Loose Intake Valves-Tight Exhaust Valves

[Bill R.]

leave the adjusting tool on the eccentric and hold it right where the correct setting is while you tighten the eccentric..I always rotate my adjusting tool down with the feeler gauge in place, then just before i tighten it down i move the adjusting tool in the opposite direction, not enough to change the eccentric setting, just enough to provide a push against the eccentric while it tighten it down to keep it from moving while its tightened... Bmw doesn't have much of a problem with this happening its just an old habit left over from 30 years of vw's and porsches valve adjusts.
Also i always push the rocker face back down against the cam lobe after its tight with my thumb and check the gap at the valve stem one more time with the feeler gauge to see if it changed before i go on to the next one.

Well, the only reason that doesn't make sense to me is because after the final tightening, I recheck the gap and it is right. What I'll do is re-do a few using less force and roll her over to see what happens. I'm going to do the eccentrics as well.

What is the torque setting for the eccentric nut?? I don't have a Bently nearby. I usually tighten the nuts pretty good just because the first time I adjusted them, they needed quite a bit of torque to loosen. My concern was after several heating cycles they would loosen up, but guess not.

[athflying79]

leave the adjusting tool on the eccentric and hold it right where the correct setting is while you tighten the eccentric..I always rotate my adjusting tool down with the feeler gauge in place, then just before i tighten it down i move the adjusting tool in the opposite direction, not enough to change the eccentric setting, just enough to provide a push against the eccentric while it tighten it down to keep it from moving while its tightened... Bmw doesn't have much of a problem with this happening its just an old habit left over from 30 years of vw's and porsches valve adjusts.
Also i always push the rocker face back down against the cam lobe after its tight with my thumb and check the gap at the valve stem one more time with the feeler gauge to see if it changed before i go on to the next one.

Bill as always thanks for the advice. What I do is take the .011, .012, and .013 out of the feeler set. I loosen the eccentric, slide the .012 under there and then rotate the eccentric to tighten it against the feeler with my tool. I slide the .012 around a bit to get just enough drag and then keeping pressure on the eccentric with my tool, let go of the feeler gauge and use that hand to tighten the nut. After tightening I will jiggle the rocker arm a bit and then push down to pull the rocker arm from the valve which would give me the most clearance. At that point all seems good. Then I move to the next valve.

The problem comes when I turn the motor over, it seems all my specs go out the window as described. I thought maybe I wasn't tightening the eccentric enough, but maybe I'm overtightening.

[Jeff N.]

Angled gauges help quite a bit.

Bill as always thanks for the advice. What I do is take the .011, .012, and .013 out of the feeler set. I loosen the eccentric, slide the .012 under there and then rotate the eccentric to tighten it against the feeler with my tool. I slide the .012 around a bit to get just enough drag and then keeping pressure on the eccentric with my tool, let go of the feeler gauge and use that hand to tighten the nut. After tightening I will jiggle the rocker arm a bit and then push down to pull the rocker arm from the valve which would give me the most clearance. At that point all seems good. Then I move to the next valve.

The problem comes when I turn the motor over, it seems all my specs go out the window as described. I thought maybe I wasn't tightening the eccentric enough, but maybe I'm overtightening.

[joshua43214]

Lots of good advice on adjusting here. I would only add 2 things. One is to make absolutely sure the feeler gauge is not bowing over some obstruction, bend the gauge as needed to ensure it lays flat. The other thing that is frequently overlooked oil film has a thickness. I always overtighten enough to squeeze out any oil, then adjust properly. You will wear out the gauges over time, but small scaring on the gauge is no problem provided it still slides smoothly. I get maybe 100 valve adjustment per gauge before I break it from repeated bending or its too scared to trust. I also check the adjustment by cranking the engine with a remote starter as I slide the guage under the tappets rather than running back up the line 1 at a time, Its faster and more accurate once you have the feel for it.

[Rustam]

Well, the only reason that doesn't make sense to me is because after the final tightening, I recheck the gap and it is right. What I'll do is re-do a few using less force and roll her over to see what happens. I'm going to do the eccentrics as well.

What is the torque setting for the eccentric nut?? I don't have a Bently nearby. I usually tighten the nuts pretty good just because the first time I adjusted them, they needed quite a bit of torque to loosen. My concern was after several heating cycles they would loosen up, but guess not.

The setting for the torque is 10 +/- 1Nm or 7 +/- 1/2ftlb...

I never used this setting in fact this figure is new to me. There is a reason why you don't see a 10mm wrench of length 30 centimeters (1 foot) - it has to be short enough not to strip the thread that it is intended to be used for.

[athflying79]

I was using a Gear Wrench ratchet that had kind of an egg shaped end. As I would tighten, it was pushing against the valve spring which in turn was screwing everything up. Used the open end and everything works as it should.

My eccentrics didn't look worn and I didn't see what some refered to as ridges, but after replacing them, it was much easier to get the right adjustment.