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Old 05-27-2008, 01:56 PM   #6 (permalink)
ttoyoda
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Heads up on a potential trap in this procedure

Just an FYI, sometimes the end of the valve stem or the adjuster wear away in such a way that one side is a dimple and the other side is a tit. In that case, the feeler gauge will bridge over the dimple, and you will be setting the valves to a bigger clearance than you intended.

The giveaway for this problem is that you hear a different loudness of tick from some valves when the engine idles (with the rocker arm or valve cover off). While you will get sprayed with oil when you run the engine this way, it only take a few minutes to check it out.

The hard way to fix this is to buy new parts. The less hard way to fix this is to get an inexpensive dial gauge and use it to measure the travel of the rocker arm right above the valve stem. The ones I got were less than $10 for a 1" travel, made in china, from travers.com. There may be less expensive places so shop around.
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