hey guys,
a few questions about adjusting valves.
i was talking with a friend of mine whos fairly knowledgable about engines and cars in general, but basically has never worked on imports.
we got to talking about valve adjustments, and he suggested some things that i never considered.
he says that on alot of the race cars hes worked on they adjust the valves with the piston at the bottom and not the top, so the valve springs are relaxed/uncompressed.
also, they often do the adjustment with the engine running so the adjustment represents what your getting under a load.
my question is, are the suggested settings (6-7,7-8) alread taking all of those factors into account?
or is there tweaking to be done here?
thanks for any input!

aet

 

I on an old V8 you adjust the lash with the covers off. Remeber that they have a cam down by the crank. These motors have 2 cams overhead spinning at 800 rpm will make a mess.....think about it.

 

Not to mention you are saying completely opposite things.. First, adjusting them with the pistons at BDC, and then while the car is on? Your mechanic should stay away from imports.

 

Actually, he was making two different suggestions.
1 was that there might be some benefit to adjusting at bdc, this is an unknown to me, hence me asking.
2 adjusting with engine running, also an unknown to me.

For the record, I plan on doing it the recommended way.
I was just curious, like I mentioned above, wether there was room for improvement with the method.

aet

 

Use a factory manual. Don't forget to get that lash adjuster tool from Honda ($42). I'm sure Snap-on or somebody makes something similar as well. I got feeler gauges from a machine shop and bent them to get at the lash pad and cam better. It would be impossible to adjust the valves while running, btw. Make sure you trust your help. Good luck.

 

yes get the snap on tool. it will save you a lot of time!