Valve Adjustment Trouble (1 Viewer)

[NM Frontier]

Just did the valve adjustment on my 83, FJ60 with 164k. Fallowed all the posts I found as well as the Haynes. I did it the first time yesterday, every thing sounded good when I fired it up but it would kind of miss and sputter when I gave it some gas. I slept on it and re-did it this morning, making sure it was good and hot. I found one that was a bit tight but the rest seemed good. I fired it up and got the same results.
So my thinking now is that the timing may be off. Has any on else had this same problem after a valve adjustment? I know I have some type of issue because the truck wont idle under 1000 with out getting real rough, but there was no sputtering until now.
Thanks for any insight on this!

 

[Pighead]

Sure, one should always re-check the timing after a valve adjustment. There are also several common and easy mistakes to make on your first valve adjustment..
Also easy to knock off a vacuum line and not notice it.

 

[NM Frontier]

Yep, I'm rechecking all the vac lines right now then I going to track down a light and do the timing. Just wondering if this was a common thing see after a valve adj. Thanks

 

[Pighead]

No, not that common. Usually runs better after a proper valve adjustment. Double check that you are in fact adjusting at the proper crankshaft positions...that's the most common mistake.

 

[klinetime574]

Yeah I've been in the wrong crank rotation before. I found that adjusting my valves cold was easier because you're panicking less while you struggle to get through all 12.

I pull the plugs and turn the engine by the alternator nut. Works pretty well.

 

[Pighead]

Agree with above. First time should be done cold just so you can take your time and figure it all out. Do it a few times.
There are probably half a dozen ways to make sure you're adjusting the correct valves at the correct time...use at least 3 of them.

 

[NM Frontier]

Ok, I started at the only mark I could find in the "window" looks like a line w an arrow top. I did start w the 4,6,8,10,11,12 group would that make a difference?
I am able to turn the idle down and keep the engine running smooth, just stutters out of the 12000 to 1500 range. Thanks

 

[Pighead]

drop the bottom flywheel cover so you can see a bigger piece of the flywheel. Clean it off and find your correct timing marks.

 

[NM Frontier]

Good call on dropping the cover to clean the flywheel. Now I can see If I just use the wrong mark. The "line" is TDC and the "Dot" is the timing correct?

 

[snye]

Ok, I started at the only mark I could find in the "window" looks like a line w an arrow top. I did start w the 4,6,8,10,11,12 group would that make a difference?
I am able to turn the idle down and keep the engine running smooth, just stutters out of the 12000 to 1500 range. Thanks

Where you start depends on which direction the distributor arrow is pointing. The best is to start with the distributor pointing toward the distributor output for spark plug #1 then follow the valve numbers listed in the Haynes manual. If you didn't remove your distributor cap to check this you may have started 180 degrees off, which could easily explain your troubles.

 

[klinetime574]

The "line" is TDC and the "Dot" is the timing correct?

Correct-a-mundo

 

[Pighead]

. I did start w the 4,6,8,10,11,12 group would that make a difference?

Nope. You can do 1,2,3,5,7,9 counting either from the front or rear...

 

[NM Frontier]

Yeah I've been in the wrong crank rotation before. I found that adjusting my valves cold was easier because you're panicking less while you struggle to get through all 12.

I pull the plugs and turn the engine by the alternator nut. Works pretty well.

Do you got a good link to the "cold method"
Thanks

 

[Pighead]

the cold method is just like the hot method except you don't warm up the engine first.

 

[NM Frontier]

Ok cleaned the flywheel and painted the line and dot. I was using the correct mark.
Would the gap be the same after the engine cools for a bit. I was going to check them again but can't decide to warm the engine up again or just do it now. I am afraid that as things cool the gap would have to increase? Thanks for all the help!

 

[Pighead]

Ok cleaned the flywheel and painted the line and dot. I was using the correct mark.
Would the gap be the same after the engine cools for a bit. I was going to check them again but can't decide to warm the engine up again or just do it now. I am afraid that as things cool the gap would have to increase? Thanks for all the help!

The gap does change slightly as everything warms up, but not enough to make a big difference. You can get everything very close while cold, fine tune when hot.

 

[klinetime574]

Agree with Pighead.

Gap is larger when cold IIRC. There is no harm in running these motors a couple thousandths of an inch tight. It's such a small variation. Don't worry about it

 

[NM Frontier]

Just ran through it again, I got them all feeling the same now, I had to adj only a couple but ran it w/o the valve cover( Kinda Cool!) and they seem as quiet as I'v ever heard any. Still some ticking but not much. Going to put back together and see if it still stutters at 1500 to 2000. Then I'm moving on to the timing as I don't think I have done any harm after 3x checking the valves. Thanks for the tips and help.

 

[Lugal]

A bit late for this, since it looks like you've figured it out, but check out this thread for adjusting the valves cold. 2mbb's chart is a lifesaver, and I plug it every chance I get.

 

[NM Frontier]

A bit late for this, since it looks like you've figured it out, but check out this thread for adjusting the valves cold. 2mbb's chart is a lifesaver, and I plug it every chance I get.

Thanks for the link to the chart that thing is great!