Valve adjustment report...
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Joined: Dec 2003
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From: Linden, VA (West by God)
Since I'm not going to be able to make the valve adjustment meet, I went ahead and did it myself this morning.
The car was completely cold, having sat overnight. I was a little leary about heading all the way to quantico to do this since the adjustment should be done when cylinder head temps are less than 100F.
Anyway, everything went fine. Getting the valve cover off is the usual pain, but once it's off, things aren't too bad.
As for adjusting the valves, I found the best way to go was to make small adjustments, re-torque to 14 ft/lbs, then re-measure the clearance. Attempting to make small adjustments without the locknut properly torqued always resulted in a clearance change after re-torqueing.
For reference, my car has 62k miles on it. There actually weren't many valves out of spec. A couple too tight on the exhaust side, and one or two too loose on the intake side. I decided I'd adjust the exhaust side to a comfortable .010 (aka a very tight .011), and the intake side to a very snug .009. Like I said, aside from a few valves, there weren't many that were off this mark.
Oh, and starting from cylinder 1 TDC, I found it much easier to work through the firing order (1,3,4,2) by turning the crank and watching the cam lobes to judge when the next cylinder had reached TDC (the cam lobes will be at 11 and 1 o'clock for the cylinder at TDC). Trying to turn the crank and watch the cams and judge when you'd gone 90deg was a pain.
Anyway, the car runs well. The valvetrain noise that prompted me to do this in the first place is still there, which leads me to conclude it's just the usual noisy valvetrain that everyone else has (I've never heard another S before).
Took me about 3 hours start to finish, including a test drive and cleanup.
Oh, and I forgot to mention. I replaced my valve cover gasket and the top 5 holddown gaskets. Mine were pretty hardened, which reduces their ability to seal well. I left the spark plug gaskets alone, since they seemed fine.
The car was completely cold, having sat overnight. I was a little leary about heading all the way to quantico to do this since the adjustment should be done when cylinder head temps are less than 100F.
Anyway, everything went fine. Getting the valve cover off is the usual pain, but once it's off, things aren't too bad.
As for adjusting the valves, I found the best way to go was to make small adjustments, re-torque to 14 ft/lbs, then re-measure the clearance. Attempting to make small adjustments without the locknut properly torqued always resulted in a clearance change after re-torqueing.
For reference, my car has 62k miles on it. There actually weren't many valves out of spec. A couple too tight on the exhaust side, and one or two too loose on the intake side. I decided I'd adjust the exhaust side to a comfortable .010 (aka a very tight .011), and the intake side to a very snug .009. Like I said, aside from a few valves, there weren't many that were off this mark.
Oh, and starting from cylinder 1 TDC, I found it much easier to work through the firing order (1,3,4,2) by turning the crank and watching the cam lobes to judge when the next cylinder had reached TDC (the cam lobes will be at 11 and 1 o'clock for the cylinder at TDC). Trying to turn the crank and watch the cams and judge when you'd gone 90deg was a pain.
Anyway, the car runs well. The valvetrain noise that prompted me to do this in the first place is still there, which leads me to conclude it's just the usual noisy valvetrain that everyone else has (I've never heard another S before).
Took me about 3 hours start to finish, including a test drive and cleanup.
Oh, and I forgot to mention. I replaced my valve cover gasket and the top 5 holddown gaskets. Mine were pretty hardened, which reduces their ability to seal well. I left the spark plug gaskets alone, since they seemed fine.
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 48,203
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From: Lewisville, TX
Did mine as well today to familarize myself with the procedure before next Sunday! 
I ran down to Richmond at 80-95 mph. The engine was plenty cool in about an hour. We removed the valve cover immediately to help dissipate heat. Not sure that really helped, but it made me feel better. 
34k miles... none of my valves were tight. I actually gapped intakes closer to .008 and exhausts closer to .010. A couple of exhaust valves were fine. The part that took me the longest was getting a feel for a properly adjusted valve. Once that came around, I was in like Flynn!
The backs of my knees are sore from the over extension(I'm old!!! 
).
Great sense of accomplishment is mine!
I had never adjusted any vlaves, unless they were attached to a keg tap. Very simple procedure, but does require a little patience. I do have subscibe to the notion "Oh, that's good enough." Another lesson learned, don't loosen the retaining nut BEFORE checking the gap. 
it could save you a couple of valves being adjusted.
Heffergm- glad all went well! I drove back to Fredericksburg at speeds similar to the trip down. Can't say I gained any power or reduced any sound. I can tell you that I know my valves are better adjusted and I had no leftover parts!!!
I ran down to Richmond at 80-95 mph. The engine was plenty cool in about an hour. We removed the valve cover immediately to help dissipate heat. Not sure that really helped, but it made me feel better. 34k miles... none of my valves were tight. I actually gapped intakes closer to .008 and exhausts closer to .010. A couple of exhaust valves were fine. The part that took me the longest was getting a feel for a properly adjusted valve. Once that came around, I was in like Flynn!
The backs of my knees are sore from the over extension(I'm old!!! ).Great sense of accomplishment is mine!
I had never adjusted any vlaves, unless they were attached to a keg tap. Very simple procedure, but does require a little patience. I do have subscibe to the notion "Oh, that's good enough." Another lesson learned, don't loosen the retaining nut BEFORE checking the gap. it could save you a couple of valves being adjusted.Heffergm- glad all went well!
I drove back to Fredericksburg at speeds similar to the trip down. Can't say I gained any power or reduced any sound. I can tell you that I know my valves are better adjusted and I had no leftover parts!!!
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 48,203
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From: Lewisville, TX
Almost forgot. Aaw Dude brought over his specialized tool and manual. I like having directions in print. After TDC, the manual said rotate the crank 180*. My crank pulley has a notch for TDC and there is another mark 180* out. VERY helpful.
I like having directions in print. After TDC, the manual said rotate the crank 180*. My crank pulley has a notch for TDC and there is another mark 180* out. VERY helpful.
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From: Linden, VA (West by God)
Originally posted by sickestS2k00
so what is the feeling of doing this? does the car feel faster? more responsive? thanks
so what is the feeling of doing this? does the car feel faster? more responsive? thanks
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From: VA is for hustlaz
i get very anal retentative when working on my car and end up rechecking everything at least 3 times before i put it all back together. a simple valve adjustmnet could probably take up to 3 hours for me.