I just did my first valve adjustment today. All the valves seem really tight so I used .008 for exhaust and .007 for the intake. However, after doing the valve job it seems as if my car is making more of a ticking noise then it did before the adjustment. Do you think I may need to tighten them more. I used the helms manual.

Can someone describe the best way to tell if your to tight or to loose. When the manual says tightened until you feel some tension, what exactly does that mean?


Is it better to be more on the tight or the looser?

 

it means that when u place the feeler gauge inbetween the cam and rocker arm, u should feel a slight drag when u pull the feeler gauge in and out

 

The sound you are hearing is most likely the valves. Personally I like the valves to be a little loose on my car because it seems to give a little more power and better throttle response. Look under your hood on the sticker and adjust to the specs. Also be sure that the motor is not hot or even warm when you adjust the valves or they will be off when you finish. I usually use a feeler guage and adjust untill i can't get the guage out...and the loosen untill i feel just a slight resistance on the feeler guages. {usually about a half turn or so. Good luck.