge would have to be located directly above the trip where it touches the vale stem, otherwise it will be a false reading; I never had to do that because feeler gauges are usually flexible enough for this engine.

I never used Seafoam, but have been told it helps an engine run better = don't know if it would make much, if any, difference on the valve lash.

And you can tell your gf to count the ticks to see if it running right - adds a little fun to a date while keeping her quiet.

 

[dangerranger83]

My gf just looks at my rpm guage and divides by 2 and thats how may ticks my engine makes a min.