valve essentric adjustment issues

[Kozworth]

Last night I was following the pellican valve adjustment diy but ran into an issue.

On the first cylinder intake valve I have it so the valve rocker is open or tdc. The small hole on the eccentric seemed to shift where it meets the spring. I had loosened the bolt and when I tried to move it it nearly broke my allen key. It doesn't move then moves a ton. Its basically in an unreachable place, and I wasn't sure what to do.

Also, I wasn't sure where to place the feeler gauge. I tried where the picture showed on a .025 it wouldn't fit so I tried a smaller one and no cigar

[Ceeker]

the eccentric is like an oval shape. This allows the gap to decrease or increase between the rocker and valve head. if you have the cyl at TDC you should be able to rotate the eccentric easily-TOWARDS you. first make the eccentric loose. then slip the feeler gauge under. rotate the eccentric with your allen key until you feel drag some drag but not tooo much on the feeler gauge. Then keeping the allen key steady, tighten the 10mm nut down. your done. on a cold engine it says - 0.010 inches.

If you cant get to the eccentric due to the reason you are saying manually crank the motor over slightly. you may not have it completely at TDC.

[Kozworth]

After I loosened the 10mm bolt, the eccentric hardly moved. I basically had to force it. Say the hole is up top normally, its now down by where the valve springs are. I have no way to move it since I cannot reach ghe hole. I also looked up where the feeler gauge goes, I do not even see a gap. I tried multiple times last night, maybe I just need another set of eyes

[jlevie]

It sounds to me like you don't have that cylinder at TDC on the compression stroke. Look at the cam lobes. When the cylinder is at TDC on the compression stroke the cam lobes will be pointing down.

[Kozworth]

Its tdc on compression? I thought it would be intake. Ill double check that.

Another question; any issue with just rotating the crank by hand? On the sites I read they put the car in 5th and pushed to get tdc

[paperplane94]

It doesn't matter how you get to TDC, just get there somehow(rotate crank, push manual around, starter pins in the diagnostic port, whatever!)

Just make sure, when you remove the valve cover look at the camshaft running through the middle. It has these things called lobes.

When you look at the two lobes for the cylinder you are adjusting they must be pointing downward.

THAT MEANS, the lobes on the cam must NOT be touching the face of the rocker arm at all, they should be pointing down and the valve springs should not be compressed at ALL. That goes for both intake and exhaust valves.



When you loosen the eccentric nut there should be little to NO resistance when moving the eccentric with an Allen key. If there is lots of resistance, the cam lobes are touching the rocker arms, so turn them away!


Also, if you turn the crank by hand you can remove the spark plugs to get it to turn easier (releases the compression from cylinders).

[Kozworth]

Thank you that was super helpful. I just don't really understand the tdc however. Since the cam moves once as the crank moves 2 times.. would I just go to the valve I want to adjust (ex. Cyl 1 intake) and set the lobe facing down?

Also, im getting mixed feeler gauge sizes.. I've heard .030 when warm, .025 when cold, even. 01.

[paperplane94]

Don't worry about moving the cam a certain number of degrees or revs or any of that bull. Just make sure the lobes for the cylinder you are adjusting are pointed down(its possible for both cam lobes to not touch both rockers for that cylinder, both intake and exhaust).
All in all, just make sure the lobes are not touching the rockers.

That's:

.25 MM when cold
.30 MM when warm

in American units thats:

.010 thousandths of an inch when cold
.012 thousandths of an inch when warm

Don't worry about adjusting it when warm. Just do it when the engine is cold like in the morning before you drive it or something like that. Warm adjusting is for pros only.


ALSO:
Follow this tutorial to a T:

http://www.bmwe34.net/E34main/Maintenance/Engine/valve_adjust.htm

and see this video:
clicky

[Kozworth]

Ok finished it last night. Thanks again man

[priapism]

Is there a way to turn the motor to TDC that's easier than pushing the car while it's in gear?

[dnguyen1963]

Is there a way to turn the motor to TDC that's easier than pushing the car while it's in gear?

Yes, put the car in fifth gear. Remove all spark plugs. Jack up the driver side rear tire. Put a piece of tape on the bottom tire wall to mark a location. This helps keeping track of how many rotation you have made (the next cylinder will require the same number of rotations). You can then rotate the tire to locate TDC. Bavauto sells a cheap device (part # 9710) that would stop whistling when TDC is found.

[paperplane94]

Yes, put the car in fifth gear. Remove all spark plugs. Jack up the driver side rear tire. Put a piece of tape on the bottom tire wall to mark a location. This helps keeping track of how many rotation you have made (the next cylinder will require the same number of rotations). You can then rotate the tire to locate TDC. Bavauto sells a cheap device (part # 9710) that would stop whistling when TDC is found.

An even easier way:

If you have a later model with the diagnostic connector you can short pins 11 and 14 together. This will turn on the starter so you can bump the engine into place.

Do this at your own risk though, if you get the wrong pins you may fry something important. best to look up a diagram of the diagnostic connector online. You can also include a fuse and a pushbutton in the wire you use to short the pins for added safety.

Push-button starter FTW!

[dnguyen1963]

An even easier way:

If you have a later model with the diagnostic connector you can short pins 11 and 14 together. This will turn on the starter so you can bump the engine into place.

Do this at your own risk though, if you get the wrong pins you may fry something important. best to look up a diagram of the diagnostic connector online. You can also include a fuse and a pushbutton in the wire you use to short the pins for added safety.

Push-button starter FTW!

It's a dime vs a dozen. By rotating the tire, I can move the camshaft precisely without worrying about frying my electronics. It is actually really easy to do it this way. And if you use the gadget from Bavauto, it takes only a few seconds to find TDC.

[delatlanta1281]

I just put the car in nuetral, take off the fan and rotate the crank pully. How is that hard?

[Ceeker]

it's not hard..it's just a pain for guys who don't want to climb under to rotate the crank. lol since you are doing 12 valves that's 12 times going under unless you have a buddy helping. :-) you also want to remove the spark plugs to take the compression off the motor so you can turn it easier.
but if you remove the fan you'll have access to the crank bolt from above.
however, it's whichever method you prefer.