how easy is it to bend a valve?

[der affe]

so i just finished up doikng a timing belt and water pump on my 325i. i turned it over by hand 10x no binding, just a little resistance on the comp stroke, everthing lined up timing mark wise except that the cam timing mark was 1/4-1/2 a tooth off and the p/o had scribbed a new mark that ligned up exactly. that lead me to believe that the head had been milled, fine it rolls over fine by hand.

i just started it up and it is making a nasty valve train noise. FUCK!

the thing rolled over by hand fine!

i am going to try adjusting the valves just to see.

could i have bent the valves turning it over by hand the first time? it is not like i forced it at any point and it is not my first time doing a timing belt so i know what it would feel like binding.

WTF???

[Mike325]

I could not see you bending a valve by hand. You would have noticed it the first full rotation. Was the first rotation by hand any harder than the other ones? How fast were you turning the engine over by hand?

[der affe]

not very fast by hand. i even turned it BOTH directions for 4 complete cycles not issue.

i just had a friend come over an turn it over by hand with the valve cover off and spark plugs out and it seems to be the #5 exhaust valve that is hitting when you turn it over by hand it will stop there.

the motor is a SETA 2.7i with a dbilas 292* cam , the head is actually a 731 head that has had "i" valves and seats put in it without the ports being completely blended (weird i know) so it had the std seta comp. ratio.

it did not move time at all while the belt was off or after i put it on. the only weird thing was that the cam timing was between 1/4- 1/2 a tooth off from the orginal timing mark, but it ligned up with a mark that had been made in the cam gear exactly. that lead me to believe that the head had been milled. moving the timing mark just slightly over clockwise.

any other ideas?

i am going to try to re check the timing in the morning and figure out what is going on

it RUNS and idles strong, just with the noise, so it is not acting like a car with bent valves from my experence.

my problem is this is not a stock set up so the rules are kind of different now.

[e30rapidic]

easy - its called replace!!

[der affe]

that is what i am hoping not to do tomarrow will tell me what i am going to end up doing.

[z31maniac]

Ugh, that sounds shittay!

[der affe]

tell me about it! just when i start spending $ on the car again. collecting parts for a new motor, building bi-xenon lights, remote oil filter and system1, wideband and MS, RX-& oil cooler adding the ix stuff and getting it ready to paint. you'd think the car gods would be happy with that???

i am hoping that i didn't bend exhaust valve and i can get it sorted without removing the head. it is still weird that it is only 1 valve hitting.

[b*saint]

With a hammer??? Pretty fast.

[der affe]

Fixed!!!!

so it appears the the PO had done some creative cam timing with his own timing mark.

i took the belt off, and turned the cam gear to TDC along with the crank timing mark, set everything back to zero, then reinstalled the belt with the stock timing marks and adjusted the valves (it was due for that). it runs WAY better, more low end, not so rich at idle.
it is a little advanced now without being retarded like it was before, since the head has been milled. way better all around. now i just need to retune it to run without being 1 tooth off. no valve or piston damage.

[parkerbink]

Good deal!

Congrats!

[nickflic3]

it is a little advanced now without being retarded like it was before...

haha

Glad you got it fixed ;)