Is it possible or very likely that if valve lash was overtightened that it could damage a cam? It is a roller cam/lifter setup, stock stuff. Lash was too tight but car wasnt running too long with it, since it wouldnt exactly run right. TIA.

 

it probably wont damage the cam but it can damage the valves since they wont make contact with the seats. Jsut set it the lash to what it sohudl be and youll be fine.

 

1/4-1/2 turn after the valves stop ticking seems to be a good starting point. I set mine 1/2 turn after they stopped clicking and it seems to run better than 1/4 turn.

Guy I know at work who is pretty good with cars thinks 1/2 turn is to much...seems to be doing fine tho. I haven't had it past 4k yet tho. I am driving it normal for awhile to see if my new belt routing setup is gonna do ok...lets just say I did away with the pass side bracket...I need to get pictures so I can revolutionalize the way we route the belt here on TGO

 

adjusting valves while the car is running I think is to risky. I do know a few people who do it like that BUT i wouldn't recommend it.

The way I do it is i keep moving the rocker arm up n down until i feel no upward movement, then i loosen it and check again, do all of one side and then I go make a 1/2 rotation to all of them.

 

if you can run the motor, (engine running and at normal operating temp) back off each rocker nut untill you hear a clacking. After that, tighten each rocker untill the clack/tick jsut goes away, this will be zero lash. Do this for all the rockers and immidiatly shut down the engine. Add the desired ammount of lash and your done. For a roller cam, 1/4 turn should be adiquate. This is the desired method IMHO.

P.S. Make sure to put a tarp or plastic drop cloth on the ground under the motor. Wile the engine is running itll dribble a bit w/o the rocker covers on.

 

You think 1/2 turn is to much?

BTW they sell oil deflectors that keep oil from shooting out everywhere. I have some they work well.

 

no. At the factory, though, i think they actually give it 1 full turn so theres no need to have the lash adjusted later on. I didnt have oil sqirting everywhere, just running over the rear portion of the heads where it was pooling up.

 

1/2 turn is how i've done it all my life. Its how my brother taught me and its how he learned through a machine shop.

I've never had a problem with the valves i've adjusted and i've done it on my car and others plenty of times.

If the car is running and an ACCIDENT happens, you slip n tighten the arm to much, bam the rods busts, where do you think the parts will fly off to?

good luck with your way

 

I've always done the valve adjusting as the manual says ....TDC mark (#1 firing), set the recommended valves.....Turn 360* to TDC (#6 firing), set the recommended valves.....I turn the rocker nut till no up-down pushrod movement, then one full turn....Never had a problem....no burnt valves ,worn cam lobes or bad lifters, no valvetrain noise.....just my experience I thought I'd share

 

Its running fine now with 1/2 turn so Im not gonna mess with it.

I got on it some tonite... I completely manhandled some POS third gen camaro. It was a real POS. I put about 10 cars on him in 2 seconds. I noticed a SOTP difference with my new belt setup. I already had a short 82'' belt on it instead of the stock 9x''.

Now I have a 50''

 

You worry too much I've tried setting the lash non-running and running, having the engine running was a lot easier for me. If you tighten too much, you'd know before anything starts to fly apart unless you're a complete dumbass. (not calling you a dumbass just to make that clear lol)

 

i agree, youll get alot of warning before the valve actually crashes into the piston. The engine would probably run pretty sour if it would even run at all as soon as the valve is alowed to stay open the whole time. Anyway, your only supposed to ajust to zero lash so if someone does manage to break stuff its their own damn fault. The only accident ive had so far wile working on a running engine was tripping and falling arms first into the beltline. That impeller on the alt. sure does take skin of in a hurry...

 

I set it both ways 1/2 is better then 1/4 for setting final lash though. You want to set it up cold "rotation method" to begin with, this is your starting point 1/4. If the engine is running well at this point durring initial break-in once up to operating temp remove the covers install oil deflectors $12 at Azone then lash it hot to 1/2 turn from zero lash. This will reduce the chances of noise durring peak operating temps with mildly broken down oil, or Rhodes users like me fresh oil. It's better to do it twice and make sure its right IMO. If you want to get high tech you could always break out the vacuum guage and lash by valve timing to make sure its 100% for those looking for that extra 00.1% HP increase.

 

I notice a light ticking from the passenger valve cover. I took the valve cover off with it running, and inspected, it looked ok. the tick was really quiet without having the valve cover act as a echo chamber.

Here's my question(s)

If the valves are quiet does it necessarily mean they are correctly adjusted?

In this scenario is there any performance gain to be had by adjusting the valves.

It's a 350, runs ok, no big ticking, a little gutless for a 350 expected (tbi) It has a lot of miles, but no smoke etc. I am sure it has been at least 50 k since they have been adjusted.

I guess what I am asking is... do valves need to be adjusted at a certain interval to maintain power, like plugs/air filter/fuel filter etc.

I am wanting to add things like cam heads/etc but I don't want to do that until I get the motor running and making the power it should in stock form

 

Well to answer your questions. Yes valve adjustment is needed after a certian milage. I forget the service milage between adjustments but its some where in the area of 50-80k.

Yes there is a slight performance gain to be had. Valve stems wear down over time rockers wear pushrods wear, so adjusting them to spec will have a slight effect on power.

You can put the headers on anytime, no time like the present but if your planning on changing the cam dont bother to adjust the valves in the current setup.