valve adjustment (1 Viewer)

[hammer1]

this is something i dont want to even try myself.
to the best of my knowledge, in 212k mile, my 60 has never had any sort of valve adjustment, compression test, or similar fixes.
it burns more oil than i think it should, about 1 quart ever 750-1000 miles, and its real hard to keep a good idle. i can get a constant 16+/- on my vac guage at low ide ( when it does idle low) and about 23 at high idle, maybe 1200-1500 rpm.
there does not seem to be any manifold issues, at least i cant get anything when i spra carb cleaner around the intake.
it did improve last time, when i replaced the plugs about 1500 miles ago. three of the six were completely fouled, with no gap at all.
any sugestions?
several people have sugested a valve adjustment. what should i expect to pay for one?
hammer

 

[lowtideride]

DO IT YOURSELF....it is so easy its not funny.

you need a feeler gauge...4 bucks
14mm....um you should just have one
flathead....ditto above...



go for a drive and warm up the engine....then come home and park it just dont turn it off. start pulling vac hoses and air filter...remove valve cover 14mm bolts a whole 4 of em...turn off truck and find TDC in flywheel window...adust the first set of valves using the 14mm and the flat head...wicked easy... then rotate the flywheel once back to TDC and adjust the second set...put valve cover back on and vac hoses...and you'll be done..

after the first time my truck was like a huge race car...much faster than before....re-gear helped but the valve adjustment was icing on the cake...

its wicked easy....

 

[hodag]

You can also follow all of Lowtides directions above, but instead of finding TDC twice, you can take the distributor cap off and push the truck in 4th gear until the rotor lines up with each of the cylinders and set each one individually. This is the way I did it and it makes a huge difference. DONT pay someone to do this for you, its too easy.

Hodag

 

[brett76]

You can also follow all of Lowtides directions above, but instead of finding TDC twice, you can take the distributor cap off and push the truck in 4th gear until the rotor lines up with each of the cylinders and set each one individually. This is the way I did it and it makes a huge difference. DONT pay someone to do this for you, its too easy.

Hodag

when you do it that way. does it matter which cylinder you start at? do you go through and do all the intakes one at a time and then exhaust or vice versa?

 

[hammer1]

hmm.. i have NO ONE to help me, so i need to do this myself.
im a little queezy about doing stuff when the engine is running. i know this is the only way, but i have this weird feeling like my t-shirt is gonne get caught in the fan or something.
i got my ring caught on a splinter on a peice of wood, going through my table say. now i have 9-3/4 fingers.
and i dont have alot of free time, so i need to weigh the "wicked easy" and the little time i have.
how much should i pay for someone to do it?
hammer
ps LR, are you from up north, with the "wicked"???
LOL
HAMMER

 

[60wag]

http://www.birfield.com/~morgan/tech/valves.html

 

[hammer1]

you guys are the BEST!

 

[lowtideride]

NOOo you dont do it while its running...you just start to take it apart while its running so it stays warm....once you get down to the valve cover kill the engine...

 

[hammer1]

so i dont have to drain any fluids? or anything else? sound pretty easy, and i have got the tools.
hmmmm.

 

[lovetoski]

so i dont have to drain any fluids? or anything else? sound pretty easy, and i have got the tools.
hmmmm.

You don't drain any fluids. Hardest part is the stretch to get to the valves back by the firewall.

 

[IH8Wood]

Last weekend I adjusted my valves, changed the plugs, rotor and cap. The difference is amazing. My truck went from running like a chainsaw to running like a sewing machine. There are about a million posts on how to do this.

Now the bad news. Finding top dead center on a 2F engine is a little easier then finding the holy grail.

1. First find the timing window. It's the little hole you look through to see the timing marks. It has a COVER over it that you have to push out of the way.

2. Take out all the spark plugs. Yes you really have to do this.

3. Crawl under your truck and take off the inspection cover, which is at the bottom of the flywheel. It's really easy to do. Use a rag or gloves, grab the flywheel (make sure the ignition is off) and rotate it until you find what looks like a little hole. This is the 8 degree before TDC timing mark, called BB by those who do this. I think BB is stands for ball bearing. Clean it off with some solvent and draw a circle around it with something white or yellow. About an inch clockwise from the BB mark is a vertical line. This is TDC. Clean it off and mark it too. Put the plugs back in.

3. Take off the air cleaner assembly. The valve cover is kind of awkward. Make sure you can take it off easily.

4. Make sure you can take the distributor cap off quickly. Notice the position the rotor will be in when it's pointing to the #1 plug wire.

5. With the valve cover on, the air cleaner off, the plugs in and distributor cap on, start your truck and let it idle until it's warmed up. In sunny so cal that's about 10 minutes.

6. Turn off the ignition and leave the transmission in neutral. Pull out the spark plugs, pop off the valve cover and the distributor cap.

6. Now, look for the grail. I don't have a flat place to roll my truck and I couldn't turn the engine from the alternator, and I don't have a 46mm socket, so I crawled back underneath it and turned the flywheel until I could see the TDC mark slide into the timing window. If the rotor is pointing to plug wire #1 you're on a compression stroke, else you're on an exhaust stroke.

7. Now adjust your valves.

 

[lowtideride]

You don't drain any fluids. Hardest part is the stretch to get to the valves back by the firewall.

im small enough to sit in the engine bay....its pretty easy.

 

[phoenix1055]

Honestly Hammer..

These guys do make it sound pretty freakin easy..

I have never done it either (valve adjustment) and feel for sure I'd screw it up somehow.

But it just sounds sooooo easy when you listen to em.

I may actually get up the nerve to give it a try on my 62'.

But I would need a step by step procedure so I can blame someone else when I screw it up.

 

[60wag]

http://www.birfield.com/~morgan/tech/valves.html

 

[Toadhopper]

I never pulled the plugs when I did mine.
As I removed the air cleaner and vacuum hoses, I plugged them up (vac. lines) as I went so the engine kept running smoothly.
Once the air cleaner and valve cover were removed I turned off the motor and pulled the dist. cap.
Then I put it in 4th gear and bumped it forward until the rotor pointed to #4cyl. You'll see the little circle on the flywheel through the window and within an inch or so of it the TDC line. Its timed from the TDC LINE not the BB. Its a good idea to mark the line with something bright so you can see it easily
Look at the jim phillips link 60wag posted for which cylinders to adjust first, then bump it around again 360 degrees and do the others.
Put the dist cap back on and start it up and listen to it run. If you dont hear any tap tap tap then they're not too loose.
YOU CAN DO IT!! If you can change your P/S pump (several times) you can easily do this one banana job.

 

[dogboy2]

Hammer,

You CAN do this man! If you can change a spark plug, you can do this job

Here's a tip: wear a pair of those mechanic's gloves to keep from burning your fingers while monkeying with the hot valves.

One more: Lowtide may not mind wrestling with the flywheel while trying to find TDC, but you can save yourself a bit of work and make it easier by picking up a remote starter switch (inexpensive) to bump the motor over.

Go man go!
-db-