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Checking and adjusting valves

in Engine
Overhead valves with rocker shaft
On a pushrod engine with a rocker shaft, the adjusting screw and locknut, or
the self-locking adjusting nut, are at the pushrod end of each rocker.

Valve clearances are the small gaps between the tops of the valve stems and
the part of the mechanism which presses on them to open the valves .
Check the clearances at regular intervals as specified in the car service
schedule, and adjust if necessary. Reset the clearances whenever the cylinder
head has been removed.
The job is commonly called adjusting the tappets .

Rockers on a pivot post

On a pushrod engine without a rocker shaft, the clearance is adjusted by a nut
on the pivot post; this example has a self- locking nut.

A few cars have hydraulic tappets, which are self adjusting and do not need
checking.
Before starting, make sure you know the type of valve mechanism commonly
called valve gear - fitted to your engine , and the relative valve clearances. The
car handbook should tell you the clearances - if not, consult a dealer or the car
service manual.
The valve gear fitted to your engine will be either pushrod (OHV) or overhead
camshaft (OHC) (See The engine - how the valves open and close ). There are
two types of OHC valve gear direct acting and indirect acting.
The tappets on an OHC engine are usually adjusted by placing shims of a
predetermined size under them.
Indirect acting overhead cam
The valve clearance on OHC engines with indirect-acting mechanisms are
measured between the cam and the cam follower pivot post.

That is a job best left to a garage which has a micrometer for measuring

shims, and a wide selection of them. But you can check the clearances
yourself, and decide whether they need adjusting.
You must know the firing order of the engine, which cylinder is No. 1, which
are inlet and exhaust valves and which rockers or cams operate them. Make a
plan of all this information on paper.
Find the correct valve clearances for inlet and exhaust valves, and whether
they should be adjusted with the engine hot or cold.
Direct-acting overhead cam
A direct acting OHC separates the valves through tappets which are
sometimes adjusted by shims.

`Hot' means that the engine must be warmed to normal working temperature,
then switched off - and you must work quickly before the engine cools.
`Cold' means absolutely cold: the engine must not have run for at least six
hours - check in the car handbook.
To speed up the job on most pushrod and some types of indirect-acting OHC
engines there is a sequence by which you can check more than one valve at a
time. But the valves of overhead-cam engines usually have to be checked
singly.
Remove the air cleaner if it overhangs the rocker cover (See Air filter change ).
Tag and number the ignition leads to avoid confusion when replacing them,
then remove them from the plugs, pulling the plug caps, not the leads. If the
leads are clipped down and in the way, unclip them.
Note the position of any pipes, control cables and other items fastened to the
rocker cover, unfasten them and move them aside.
Remove all the plugs with a plug spanner. With the plugs out, there is
no compression in the cylinders, so you can turn the engine easily.
Remove the screws or bolts holding the rocker or cam cover to the cylinder
head. Carefully lift the cover together with its gasket . Put the cover in a clean
place, upside-down on newspaper to catch oil drips. Always fit a new gasket
to the rocker or camshaft cover before refitting (See Replacing gaskets and oil
seals ).
Adjusting the tappets on pushrod engines

Measure the gap between the rocker pad and the valve stem; the feeler blade
should slide in to a close fit. If it will not go in or if it goes in with room for
movement, adjust the gap.

The point in the valve-operating sequence to check a pair of valves is when

another pair is 'rocking' - the brief moment when the rockers are moving in
opposite directions to close the exhaust and open the inlet valve.
For example, on a four-cylinder engine when the rockers on No. 1 are rocking
you can check both valves on No. 4.
Turn the engine in its normal direction of rotation by using a spanner or socket
wrench on the crankshaft-pulley bolt until the two chosen rockers rock.
Leave the feeler gauge in place whilst you adjust. Use a screwdriver to prevent
a slotted adjusting screw from turning while you tighten the locknut, then re-
check the gap.

Most engines turn clockwise , but some Honda engines and the Triumph
Acclaim engine turn anticlockwise. Consult your car handbook.
If in doubt, turn the crankshaft back a short way; but if you have gone too far,
turn it on almost two more turns in the normal direction and look again.
At the cylinder to be checked, insert the blade or blades of a feeler gauge ,
selected for the correct clearance, between the rocker and the valve system.
If the clearance is correct, the blade is a close sliding fit between the two
parts. If not, it may refuse to enter the gap, or it may be a loose fit, in which
case you can move the rocker up and down with the blade in place.
Adjust an incorrect clearance with the rocker adjuster screw. If the rockers
pivot on a shaft, the screw is usually at the pushrod end.
There may be a slot-headed screw with a locknut. Use a ring spanner to
loosen the locknut and turn the screw clockwise to decrease the gap, and the
opposite way to increase it.
When the clearance is correct, hold the screw with a screwdriver while you
tighten the locknut, then re-check the clearance.
There may be a self-locking adjusting screw with no locknut. It has a
hexagonal head: adjust it with a spanner.
Alternatively, there may be no rocker shaft , each rocker being held by a nut on
a fixed pivot post. Adjust the clearance by tightening the retaining nut to
reduce the gap, or loosen it to increase the gap.
After re-checking both valve clearances, turn the crankshaft until the next pair
of rockers in the sequence rocks, and repeat the check. Carry on until all the
valve clearances have been checked.
Alternative adjusters

No locknut is used on this type of rocker arm. Keep the feeler gauge in place
while you adjust the self- locking bolt.
On a shaftless rocker arm, adjust the clearance with a socket spanner and
reversible ratchet arm.
Rule-of-nine method

When using the 'rule-of-nine' method, No.1 valve is fully closed when No. 8 is
fully open.
An alternative sequence often recommended by car manufacturers for in-line
four-cylinder engines, is to follow the 'rule of nine'.
There are some engines - including the Fiesta 1.1 - on which this method is
not recommended: consult your car handbook or service manual if in doubt.
The feeler gauge must be a close sliding fit - with the engine hot or cold,
according to the manufacturer's instructions. With many different sorts of
engine layouts, No. 1 cylinder is usually at the crankshaft-pulley end,
irrespective of which way the engine is mounted in the car.
Turn the engine by means of a socket spanner on the crankshaft-pulley wheel,
or by jacking up one of the driven wheels, engaging a high gear, and turning
the wheel by hand to turn the engine.
Removal of the sparkplugs (See Cleaning and fitting spark plugs ) will make
turning the engine easier.
Count the valves of No. 1 cylinder as 1 and 2, the next pair as 3 and 4 up to the
furthest pair, 7 and 8.
Turn the engine until one rocker arm is fully down, the valve being fully open.
Follow this order:
Note that whichever valve is fully down, adjust the valve which makes up to 9
when the two numbers are added.
Indirect-acting overhead cam

Measure the gap between cam and follower with the lobe pointing directly
away from the follower.

On overhead-cam engines with finger-type cam followers, measure he gap

when the top of the lobe is pointing directly away from the finger. Adjust by
turning the pivot post at the opposite end of the finger from the valve, hold the
post to stop it turning while you slacken or tighten the locknut.

Keep the feeler gauge in position while making the adjustment

Hold the adjusting nut steady while tightening the locknut.
Overhead-cam engines

On an OHC engine with bucket tappets, measure between the tappet and the
bottom of the cam lobe.

On overhead-camshaft engines, check the clearance of each valve when the

lobe of its cam is pointing directly away from it.
Turn the crankshaft only in its normal direction of rotation, using a spanner or
socket wrench on the crankshaft-pulley, to move the camshaft.
The valves come into the checking position in a jumbled order - do not mix up
inlet and exhaust clearances.
On some old overhead-cam engines you can adjust the shims to a limited
extent by screwing up a wedge over them, through a small hole. Turn the
screw with an Allen key; if its full travel does not alter the gap enough, the
shim must be replaced in a garage.

On tappets with shims, check the clearance by inserting the blade or blades of
a feeler gauge between the back of the cam and the tappet.
The correct blade should be a close sliding fit in the gap. If it refuses to go in,
or feels loose, try other blades to find what the gap actually is, and whether it
is within the allowable limit. Any tappet clearance outside the limit should be
adjusted by a garage.
However, on certain Vauxhall engines you can make small adjustments by
means of screws which slide wedges under the shims: these screws are
adjusted with an Allen key.
On an indirect overhead camshaft with finger-type followers (see right), check
the clearance in the same way between the back of the cam and the follower.
Adjust the follower, if necessary, by screwing its pivot post up or down.
The pivot post has a locknut around its base. Hold the post with a spanner
while you slacken the locknut, then turn the post anti-clockwise to reduce the
clearance and clockwise to increase it.
When the gap is correct, hold the post steady while tightening the locknut,
then check the clearance.
Keep turning the crankshaft until you have checked all the valves.
Another type of indirect-acting overhead camshaft

Turn the crankshaft pulley until the timing marks line up to show TDC position;
the crankshaft turns twice for every turn of the camshaft.

In a second type of indirect-acting overhead-camshaft engine, the cams bear

against the ends of rocker arms.
To adjust the valve clearances, use a spanner or a socket wrench on the
crankshaft-pulley bolt. Turn the engine in its normal direction of rotation until
No. 1 piston is at the top dead centre ( TDC ) of the compression stroke .
In that position, the TDC marks on the timing scale and the pulley line up, and
there is a clearance between the rocker and valve stem of both No. 1 cylinder
valves (this happens only once every two crankshaft revolutions).
Measure and adjust the clearence when the rocker arm pad is on the bottom
of the cam.

Check the clearances of numbers 1, 2, 3 and 5 valves by inserting the blade or

blades of a feeler gauge between the rocker and valve stem.
The clearance is correct when the gauge is a close sliding fit between the two
parts.
If the clearance is wrong, either the blade cannot enter the gap or it is loose,
so that you can move the rocker up and down with the blade in place.
If all these valves are correctly set, turn the crankshaft on one full turn until the
TDC marks line up again, and check numbers 4, 6, 7 and 8 valves in the same
way.
Adjust any incorrect clearance by slackening the locknut on the adjuster
screw at the camshaft end of the rocker.
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