Any measureable effect to loose intake valves? '04 x 225's

[btravlin2]

I finished the RingFree decarb yesterday before the adjustment today.

These motors have approx 850 hrs on them, and I have no way to know if the valves have ever been adjusted. Maybe, maybe not.

I've only finished adjusting the valves on one motor. I'm not entirely slow, and yet it still took me 8 hrs to do it. There is just a lot of "stuff" that has to come off to get to them, and then put back together. I can't believe it's gonna take me 16 hrs to do both motors!? Then again, while I was in there, I replaced all 6 spark plug tube seals, since one was leaking. That took some time.

The results: every intake valve was loose. Every exhaust valve was perfect.

The intake range is 0.20-0.24mm, and the exhaust is 0.28-0.32mm. I'd say the intakes were around 0.26mm initially. I took them down to 0.21-0.22mm.

Something else I noticed: the torque required to loosen the adjustment lock nuts was 25 ft lbs. The manual calls for tightening them to 14 ft lbs. That seems strange to me, but I did it by the book.

Would there be any expectation to see increased compression and/or fuel economy after this adjustment? I don't have a before/after to compare. Just wondering.....

 

[jgmo]

It's hard to guess whether or not you will "feel" any improvement but you certainly might. 2mm outside of spec on the loose side of the spectrum is not going to make as much difference to the engine's efficiency as it would have if they were 2mm tight. A rule of thumb that's taught in many mechanic's courses is; "if you're going to err when adjusting the valves, it's better to set them too loose than too tight.

Even so, the difference in performance WILL be there even if it's only detected when doing dynamometer comparison. So, getting them "snugged up" is a good thing and will make a positive difference..

Having the jam nuts on the adjuster be slightly *seized" is normal and you did good sticking to the torgue spec when tightening them back up.

Good luck with the other engine and you will likely find it goes a bit quicker now that you have some real experience.

 

[johnnygjr]

The labor rate where i live is 138$$ per hour so you owe yourself 1124 dollars.btravlin good luck with other engine and happy motoring!! More gas money??