So, I pulled my valve covers to check the clearance. They were all tighter than they were supposed to be. Most of them i could barely get the feeler guage in between. If i went to the next couple of smaller sizes, they would fit. Question is, are the clearances being to tight worse then them being to loose? Would this tightness affect mileage, I get about 13.8 mpg.

 

Being too tight can be much worse than being to loose,but only if they are to the point of no clearence at all! A small change,of .002 or .003 either way isn't going to matter much. <br> Tony

 

.002 is not going to make or break the performance on a CTD...even on the big rigs when I run the overhead we use a stepped feeler gauge with a .002 step built into each feeler gauge...if the cold setting is too tight then as the engine warms up and everything starts to expand it possible the valve will not close completely...if the setting is too lose the valves will be noisey

 

cool, im gonna go in there and adjust them so they are perfect. thanks for filling me in with the info