hey guys well i have an 89 5.0 lo3 tbi motor with an lt1 cam inside. i have a lil missing problem at idle in gear and i have to adjust my vavles but wats the best way to this and how do u know its right or wrong wat i mean is how do u know if they are to tight or to loose?

 

There are a few different ways to go about it.

1) Take off a valve cover, start the engine, loosen one rocker at a time until it taps, tighten it until it just stops tapping, then give it another 1/2 turn down (some argue 1/4 turn, others 1 turn - I've been using 1/2 turn for a couple of decades). Repeat on remaining 7, replace valve cover, go to other side. Have a fan going to blow the smoke from the oil that gets on the exhaust out of the garage.

2) Take off both valve covers, turn engine over to #1 firing position, adjust specific valves/cylinders (I don't have the sequence in front of me - Chilton's does). Turn engine over 1/2 turn at crank, adjust next sequence, etc.

3) Take off both valve covers, loosen all rockers. Put engine in #1 firing position, tighten all rockers until all slack is gone. Turn engine over 1/2 turn at crank, take all slack out of whatever rockers are loose. Turn over 1/2 turn, take out slack, turn over one more time, take out all slack. Now give each one 1/2 more turn down.

 

My vote goes to #2 with a half turn.

 

Same here but after the first decade I finally broke down and bought a set of rocker clips and cut the upper half of a old valve cover off, it sure makes it a lot nicer to do

 

I use the first method also, but I took my old set of valve covers and cut the center out of the top so they bolt on just like normal, but you can get a socket on the nuts to adjust them, and it blocks more of the oil than those little clips do. Makes for a nearly smoke free job. Oh yeah and I go with 1/2 turn.

 

I've only recently tried #3. It's become my favorite.

 

The way we always did it, was to draw lines on the balencer, cutting it into four pieces. Start on TDC #1 on compression stroke, adjust both valves. Turn the engine 90* so the mark you made lines up, then do the next one in firing order, and so on.

 

well i try # 1. and some of my vavles ur to tight but like he said after the tapping gos away give it a half turn, well if i give it a half turn it idles bad it worked best with like 1/4 turn or do u think i really need to tight them half a turn?

 

let me try to explain what you're doing... it'll make it easier to adjust.

First off. Why do solid lifter cams have lash?
When the engine operates, it changes tempature. As the motor heats up clearances change. Because of this, we leave a space between the rockerarm tip and the valve. That way when the parts come closer together, they don’t hold the valve open.



on a hydraulic cam, you have a plunger in the lifter.
This plunger is like a piston… with oil under it and the pushrod above it.
Oil pressure is pushing under the piston. This pressure takes up any slack in the valvetrain… so you can have the rocker arm and valve touching at all times.
As the engine heats up, the piston goes up or down in the lifter, taking up slack.


But, in order for it to be able to take up slack, It has to be able to move up and down

That’s where this x amount of a turn of preload comes in.

What that’s doing is setting the piston so far down from the top of its travel… too far and it bottoms the piston out, and too little and it has no adjustment room.

 

i dont really understand wat u meant but i adjust my vavles again today by using the #1 format but instead of yesterday that i turn it like a 1/4 i did them all again today and tighten them a half a turn when u tight them half a turn the engine like wants to turn off but then recovers is this normal i drove the car and it absiclally ran the same with 1/4 turn and 1/2 turn

 

Punctuation is your friend.

 

I use method #2, and I've tried it with 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 turn. Never had an issue with any of them, IIRC my car is at 1/4 turn currently.

I'll have to try #3, never heard of it before but it sounds like a time saver

 

#1 is the way that i have adjusted every engine that i have ever had. But now i have a injected engine that calls to remove every part of the intake system!!!! What is the fastest and easiest way for this engine??

 

Fuel injection makes no difference. The valves still adjust the same.

I like method #3, because you can do it without the engine running (messy), and you don't have to remember the secret number sequence used to do it in 2 engine turns with method #2.

 

i know that EFI makes no difference in the tightness of the valves....but to put everything back on to get it running again only to tear down again in 10 mins seems kinda pointless.....

 

What do you have to remove to get access to the valve covers? Usually it's just a few wires and heater hoses.

 

the secret sequence is the firing order, and hydraulic lifters rarely need adjustment.
take both valve covers off, find TDC, and mark the balancer in 90* increments.
then adjust no.1 intake and exhaust. turn the engine 90* and adjust no.8 intake and exhaust. and so on. this method is good if you have time, because the chances of missing one is pretty slim.
if you are in a hurry i use this method.
take one valve cover off, turn the engine until you see a intake just start to go down, now adjust the exhaust. next, when you see a exhaust go up, adjust the intake. with pratice, and if you skip around, you'll find this to be the fastest way, and just as accurate. there is no need to find TDC, and you don't have to hop around the car, and it doesn't matter what the firing order is.

 

i think he has a 2.8 fuelly......

 

I was thinking of a different sequence. There is an order that allows you to do it, in two turns of the engine. You go to TDC #1, and tighten specific valves (I, E, or both), on specific cylinders. Then you go one turn around to TDC again, and do the others. This method means turning the engine manually twice. Doing both valves on each cylinder at TDC of power stroke, means turning the engine by hand 8 times.

 

sounds like number 3 is a winner after thinking about how you do the above mentioned adjustment procedure.

 

if you adjust them per firing order, turning the engine 90* until the next valves are in position, you will only make 2 complete revolutions.

 

with hydralic lifters it may be possible to adjust 1 and 6, 8 and 5, 4 and 7, 3 and 2, at the same time.