Series 3 2.25 Petrol Valve Adjustment - Great improvement!

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Longstride

Longstride

Active Member
Posts
120
Location
Hampshire
Hi all,

Half question, half story.... today I adjusted my valves for the FIRST TIME EVER! I know I know, I'm a bad landy owner, but I figured it was a really difficult thing to do, however after my S3 Lightweight started feeling a bit sloppy on the power front and rev curv, I figured I'd try to do the values. Glad I did.

Very easy to do, just remove the air pipe and breather pipe etc, and three nuts on top of rocker cover and then a spanner, screw driver and a feeler gauge. All my tappets were pretty gappy, so I tightened them and the bag of nails rattle from engine was solved and the lightweight feels like a sportscar (comparatively speaking!).

Well worth doing!

Now the question.... I recently had a couple failed starters, but after doing the valves the starter and fireup seems much improved. Could poorly set valve timing have caused premature failure of the starters or is this just coincidence?

Ta!
 
Longstride said:
Hi all,

Half question, half story.... today I adjusted my valves for the FIRST TIME EVER! I know I know, I'm a bad landy owner, but I figured it was a really difficult thing to do, however after my S3 Lightweight started feeling a bit sloppy on the power front and rev curv, I figured I'd try to do the values. Glad I did.

Very easy to do, just remove the air pipe and breather pipe etc, and three nuts on top of rocker cover and then a spanner, screw driver and a feeler gauge. All my tappets were pretty gappy, so I tightened them and the bag of nails rattle from engine was solved and the lightweight feels like a sportscar (comparatively speaking!).

Well worth doing!

Now the question.... I recently had a couple failed starters, but after doing the valves the starter and fireup seems much improved. Could poorly set valve timing have caused premature failure of the starters or is this just coincidence?

Ta!
Click to expand...
improved timing and compression and so starting
 
I would have thought for the tappet gaps to be so far out it caused a starter motor to fail, the engine would hardly start and run at all. Modern replacement starter motors are rubbish compared to the original equipment ones of yesteryear and they just fail because of that. Badly set tappets would put a little extra strain on a starter motor but not that much in my opinion.

Col
 
I can beat that for not adjusting the valve clearance----I have a slight tap on one of my rockers- it isn't on a landy though, my 1966 Volvo amazon- I built the engine in 1996 - and HAVE NOT ADJUSTED the valve clearances yet- I change oil- not engines...
 
Thanks, Longstride, for your inspiration.
I ordered a new valve cover gasket, and have it sitting ready. I also bought the feeler gauges. I'm a bit nervous about doing this too, so I understand where you were at. I've never done it before, and I've watched a few videos on how to do it, so I feel somewhat confident.

Can anyone tell me what kind of sealant I need to use for the gasket? It is a cork gasket that actually has a peel-off plastic which will uncover some kind of adhesive already on the gasket. Do I need anything else?

Thanks!
Mike
 
ObiWanKenobi said:
Thanks, James -
When you say rocker box, do you mean the valve cover or the actual top of the engine block?
Sorry - just learning some of the terms...

Mike
Click to expand...
My own cork gasket had only recently been replaced, so I carefully removed rocker cover with gasket attached and then replaced it again without changing.

When retightening the rocker cover bolts after doing the adjustment I did each one up a bit at a time. Hope that helps?
 
Rockers is a term for the lever between the pushrods and valve stems, as if you watch them in action thats what they do.
Tappets is the face of the lever that hits the valve , ie it goes tap tap tap against the valve.
The tappet face gets worn and a tappet may still be noisy if even if set correctly under those circumstances.
 
Re rocker box or rocker cover, its the top cover only usually held on with only a few bolts. These only keep dirt out and oil in so they should not be tightened much but they usually get over tightened then bend then leak then get tightened more bend more and leak more, you get the idea. The right way is to get the joint face on the rocker cover as flat as you can, gentle sanding on a sheet of glass, gentle tapping with hammer, then stick the gasket to the cover with sealant, lightly grease the other side and put in on just a little over hand tight. If that seals youre on a winner, if not then one more tweek or you are back where you started. The reality is that 40-50 years on the chances of a flat rocker cover are slim.
 
Just took the old girl for a proper long drive since I did the valvé clearances! Gosh how sweet she sounds!!!! Smooth, no rattles, just a happy whine from gear box as she whooshed along some cracking A roads! I think I got her up to 65 at one point!!! At which point I bricked it as lightweight steering is a bit “drifty”.

I’m going to do valves on all my vehicles now!!!
 
Good point! It’s actually pretty decent steering, just at 65mph and old series needs constant steering finesse!

You’ve judged me to check steering box and relay oils now! Hope they actually have some!
 
The steering on my lwb is much better than when I first bought it but still terrible compared to a modern car. I can't imagine 65 mph in a series mines bad enough at 55

Col
 
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