Length of Valve Adjustment Wrenches

[Diesel911]

One of our members had been asking be about making valve adjustment wrenches. The typical of using a normal combination wrench requires welding on an extension or some other method of doing that.

In the past I had bought some extra long combination wrenches (tappet wrenches have long handles but are usually only found in 9/16" which actually works fine) and made 8 sets of valve adjusting wrenches and they were long enough without welding on any extensions.

In the picture I taped on a crude ruler to a set of Heyco Valve Wrenches so you could get some idea of how long they are. The Heyco Wrenches are longer they the Hazet ones but I don't think it is more then one inch longer.

The span of my Hand is about 3-1/2". Looks like for me an 8" of length would be about the minimum length.

Note that on the 5th cylinder the long handle can sometimes hit the Fire Wall.

You might need to thin the wrench head:

Hazet Valve Wrench Head thickness = 0.242

My Valve Wrench Head thickness = 0.225

Heyco = 0.212

See post #21 if you want to look at pic of the set I no longer make.

Valve Adjustment Wrench Set: Homemade, Cheap, and Simple

[vstech]

I've made sets... I just thin and bend wrenches.
Never worried about length.
They work fine.

Longer gives more torque, sure... I hope the valves arent that tight

[Wusha]

Working on this, thanks for the info

[Diesel911]

Originally Posted by vstech

I've made sets... I just thin and bend wrenches.
Never worried about length.
They work fine.

Longer gives more torque, sure... I hope the valves arent that tight

I had bought some wrenches (power built I believe made in china) cheap from a local auto parts store. They were regular sized combinations wrenches.

One I bent without heating it and I thought that was great. The next one snapped and broke. I had been hoping the Chinese wrenches would be soft enough to bend cold. Apparently their heat treatment and or alloys are inconsistent.

I actually started off with a Hazet set. I also have had the Heyco ones which I still have and a set made by Lumen.
I also have one of the shorter handled Hazets which is handier back on the 5th cylinder.

I made the Wrenches sort of as a hobby that paid for itself and I sold off the extra sets of the real valve adjusting wrenches but kept a few sets.

Looking at the third wrench I have often wondered if you could make a mold and do a brass casting to make them. But, have never taken the time to try.

I like the homemade set because you can use the you can orient the angled heads on them so that you have a choice when you use them and the wrench heads at least on mine were smaller.

On one of the Heyco wrenches someone cut out one side of the wrench behind the head so that it could fit more easily on the 5th cylinder.

[BillGrissom]

I have adjusted the valves many times on my two 300D's. I never used special wrenches. One from my Craftsman set and one from a set of thin flat ones I bought at Harbor Freight. Both are 14 mm, I recall, which 9/16" will also fit if you have an SAE set. Of course, it is much easier if the injection tubes are off, so plan a valve adjustment the same time you are pop-testing injectors, and also a good time to change bad glow plugs.

[Diesel911]

Anyone interested in doing their own valve adjustments could take some time and look into the details of that and the wrenches and alternative methods.

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There is people that change the Glow Plugs on the 617 type Engines without removing the Fuel Injection Hard Lines. If I did that I am sure I would need at little bag of those little nuts because I am sure I would loose them. But that is a personal issue. I had arthritis and that carpal tunnel issue way before 2007 and it has not gotten better since that tome. Manipulating stuff in tight places is tough for me.

People new to Diesels often don't know or get the idea of how to bleed the air out of the Fuel Injection Hard Lines without killing their Battery. But, if they have the Valve Adjusting Wrenches they seem to be able to adjust the Valves.

For the reason to buy the set of Hazet Valve Wrenches as soon as I got a good price on eBay was that the easier the job is to do the less likely I will put the job off to another time. Also the Hazet Valve Adjusting Wrenches hold their value. Also the first time I adjusted the Valve I had to use the Third Wrench on some of them.

Two sellers on eBay are selling homemade sets that are bent but still have the box ends on them. No welded extensions on them. They are asking $45 for them but I did not notice if that was with free shipping. So if you made a set for yourself it would have some cash value if you ever sold them.

[tdoublenastywitit]

Man u guys are getting bored on here ... First I read someone is cutting up oil filters and taking pix of the inside and now I'm reading probably the 1000th Valve wrench thread.

Take a berzo torch heat up a 14mm and bend it .....

[Diesel911]

Originally Posted by tdoublenastywitit

Man u guys are getting bored on here ... First I read someone is cutting up oil filters and taking pix of the inside and now I'm reading probably the 1000th Valve wrench thread.

Take a berzo torch heat up a 14mm and bend it .....

People on the forum have various skill levels and various tools an equipment.

I have a sturdy work bench with a Vice mounted on it, an Arc Welder (working in a welding shop was my first real job at 17 years old)and of course the propane torch.

What would I do to bend a wrench without a Vice? It gets a whole lot more difficult without the vice and something to mount the vice on. Impossible no; but for someone who has never heated up any piece of medal red hot and bent it can be a huge challenge.

The other issue is what angle to bend them. I already had a set of Hazet Wrenches to use as a pattern.

So what these threads are about is advice and the differing ways people did it and the differing problems people might have and what to do about that.

Then there is also the social aspects of communicating with someone about something they are interested in. When I see a subject I am not interested in I simply don't look.

As an example people that like to Fish can talk about that forever. I don't eat Fish and I don't fish so I would likely run away from a bunch of people talking about fishing.

[Wusha]

@Diesel911

Did you ever try Crowsfoot wrenches?

[Diesel911]

Originally Posted by Wusha

@Diesel911

Did you ever try Crowsfoot wrenches?

No.

If you try post how it turned out.

[tdoublenastywitit]

If u can't figure out how to bend a wrench with a berzo torch vice or not u shouldnt be adjusting ur valves.

I'm really just talking crap tho, for fun, I think it's good for a new thread of this every once in a while because it's by far the most common thing first timer wants to do

[vwnate1]

I bought a pair made by my buddy in Colorado, they're far better than the factory wrenches because the bottom part is a few MM's longer on one of them so they 'nest' when you're in there working....

The best $35 tool I've ever bought .

I have no idea how you're going to make these but once I can see the finished product I'll shop them 'round for you as I know lots of D.I.Y.'ers .