Valve adjustment

[Pro5ordie]

So I decided to try to eliminate the obnoxious ticking noise emanating from the top of my engine today. After pulling the valve cover and checking clearances on all 16 valves, I found 5 to be out of spec. I had found the culprit. As I'm reading in the service manual, i realize that there are some tools that I don't have, that seem 100% necessary. The tools are 49 T012 001-004. Is there anyway to do this without these tools? It seemed to me that they stabilize the camshaft to handle the pressure. I called the local auto parts stores, and none of them had this available to rent, but i could buy the set for a mere $500. Sounds like a great idea. So, should I just bring it to Mazda and hope they don't charge me an arm and a leg, or is there another way to do this?

 

[MaxPower]

I suppose you could remove the camshafts (essentially a timing belt replacement)... but that comes with another set of problems.

You could try this: http://www.miataforumz.com/how-40/how-check-valve-clearance-re-shimming-nb-head-331/

Or this: http://mazda626.net/topic/29562-how-to-valve-clearance-check-and-adjust/

Seems brute force may work.

Not sure if this tool will work: http://www.ebay.com/itm/BGS-Tools-V...987?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item43b76ce573

Let us know how it works out.

 

[704_mazdaguy]

Pull the cams off, would be the easiest way to do it. Not that hard at all, but just fyi...there is always going to be valve noise, our cars have "solid lifters" ie, non hydraulic

 

[Pro5ordie]

That doesn't look all that bad, maxpower. I may try that. I know they are noisy, but this is definitely outside of the realm of normal. Any idea what the likelihood is that the valves have been bent or mushroomed as a result? At this point, I am contemplating pulling the head and doing a full head rebuild. Of course, if it is unlikely the valves are damaged, I'll avoid that.

 

[Pro5ordie]

I'm going to be doing this job when the micrometer I ordered comes in. I'll post here so y'all know how it came out.

 

[Pro5ordie]

Broke it all down today, and I was able to reuse four shims. Ordered the other two that I needed. Overall, that write up was very good.

 

[CR3 Motorsports]

Sub!

 

[lvevo]

Broke it all down today, and I was able to reuse four shims. Ordered the other two that I needed. Overall, that write up was very good.

Which write up did you use, the miata or 626 one?

 

[Pro5ordie]

I used the miata one. Everything was exactly the same except the torque and tolerances, obviously. The only minor difference is the cam bolts all the way towards the timing belt are set a little under the timing belt sprocket on our cars, where they were easily accessible on the miata. I used an extension and a short little stubby socket. You do need to loosen the cam bolts up quite a lot to get the required clearance, especially on cylinder 1, and his pictures didn't show them all that loose. I used a pocket knife in the notch and pushed down on the bucket with a pair of needle nose pliers, as the shims were pressed in pretty tight.

In other news, the shims should arrive between 3-8 days...I hope it's closer to the three. Haha.

 

[lvevo]

I used the miata one. Everything was exactly the same except the torque and tolerances, obviously. The only minor difference is the cam bolts all the way towards the timing belt are set a little under the timing belt sprocket on our cars, where they were easily accessible on the miata. I used an extension and a short little stubby socket. You do need to loosen the cam bolts up quite a lot to get the required clearance, especially on cylinder 1, and his pictures didn't show them all that loose. I used a pocket knife in the notch and pushed down on the bucket with a pair of needle nose pliers, as the shims were pressed in pretty tight.

In other news, the shims should arrive between 3-8 days...I hope it's closer to the three. Haha.

Cool thanks for the info. Update us and let us know how it went for you.

 

[MaxPower]

Did you loosen the cam caps? Those are the metal brackets that go over the cam seals. If so, they can be tricky to tighten to get a good seal again. Just FYI.

Glad you were able to remove the shims without the tool, might motivate me to do a valve check in the spring.

 

[Pro5ordie]

Maxpower, I'm assuming we're calling the cam caps the same thing...The bolts that pull the saddles against the cams, right? Those need to be loosened quite a lot. A lot more than it looked like he did in the Miata write up. I did notice that. I torqued them back down to spec(around 10lb/ft) and a couple still seemed like they didn't want to return all the way back. I just gave them a little more until they did. What would be a symptom of them not sealing once I get it all back together?

It really was fairly easy to do. The problem I'm having now is that it's taking forever to get the parts, so I'm driving my wife's VW Beetle around, unfortunately. If you have two people, it can literally be done in forty five minutes. With one person, the hardest party was pushing down on the bucket while lifting up with whatever you're using. It's all tight quarters.

 

[Pro5ordie]

So it's all done and put back together. And the results are...absolutely no difference in the loud valve noise, which I assume means that at least one of them is bent. I guess a bent valve in spec is better than a bent valve out of spec.