Leather,

Now I have to answer you. I ignored your last comment that I should rebuild 2 calipers when only was stuck because it was so ridiculous.

Replace the lock and acorn nuts on the valves? Why not replace all the valves too and the cam followers and the cam? Why not the whole head. It would make about as much sense.

What does it matter what settings the indy used. That was then and this is now. He either adjusted the valves correctly or not. If he did it incorrectly, he should not be allowed to work on the car again, but how do you know unless you check the clearances immediately after he set them. So you check the valves clearance now and if any are not to spec, you readjust them.

Oil changes or type oil don't have much effect on valve adjustment or valve seat wear. The clearance changes because the valve pounds into the seat and the clearances almost always decreases. If it was wear in the valve train, the clearance would increase.

One of the reasons I have MB Diesels is for less maintenance and part replacement. I don't believe in fixing anything that isn't broken or doing maintanance more often than it is needed.

When I find that none of the valves in my engine needed adjustment after 25,000 miles it proved that to me that adjustments every 25,000 miles are sufficient.

So Leather, you have several problems with your thinking.

83W123DT,

I forgot to answer your question about a symptom of valve clearance less than nominal: Usually hard starting because the valves tend leak and reduce compression pressure. This causes a lower temperature in the cylinder and pre-chamber which makes the spontaneous ignition of the fuel more difficult. The problem is aggravated when starting because of the lower speed of the engine and the colder cylinder head, cylinder walls, pre-chambers and pistons.

And the other guys didn't tell you to check the tightness of the timing chain when you have the valve cover off. Its possible the chain tensioner is not keeping the chain tight enough and it could jump a tooth which really causes problems when the valves hit the pistons.

P E H