Help: Valve Adjustment Gone Wrong

[ifinallyhaveane30]

Hello everyone. I completed my fourth valve adjustment on my e30. I am having trouble getting the correct "pull" or "resistance" on the .10 feeler gauge when adjusting the gap between the eccentric and the valve. Does anyone have any advice? I adjusted my valves about 500 miles ago and was unhappy with a few of the valves ticking noticeably louder than the rest. I went in to adjust them all again, and seemed to mess things up even more.

Thanks!

[arrisbmw]

did you clean out the spray bar that lubricates them. I understand that is the weak, link top end lub on these engines .

[ifinallyhaveane30]

did you clean out the spray bar that lubricates them. I understand that is the weak, link top end lub on these engines .

i did not nor was i aware of such a step.

[Steve]

I gather you meant .010 and not .10 ?

[paultv]

BMW make a tool which has a pin to go into the eccentric and a spring on the end, this means as you bend the spring, it applies a pretty constant pressure to the valve/eccentric face as you tighten up the clamp nut with the feeler gauge in place - once the nut is tight, pulling out the feeler should have the right " friction" feeling, neither too tight nor too loose.

I made a rough copy out of a bent nail and a spring, it works really well, the spring is pretty weak, so bending it about 45 degrees gives the right pressure to the valve/eccentric/feeler gauge faces.

Paul

[HJ1981]

BMW make a tool which has a pin to go into the eccentric and a spring on the end, this means as you bend the spring, it applies a pretty constant pressure to the valve/eccentric face as you tighten up the clamp nut with the feeler gauge in place - once the nut is tight, pulling out the feeler should have the right " friction" feeling, neither too tight nor too loose.

I made a rough copy out of a bent nail and a spring, it works really well, the spring is pretty weak, so bending it about 45 degrees gives the right pressure to the valve/eccentric/feeler gauge faces.

Paul :-)20190710_113504.jpg

I have been searching everywhere for that tool, out of stock or no longer available keeps turning up.

OP: The valves are very "loose", these M20s like "tight" valve clearances. I myself did the valves 3 times, and each time i made the clearance tighter, from sliding the feeler gauge "comfortably" between the valve to "snug" and slightly catching. Till now the valves in my M20 are ticking a bit, and i know that they should be nice and "tight", to the point that the 0.025mm feeler gauge is barely able to get clearance.

That is what i am about to do tomorrow at least.

Regarding cleaning that tube, i never came across that information be it in any manual or on the forums.

[Steve]

Don't forget to check out the E30 Wiki guide - https://www.e30zone.net/e30wiki/index.p ... M20_engine

[paultv]

You may also have pitted eccentrics - worn from years of use, so they have a "cup" indent from the valve stem top, which you "bridge" with the feeler gauge, so the gap, although correct, isn't, it's wider.

I set mine at the cam lobes, I used a 7 thou feeler which approxiamtes to a 9.8 thou gap at the valve ( rocker ratio applies here ) I have a new camshaft and eccentrics, the car is pretty quiet, but there's always one "ticker" !!

Paul

[ifinallyhaveane30]

I gather you meant .010 and not .10 ?

Sure did, whoops!

[ifinallyhaveane30]

BMW make a tool which has a pin to go into the eccentric and a spring on the end, this means as you bend the spring, it applies a pretty constant pressure to the valve/eccentric face as you tighten up the clamp nut with the feeler gauge in place - once the nut is tight, pulling out the feeler should have the right " friction" feeling, neither too tight nor too loose.

I made a rough copy out of a bent nail and a spring, it works really well, the spring is pretty weak, so bending it about 45 degrees gives the right pressure to the valve/eccentric/feeler gauge faces.

Paul :-)20190710_113504.jpg

The "feel" I got when I adjusted the valves was that it was slightly tough to get the feeler into the gap, but once in, it slid around freely. It sounds like this is not enough resistance. I'll try to fashion one of those tools. Thanks for posting a photo of it.

[ifinallyhaveane30]

To follow up, the loud ticking audible in the video was due to me not tightening the eccentric bolt down enough. The gap was enormous. I completed another valve adjustment and the car runs pretty rough. Sputtering, rough idle. Slight lack of power. Very light white smoke (or moisture??) coming from exhaust.

There was also oil deposits, residue, and ashy electrode. Seems car is running too rich. Anyone know what could be leaking into the cylinder? Am i totally screwed?

[ifinallyhaveane30]

To follow up, the loud ticking audible in the video was due to me not tightening the eccentric bolt down enough. The gap was enormous. I completed another valve adjustment and the car runs pretty rough. Sputtering, rough idle. Slight lack of power. Very light white smoke (or moisture??) coming from exhaust.

There was also oil deposits, residue, and ashy electrode. Seems car is running too rich. Anyone know what could be leaking into the cylinder? Am i totally screwed?

A better question would be what seals would one recommend replacing to stop oil from leaking into the cylinder?

[Supafly]

You may also have pitted eccentrics - worn from years of use, so they have a "cup" indent from the valve stem top, which you "bridge" with the feeler gauge, so the gap, although correct, isn't, it's wider.

I set mine at the cam lobes, I used a 7 thou feeler which approxiamtes to a 9.8 thou gap at the valve ( rocker ratio applies here ) I have a new camshaft and eccentrics, the car is pretty quiet, but there's always one "ticker" !!

Paul

I had this issue on my m20 too. I would measure them and they would be within spec but I could feel the extra movement in the rocker, it was only when I turned them around to expose the contact face that I saw the pitting. New eccentrics (cheap at the time) fixed it for me.

Regarding the smoke and rough running, was it like this before you started work on it?

[Oseanosea]

To follow up, the loud ticking audible in the video was due to me not tightening the eccentric bolt down enough. The gap was enormous. I completed another valve adjustment and the car runs pretty rough. Sputtering, rough idle. Slight lack of power. Very light white smoke (or moisture??) coming from exhaust.

There was also oil deposits, residue, and ashy electrode. Seems car is running too rich. Anyone know what could be leaking into the cylinder? Am i totally screwed?

A better question would be what seals would one recommend replacing to stop oil from leaking into the cylinder?

I would think it would be more a matter of worn piston rings than a gasket issue

[ifinallyhaveane30]

You may also have pitted eccentrics - worn from years of use, so they have a "cup" indent from the valve stem top, which you "bridge" with the feeler gauge, so the gap, although correct, isn't, it's wider.

I set mine at the cam lobes, I used a 7 thou feeler which approxiamtes to a 9.8 thou gap at the valve ( rocker ratio applies here ) I have a new camshaft and eccentrics, the car is pretty quiet, but there's always one "ticker" !!

Paul

I had this issue on my m20 too. I would measure them and they would be within spec but I could feel the extra movement in the rocker, it was only when I turned them around to expose the contact face that I saw the pitting. New eccentrics (cheap at the time) fixed it for me.

Regarding the smoke and rough running, was it like this before you started work on it?

No. The rough running happened after I adjusted the valves and left one of them SO loose. The gap must have been numerous mm. Lol.

[davidt]

I use one of these tools, feeler blade with handle makes it much easer to check clearances.

[ifinallyhaveane30]

I use one of these tools, feeler blade with handle makes it much easer to check clearances.
S1035035.JPG

im going to have to fashion one of these out of a dowel and a screw

[ifinallyhaveane30]

Update:

I purchased a sec of new eccentrics from ECS Tuning (they came labelled as Bav Auto brand, but I'm not really sure what brand they actually are) and installed them last weekend. Upon removing the spark plugs, I noticed that the plug in cyl. no. 2 was damaged. The gap had been reduced to 0mm due to the plug being accidentally dropped on the last valve adjustment. With the side electrode bent back and the gap set properly, as well as new eccentrics, the car runs MUCH better. Stronger power, responsive throttle, and a smooth idle once again. The only issue is it seems like maybe one valve is still a bit loud. Maybe next time I dig in I'll fix it. Does anyone know about adjusting the valves on one cylinder, or must all six be adjusted at the same time in accordance with the firing sequence?