Initial valve lash adjustment...Questions

Hey guys.

I am assembling a 201 c.i. 3 cylinder Ford diesel engine.

I have the head installed and wanted to do a valve lash adjustment.

I rolled the engine over until tdc after the intake valve closed and adjusted the intake to .015 and the exhaust to .018 as per spec.

I continued for the rest of the valves however as I was turning the engine I noticed that some of the rockers seemed to have too much play.

I eventually adjusted all the rockers to the spec when they were the most slack.

BTW new cam and bearings, new valves and seats.

Am I missing something?

Thanks,

Brad

How pitted are your rocker arms ? This will effect valve lash traper

If you rotated the engine, watched the exhaust open and then shut, then went on to watch the intake open and shut, and then went just a little beyond, then you were definitely setting them just past TDC on the compression stroke, which is definitely in the right place.

As far as the setting being a little off, if you used a heavy assembly lube, it could have an effect your settings, especially if it's cold out, and it was thicker than usual. What happens is it builds a puddle between the push rod and the lifter which makes the rod seem longer. Until enough pressure is applied to squeeze that oil layer from between the two, which usually happens when it opens the valve under full tension, the potential is there for the setting to be a few thousandths off due to the oil.

Another thing I've seen happen is that when you tighten the lock on the adjusting screw, it can change the adjustment if you aren't holding the screw tight enough.

Another thing I've seen is that if you have the feeler gauge at even a little bit of an angle -vs- at a true 90 degree angle to the valve stem, it will throw the setting off to the loose side.



Beyond that, I've never really noticed anything else that has created a problem for me when making the lash adjustments.

Thanks for the tips Wayne.

I went around them again and all seems well.

Brad

Hey Traper.

All the rockers that were at all pitted were replaced.

Brad