bauerjab

I am planning to adjust the valves myself on my 87 911. This is the first time I will be attempting this. (I already perform all of the brake and suspension work.) I have a lift at home.

Can I do any damage if I don't do it properly?

Is there anything I should be particularly careful about?

Thanks in advance.

John

Crimson Nape Racing

this sounds simple - but it's not! I had the right tools and the engine was out of the car and I too do all the other work on my cars (from brakes to engine swaps). I took it in to have it checked as a precaution since it was my first try. I asked the mechanic about the valves (w/o telling him I just did it), he said whoever did the last adjustment had no idea what they were doing, some were too loose and some were too tight. That was the last ime I ever did it myself.

mamoroso

I did it as well.... I checked it 4 times... It took me 2 whole days. I followd 101 projects and the Bentley manual. I have heard it's better to have them a little loose than too tight. My mechanic checked them afterwards and he said they were certainly on the wide side.... but still ok.
Have patience. You'll get frustrated... Plan on having another mean of transportation if it ends up taking too long.
Good luck!

PS
Do a search on the board as the subject has been covered many times

der Mond

Matteo - I am a new member - I looked through all 8 pages on the 911 list and didn't see another thread regarding valve adjustments. Is there another way to do a "search on the board"?
Thanks,
der Mond

fixnprsh

its not too bad unless its a turbo, becareful with the feeler blade becaused they break sometimes, in a very hard area to get the piece out of, better on the loose side then too tight, .004" (i use .006" on some hot cammed cars) and just follow the firing order from top dead on #1 (closest to you on the left side as you look at the motor) then turn crank 120 degrees (there should be a little notch to indicate 120 degrees) to #6 tdc then 120 to#2,4,3,5 just buy the gasket set and have a manual and some patience but they get eaiser every time you do it, and it saves you a ton of money + you get to bond with your car.

spaceman

der Mond there is a search function built into the header. Try that.

mschafer71

Be patient and take your time. Start with the exhaust valves as they are very accessible on the passenger side but somewhat blocked by exhaust system on the driver's side. I would recommend removing the components of the exhaust system that are blocking but this alone could take considerable time depending on the condition of the hardware holding everything together. I took out my cat to replace with a by-pass pipe so now my bolts and nuts are new and the next valve adjustment will be very quick. Some of the exhaust nuts were so horribly corroded that the dremel tool was the only way to get them off (they were round and "welded" to the bolts!) . After the prep work for the exhaust valves it is pretty straight forward, turn the 24mm bolt on the fan pulley to spin the engine thru its firing order and check each valve several times. Make sure you understand that two revolutions of the crank are required to put each of the six cylinders in TDC position. The ideal gap of .004" is adjusted by fairly small turns of the adjusting screw. If you were to turn the adjusting screw a 1/4 turn it would effectively close the gap by .004". I found that just a turn of the adjuster bolt from say 3 o'clock position to 4 o'clock position would be too tight and a corresponding 2 o'clock position would be too sloppy. It is a narrow range that the adjuster screw goes thru to be properly gapped. Basically "one hour" of turn on the adjuster screw will change the gap by about .0013". Now the hard part for me was the tight area you have to work with when you go up top to attack the intake valves. It is very tight and you will have to work by touch/feel sometimes. The #2 and #5 intake valves were the tightest areas for just maneuvering the adjuster tool into position. I spent probably three times as long doing the intakes as the exhaust. I checked each valve four times and still had to go back after I ran the car to redo one that was too loose/noisy (it was # 1 intake, .0053" just "one hour" of a turn off on the adjuster screw but it was evident to my ears that it was wrong). I would leave the plugs in while doing the valves but after you are done with the gaps remove and check the plugs since they are more accessible now with some of the blocking components moved. I cleaned up the valve covers very carefully and they looked brand new before they went back on. Just don't rush it! Be meticulous and precise because its .004" you're after.

bauerjab

Mschafer71

Thanks for the detailed response.

John