Hello, I purchased a b20z swap and when I went to do a valve adjustment I noticed they were all extremely over tightened. I was chasing a very light misfire. After doing 2 valve adjustments I noticed a super loud ticking sound and the misfire is still there but it’s gotten better.

My question is; did I mess up the valve adjustment twice (very likely possible) or could I be dealing with a bigger problem:

Could I have a bent or burnt valve? Is it possible to overtighten your valves to hide a bent or burnt valve? I’m going to be doing a compression leak down test but I just want a little peace of mind before I go and do it.

I have done almost everything to solve my misfire problem. Any vacuum is good, my spark is good, my valve timing is good, and my fuel is good. I haven’t checked ignition timing yet and that could very well be the solution to my misfire problem.

Im more worried about the bent valve, any input is helpful. The ticking sounds like it’s consistent across all of the cylinders and isn’t just one valve slapping around but it’s rotating super fast so I don’t know if I would even be able to hear something like that.

 

valve lash that is too tight (lower than spec clearance) could in theory keep the valve slightly open and off the seat at operating temp. This could burn valves for sure. I would think piston-valve contact is pretty unlikely just from the adjustment unless non-stock, high lift cams had been installed without adjusting the lash.