m20 loose rocker arm?

[karussell]

hey guys my e30 tick has turned into a full out rattle. i check all the valves and they were all in spec except for exhaust valve on cylinder one. it was just slightly too much gap. are the rocker arms supposed to be this loose when fully tightened or is it time for new ones? bought the car with unknown history 5 years ago. haven't really driven it much over the past 3 years. engine idles fine. it has 180k miles on it. thanks.

https://youtu.be/ov7vTslGbAs

[cheffy30]

drive the car more...

[TobyB]

well, yes, there is supposed to be some lash.

Are you saying you can't
adjust the valve to the (0.010"?) gap at the
stem that it's supposed to have?

Many of us have had luck tightening the lash a thou or 2.
Not too much more, tho.
t

[digger]

They are supposed to be 0.25mm loose.... shouldn't be loose on the shaft though.

Some say the stem can get a concave dish so the feeler gauge gives false reading and so they check at the cam lobe to foot adjusting to thinner feeler gauge. I've not seen any really worn valves with such a dish even when the lobe is fubar