Did my 1st valve adjustment today-Need Advice
 

I am a "senior member" but still an admitted NEWBIE... I would not have attempted most of the projects I have accomplished on my "82 300D turbo without the terrific support of this board!.. Thank you all for your participation here (including lurkers).

I did my 1st valve adustment today after owning my baby for a year.... should have done it 1st thing... I found ALL but 1 valve too tight to measure!

I am very proud that I accomplished the job with the help of this board and a video from repairflix.com, but I need some NEWBIE advice. ALL the valves were too tight to measure when I started. Now they appear to be properly gapped, but I am concerned what damage may have been done in the past. I have put around 5000 miles on the car since I acquired her. The engine sounds significantly smoother since completed yesterday, but I do hear some valve noise.

What should I check now and what damage could I do if I set the valves too loose?

Thanks.... senior but newbie....

If it runs good I would not worry too much about it. Valves set too loose will not provide the performance that the car is capable of. You are probably just fine.

Sometimes when the valves are too tight for a while, carbon builds up on the valve stem (intake in particular) and this will cause the valve to go tight again when the carbon wears off after adjustment.

I'd check again in about 1000 miles. If any are tight again, leave them loose (0.010" more clearance than specified) for another couple hundred miles, then set correctly. This should get rid of any carbon buildup. If they still go tight, set them loose again and repeat.

Too much clearance will give you lower performance and more valve train noise, no other problems.

Running with them too tight will erode the valve and seat. When this gets really bad, you will need to do a valve job. Time will tell.

Peter

Thanks for the tips... interesting you should mention 100 miles because that is how long I drove the car before the valves became a little noisy. We will be giving her a Tune-upo Italiano this weekend. I will recheck at 1000 miles.

Will a Moly Purge help at this stage, or is there some additive in the fuel or oil advisable now?

Also, can I use the same valve cover gasket for the 1000 mile checks, or should I go for a new one each time?

Is there someway I can see the valves to visually inspect their condition?

Thanks again...

MrGF,

The valve cover gasket will be good for many years so you won't have to replace it each time. The gasket only has to be replaced after many years of hot service which causes the gasket material to get hard.

I can't see that a few thousandths extra clearance between the cam follower and the cam and thus a few thousandths less of valve lift will have much effect on the power of the engine. But no clearance will cause valves to leak and that might decrease engine power and even misfiring in a Diesel. A little valve noise is normal.

P E H

I'm sure you're aware of this but just in case you aren't.... make sure the lock-nut is tight for each valve after you adjust it. You don't want it to come off!