hello to all,this is my first time to the forum so please go gently.
we have just bought our daughter her first car namely the clio as above and it came from a crappy backstreet dealer with no history whatsoever.But i could see beyond the rough exterior and lack of tlc and thought there may be a hidden gem underneath.anyway i have just replaced the cambelt and assorted service items and when taking off the cam cover couldnt believe it when i saw a single cam with adjustable tappets?
however i thought the top end sounded a bit noisy so i decided to adjust the valve clearances but as i've not done this in many a year i thought i would surf the net and try to find the correct procedure and it seems full of conjecture.can i simply find tdc on each cylinder and adjust the clearance on both inlet and exhaust valves which i think is easier, or do i have to do the "set cylinder 1 to tdc then adjust cylinder 4 etc....."
what i cant get my head round is the fact that when you set cylinder 1 to tdc and both valves are fully closed, cylinder 4 is also in the position that the piston is at the top and clearly both valves will also be closed.
what i have decided to do is take out all spark plugs and place a 1/4"drive long extension down the plug hole of cylinder no.1 and when it is at tdc mark the side of the extension with a bit of electrical tape around the shaft.this way i know the exact "height" of it at tdc in the piston chamber.i now know the "height the extension should be "poking out of the spark plug hole"
i can then lob the extension down the hole of the next cylinder i choose to adjust,crank the engine slowly at the wheel hub and watch as the inlet valve descends and comes back up and study the marking of my taped extension.i now know this piston is at tdc and then adjust the valves accordingly.i feel this method if its accurate more easy to visually read than looking to see if a valve is on its way down.please can someone shed more light on this and tell me if setting the valves on each piston one at a time at tdc is incorrect or not.
we have just bought our daughter her first car namely the clio as above and it came from a crappy backstreet dealer with no history whatsoever.But i could see beyond the rough exterior and lack of tlc and thought there may be a hidden gem underneath.anyway i have just replaced the cambelt and assorted service items and when taking off the cam cover couldnt believe it when i saw a single cam with adjustable tappets?
however i thought the top end sounded a bit noisy so i decided to adjust the valve clearances but as i've not done this in many a year i thought i would surf the net and try to find the correct procedure and it seems full of conjecture.can i simply find tdc on each cylinder and adjust the clearance on both inlet and exhaust valves which i think is easier, or do i have to do the "set cylinder 1 to tdc then adjust cylinder 4 etc....."
what i cant get my head round is the fact that when you set cylinder 1 to tdc and both valves are fully closed, cylinder 4 is also in the position that the piston is at the top and clearly both valves will also be closed.
what i have decided to do is take out all spark plugs and place a 1/4"drive long extension down the plug hole of cylinder no.1 and when it is at tdc mark the side of the extension with a bit of electrical tape around the shaft.this way i know the exact "height" of it at tdc in the piston chamber.i now know the "height the extension should be "poking out of the spark plug hole"
i can then lob the extension down the hole of the next cylinder i choose to adjust,crank the engine slowly at the wheel hub and watch as the inlet valve descends and comes back up and study the marking of my taped extension.i now know this piston is at tdc and then adjust the valves accordingly.i feel this method if its accurate more easy to visually read than looking to see if a valve is on its way down.please can someone shed more light on this and tell me if setting the valves on each piston one at a time at tdc is incorrect or not.
