okay, i did the adjustment per what the manual said and it sounds even worse. a few things i could have done wrong is maybe my idea of a "little drag" on the feeler gauge is wrong? is there anything else i might be missing?

 

also, i messed with it a little more and a few of the rocker arms feel like they have some play. does that mean i need to replace my springs?

 

you probably did it wrong. did you do it in the right order?

 

You most likely adjusted the valves to the wrong spec. There's two numbers on the gauge make sure you use the right one. How do I know? I've done it too.

 

yeah i did it 1-3-4-2. thats the order it said to do it in the manual. and the specs on the feeler gauge was .008 inches for the intake, and .009 for the exhaust. thats the only feeler gauges i have that fit the specs in the manual. it says .007-.009 for intake and .009-.011 for the exhaust so i used the ones closest to that.

 

did you turn it over by hand to TDC for each cylinder? the rockers shouldn't really be loose. each cylinder must be at TDC for that cylinder before you adjust, not just #1

 

yeah i turned the crank till the rotor on the distributor was pointing to plug 1 then turned it to the next mark and saw the rotor was pointing to three etc. and even at TDC the rockers felt like they had some play.

 

can anyone think of anything else, i did do it by hand while watching the dist rotor. and i did it in the right order and i used the right specs.... why does it feel like my rockers have play still? is there anything else that could cause the tap, ie. piston slap or something?

 

i would pull the valve cover and double check your valve clearances. also check your timing belt, you may be off a tooth. try pulling the spark plugs and using a piece of wire in the hole to verify the exact TDC when you do each cylinder's valves. if memory serves, when the valves are adjusted right the rockers will not be loose

 

Did you adjust the valves at TDC on the COMPRESSION stroke?

 

okay i will double check. i did pull the plugs and put a long screwdriver in there to watch it raise up on the top of the stroke. So pretty much before i adjusted them, i looked at the pulley, and the dist rotor to make sure it was on the right cylinder, and i did them in the order of 1342. so i looked at those three things while i did it in that order and i used a .007 in feeler gauge for the intake and a .009 in for the exhaust.

 

if by top of compression stroke you mean the timing pulley was at the tdc mark for the respective cylinder, and the dist rotor was pointed to the right cylinder, and the screwdriver in the cylinder was raised up all the way then yes. and i did it in the order of 1342.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by weaslehunter1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if by top of compression stroke you mean the timing pulley was at the tdc mark for the respective cylinder, and the dist rotor was pointed to the right cylinder, and the screwdriver in the cylinder was raised up all the way then yes. and i did it in the order of 1342.</TD></TR></TABLE>

He means there are two points when a 4 stroke engine will have the piston at TDC - the compression and exhaust (but you get that).

 

okay cool, yeah i mean i did this before when i was 16 and it worked fine i am just doubting myself cause its been a while. and obviously somethings wrong if i did everything right and its still tapping.

 

The mark on the pulley will show when #1 is at TDC on both compression and the exhaust stroke. I pull the plug out and jam my thumb into the spark plug hole while I turn the crank pulley. When I feel my thumb being pushed out of the hole, it know I'm on the compression stroke. From there I use the long screwdriver trick. I actually did this last week.

Quick instructions:
Pull the valve cover and plugs, set #1 to TDC (on compression stroke!). Loosen the adjuster nut and turn the adjuster screw until the right size feeler gauge has a slight drag between the cam lobe and the thing that it pushes. Tighten nut and recheck clearance. After that, turn the crank 180 degrees counterclockwise to bring #3 to TDC. Repeat adjustments on #3. Turn crank 180 CC to bring #4 to TDC. repeat adjustments on #4. Turn crank 180 to bring #2 to TDC. Repeat adjustments on #2. Replace valve cover and use dots of gasket sealer on the 4 corners around the cam areas to keep out oil leaks. You're finished!


Modified by D50boy at 9:56 PM 7/16/2008

 

Quit using the popsickle stick to adjust your valves.

But really sounds like it was done right you just used the wrong thickness feeler gauge. I still stand by it. Just make sure you are reading the right set of numbers. Its a common mistake.

Also make sure that the car is stone cold when you readjust them.

 

you HAVE to pull off the timing belt cover ,check the crank marks and then adjust the valves if you don't you're running blind

it goes crank tdc/cam mark on top #1 turn crank 90 degrees #3 turn crank 90 degrees again #4 then 90 degrees again #2

 

Thanks for all your help guys but if you read previously on this thread, i did all the stuff you all are mentioning. The only thing i can think of is maybe since i had a little bit of a hard time to get the feeler gauge back on some of the intake valves maybe i didnt have an accurate feeling of "slight drag"