major services as they're supposed to . I know you'll say it depends who is doing it . I ask as a few years ago i was told ( during a phone call to the local main dealer) that they did an "audible check"and if not noisy left alone.
I always wondered about how that works if they are too tight as they won't make any extra noise. with these engines do the clearances only generally get bigger?
Anyhow .. I'm interested at the moment as another major service is due and I'm thinking of doing it myself but maybe paying a garage to "check" the clearances as I normally avoid any engine dissection due to lack of experience and fear of cocking something up. If it's likely I'll get charged £100 for someone to put their ear over the head then is it worth doing or do most people leave well alone unless making a racket ( seem quiet at the mo to me)
your advice/opinions please
thanks
Bill
Chat Forum
ford focus 1.8tddi ..Do they really "check " the valve clearances on......
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Posted 11 months ago #
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Do you know if they are a shim type adustment or a screw type.
Because if its screw type they can "check" and "adjust" easily.
Where as if its shim type checking is easy but if they're out at all the correct sized shims will need to be selected and possibly ordered. And fitting them normally involves taking the cams out and so on....Posted 11 months ago # -
pretty sure they're shimmed. thought you could just depress the bucket and flick out reinsert without touching the cams ?
Posted 11 months ago # -
Yeah perhaps there's a special tool.
Posted 11 months ago # -
I know that my motorbike never had its clearances checked before I did it, despite having had 3 major services where it's a mandatory check done at the local main dealer. I suspect this is pretty common, a lot of modern engines are very unlikely to ever need it done.
Haven't a clue about the car though, it's not something I've seen raised as an issue of concern with the TDDI (concensus seems to be that the DMF or clutch or turbo will die long before anything else gets a look in). Never had the top off it yet but it looks like checking should be pretty simple. Never met a shim-under-bucket engine where it was possible to change shims with the cams in though that doesn't mean they're not out there.
Posted 11 months ago # -
thought you could just depress the bucket and flick out reinsert without touching the cams ?
Depends whether they are shim over bucket, or shim under bucket type.
Posted 11 months ago # -
If the main dealers just do an audible check don't you think that tells you something (sorry don't mean that to be as harsh as it sounds)? Somethings are best left alone unless there are problems and valves are one. If you have valve problems it is very evident, the engine will be running rough or top end noisy. They aren't like filters and oil for example which need changing every x miles. Adjusting them when they don't really need doing can create bigger problems than leaving them.
Posted 11 months ago # -
edited
Posted 11 months ago # -
I was just going to say are they not hydraulic.
That would be the first thing to check.
Posted 11 months ago # -
Burls72 - Member
Adjusting them when they don't really need doing can create bigger problems than leaving them.
But checking them will never cause problems, unless you drop the gauges down the engine or something equally stupid
Posted 11 months ago # -
Conventional shimmed it would seem. Read here: http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=43456
Posted 11 months ago # -
The problem with valve clearances is that generally they close up with time which doesn't make any noise. Tight clearances are bad news because they lead to burnt valves. Loose clearances make noise but won't cause any damage (maybe a loss of performance though).
Posted 11 months ago # -
to get shims out push/lever bucket down with big screwdriver and flick shim out
n.b. do not put your fingers anywhere between bucket and camshaftPosted 11 months ago # -
But checking them will never cause problems, unless you drop the gauges down the engine or something equally stupid
I should have explained myself a bit better, an audible check will tell you what you need to know. If the engine is running correctly there is no need to physically check the valves.
As said before modern engines do not normally need checking, the tolerances on modern engines are such that they should never need adjusting. The only reason you needed to checked valve tolerances on old engines was to take up the 'slack' of the engineering tolerances of that time.
Posted 11 months ago # -
Burls72 - Member
I should have explained myself a bit better, an audible check will tell you what you need to know.
Don't agree with that. As Rockhopper says, tight clearances aren't noisy.
Posted 11 months ago # -
[quote]Don't agree with that. As Rockhopper says, tight clearances aren't noisy. [quote]
If you read my original post I said that the engine will be running rough or noisy. As the op said he rang up his main dealer and got the same response, if you don't want to belive me then fair enough thats your choice. Ring up your main dealer and ask the same question you'll get the same answer. As said before modern engines do not need it, it's an opinion carried over from times past.
Posted 11 months ago # -
Burls72 - Member
As said before modern engines do not need it, it's an opinion carried over from times past.
I've opened up a modern engine that was "running fine" according to the owner and the main dealer who'd serviced it a month before, and found 2 out of 4 exhaust valves nicely burnt, and both clearances unsurprisingly miles out. Only found out because the owner wanted hotter cams in it (to go with his hot valves, ho ho). No idea if it'd wandered out of spec over time, or if it'd always been wrong, though.
That said, if there's a corner going to be cut, this is the corner I'd choose, it's rare enough that it needs done these days.
Posted 11 months ago # -
The vast majority of modern cars have hydraulic tappets anyhow.
Posted 11 months ago # -
They have shims on top of the buckets. The official ford service sheet that us dealerships use does state that the clearances should be checked. i personally do it as the customer is paying for it, maybe thats just me though! The labour to check them is included in the service cost as long as you are having the officia ford service, not the individual dealers 'budget servicing' that they are all doing to compete with smaller garages. The labour to adjust them is additional though! It is very rare to find them so out of spec that they warrant adjusting anyway, and you would have to pay for each shim used.
Posted 11 months ago # -
I stand by what i've said, a modern standard car, owned by a standard driver shouldn't need the clearances checking and you should be able to hear if they do. But lets be fair, somebody who's come to you asking for 'lumpy' cams to be fitted is hardly a standrad driver, i'm sure they drive it like miss daisy
Posted 11 months ago #
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