olie05 Posted January 1, 2005 Share Posted January 1, 2005 hello everyone, My valves started ticking today as i was driving, so I went home and after taking off the valve cover noticed that the locknut for one of the valves had become loose. I could actualy move the locknut by hand. Anyways, I got to adjusting the valves, and I did a half-ass adjustment where i checked which ones REALY needed to be adjusted and adjusted those. (I was already late for a dinner so i did it as quickly as i could) Well, when i went to start the car i got an 800rpm start up and then the engine just died. I ended up raising the idle adjust screw until it would stay alive but it felt like it was misfiring slightly. The loose valve was only opening about 3/4 of the way it should have, when I adjusted it to full operation should the idle have gone down like it did? I thought it should have gone up, cus there was more air flowing out of the cylinder, less restriction. (right?) When i wake up I will just thoroughly adjust all the valves and hope it fixes everything, but does anyone have any thoughts on why the car would miss and die after i first adjusted the valve? Thanks, -Oliver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Magnum Rockwilder Posted January 1, 2005 Share Posted January 1, 2005 You can burn valves if they're too tight and don't close all the way, and you can bend or break the heads off them if they're too loose and slam shut too hard. Adjust them to spec and do a compression check. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrayZee Posted January 1, 2005 Share Posted January 1, 2005 Sounds to me that you adjusted them but didn't do it properly. Adjusting valves is not that easy, it is something that takes practice to get them just right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ON3GO Posted January 1, 2005 Share Posted January 1, 2005 olie call me about junkyard today, i lost your number.. mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimZ Posted January 1, 2005 Share Posted January 1, 2005 Maybe a dumb question, but are you sure that it's not just a vacuum leak/loose plug wire/etc, from pulling the valve cover for the adjustment? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olie05 Posted January 2, 2005 Author Share Posted January 2, 2005 Maybe a dumb question, but are you sure that it's not just a vacuum leak/loose plug wire/etc, from pulling the valve cover for the adjustment? BINGO! I went to adjust the valves yesterday, and as soon as I took the valve cover off noticed my headlight wiring to the left headlight was flat because it was pinched under the valve cover. As soon as i fixed that the car fired right up with absolutely no problems! While I was in there I checked valve clearances and everything was ok but my valves still tick a little. Maybe i'll do a REAL valve adjust in another 6000 miles... -Oliver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimZ Posted January 2, 2005 Share Posted January 2, 2005 Glad to hear it. I don't know how many times I've gone down all kinds of exotic diagnostic paths when the real problem was something very simple. Sometimes it's really hard to remember to start with the simple stuff first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2126 Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 Olie05, So, don't forget to fix your pinched headlight wiring or you may just wind up with the same problem later on, at a most inopertune time!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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