When Adjusting Your Valve Lash (Or When Buying A Set of Feeler Gauges)
Thread Starter
Chapter President
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,741
Likes: 0
From: Big Spring (now Stephenville), Tx
When Adjusting Your Valve Lash (Or When Buying A Set of Feeler Gauges)
OK, so I had a rather 
experience. I finally got around to adjusting my valve lash yesterday and I take the valve cover off and get the vibration dampner to top dead center (after figuring out I couldn't get a wrench in to where the barring tool goes, I guess I would have had to have taken the fender well out to get to it), and have already checked what the clearances where, then I get the first nut broke loose for the #1 intake rocker and I'm holding the feeler gauge set that was held together by a bolt and nut.
Well apparently when I was going between the various sizes the nut popped off and I see motion and hear something go in the direction of the #1 push rods. Upon further inspection I see the nut in the hole for the exhaust pushrod but its not all that far in, so I grab a pen magnet.
That should be the end of the story, but noooooo. The end of the magnet was just big enough that it moved the push rod out of the way and the nut goes further down. So I try to do the chop stick method with a pair of screw drivers and it just dissapears.
So remove the rocker arm and push rod and the nut is no where to be seen. I think at this point all color drained from my face, but my assistant didn't notice because he was looking in the hole going "no it has to be right there".
I had a few more assistants pull up and we're going over the various ways to get into that area of the engine. I immediatly threw out the suggestion of using the torch and cutting the top half off and then welding it back on after we get the nut out. Lets double check and make sure it wasn't in the hole for the intake push rod, so we pull that rocker arm and push rod.
So after a call to Bnold I gather that the nut can fall in the oil pan. OK, lets see if it is in the oil pan, so we drain the oil...no nut. Hmmm, ok lets see if we can flush it to the oil pan. I'm under with a magnet at the drain hoping to catch it and got the assistants pouring the oil in the push rod holes. We all hear it hit the pan.
OK now what? We have it in the pan how are we going to get it out? One of the assistants calls his dad who works on 12Vs fairly regular (why didn't we call him earlier?). His dad says that as long as its in the pan the screen on the pick up will prevent it from going back into the engine, but to be safe go get a magnetized oil drain plug. O'Reilly's has them, but not for this big of a plug, so we run over to Tractor Supply and look for something that we can put on the end of some bailing wire. Nope but there is something equivelant so I buy that and a pair of magnets that I'll put at the bottom of the pan in case we can't get the nut out. Stop by Walmart and get 3 gallons of Delo (do they not make any that is not formulated for CJ-4?). Ah well, I'll put 2,000 miles on this oil and put AMSOIL back in.
I try fishing in my oil pan for awhile to no avail. Then one of my assistants try, once again to no avail. Just stick the magnets at the bottom and hope and pray that nothing goes wrong with that nut. I'm tired at this point and my brain isn't working, I hooked up one of the negative battery cables to go roll up my windows (I had them rolled down so I could hear my phone, but I still couldn't hear it), and I try the windows. Their not going up (great now what?). I go hook the other negative cable, still no go. Then finally I realized I hadn't turn the key on to use the windows.
I started taking the valve cover off a little after 3:30pm yesterday and by the time I put the tools up last night so we could go eat it was 9pm. Of course I wasn't done yet. I still have 2 rocker arms and 2 push rods sitting in the plastic valve cover and no oil in the engine. Got up this morning and started digging everything back out (I'd love to have a garage) at 7:20.
Put everything back together and now I start on the whole reason I had started this project to begin with. The front valves aren't hard to get to, but this was the first time I have ever laid on my engine so I could work on #4 back. Oh BTW I figured a very good solution to keep things from falling in the push rod holes, put paper towel around the rods.
After I get everything adjusted and I'm wishing my grill guard stuck out further so I could move around easier, I put the cover back on and tighten things up. Start putting all the tools away so I don't forget and leave them when I start the engine. Of course I remembered to put oil in it, hop in and start her up. She sounds smoother and quieter than I can remember her being. It could be the fact that I was half expecting to hear something rattling around in the engine or the valves were way off because I did them wrong. I reset my radio and turn the truck off. While putting my tools away it starts sprinkling so I thank God again and go take a shower and get ready to go to work. I couldn't have timed it down any better, finished the truck at 9:25, tools up by 9:30, out of the shower and everything else done by 9:50, get to work by 10:00.
A few things I have noticed -
She feels better at idle-1000 rpm for moving from a stop(actually feels stronger)
Oil pressure was reading at idle the same as when the engine is above 1500 rpm, which is probably attibutable to the fact that I poured all 3 gallons (12 quarts) in and still had the original oil in the oil filter. Ah well, that's what the crank case vent (Puke tube) is for.
The engine will vibrate enough to turn the screws for the plastic cover if they are loose in the hole (I didn't put it back on because I'm going to paint it)
A few things to take away from this-
Never buy a set of feeler gauges that have a bolt and nut
Put paper towel around the push rods to prevent anything from falling in.
Keep plenty of paper towels around.
experience. I finally got around to adjusting my valve lash yesterday and I take the valve cover off and get the vibration dampner to top dead center (after figuring out I couldn't get a wrench in to where the barring tool goes, I guess I would have had to have taken the fender well out to get to it), and have already checked what the clearances where, then I get the first nut broke loose for the #1 intake rocker and I'm holding the feeler gauge set that was held together by a bolt and nut. Well apparently when I was going between the various sizes the nut popped off and I see motion and hear something go in the direction of the #1 push rods. Upon further inspection I see the nut in the hole for the exhaust pushrod but its not all that far in, so I grab a pen magnet.
That should be the end of the story, but noooooo. The end of the magnet was just big enough that it moved the push rod out of the way and the nut goes further down. So I try to do the chop stick method with a pair of screw drivers and it just dissapears.
So remove the rocker arm and push rod and the nut is no where to be seen. I think at this point all color drained from my face, but my assistant didn't notice because he was looking in the hole going "no it has to be right there".
I had a few more assistants pull up and we're going over the various ways to get into that area of the engine. I immediatly threw out the suggestion of using the torch and cutting the top half off and then welding it back on after we get the nut out. Lets double check and make sure it wasn't in the hole for the intake push rod, so we pull that rocker arm and push rod.
So after a call to Bnold I gather that the nut can fall in the oil pan. OK, lets see if it is in the oil pan, so we drain the oil...no nut. Hmmm, ok lets see if we can flush it to the oil pan. I'm under with a magnet at the drain hoping to catch it and got the assistants pouring the oil in the push rod holes. We all hear it hit the pan.
OK now what? We have it in the pan how are we going to get it out? One of the assistants calls his dad who works on 12Vs fairly regular (why didn't we call him earlier?). His dad says that as long as its in the pan the screen on the pick up will prevent it from going back into the engine, but to be safe go get a magnetized oil drain plug. O'Reilly's has them, but not for this big of a plug, so we run over to Tractor Supply and look for something that we can put on the end of some bailing wire. Nope but there is something equivelant so I buy that and a pair of magnets that I'll put at the bottom of the pan in case we can't get the nut out. Stop by Walmart and get 3 gallons of Delo (do they not make any that is not formulated for CJ-4?). Ah well, I'll put 2,000 miles on this oil and put AMSOIL back in.
I try fishing in my oil pan for awhile to no avail. Then one of my assistants try, once again to no avail. Just stick the magnets at the bottom and hope and pray that nothing goes wrong with that nut. I'm tired at this point and my brain isn't working, I hooked up one of the negative battery cables to go roll up my windows (I had them rolled down so I could hear my phone, but I still couldn't hear it), and I try the windows. Their not going up (great now what?). I go hook the other negative cable, still no go. Then finally I realized I hadn't turn the key on to use the windows.
I started taking the valve cover off a little after 3:30pm yesterday and by the time I put the tools up last night so we could go eat it was 9pm. Of course I wasn't done yet. I still have 2 rocker arms and 2 push rods sitting in the plastic valve cover and no oil in the engine. Got up this morning and started digging everything back out (I'd love to have a garage) at 7:20.
Put everything back together and now I start on the whole reason I had started this project to begin with. The front valves aren't hard to get to, but this was the first time I have ever laid on my engine so I could work on #4 back. Oh BTW I figured a very good solution to keep things from falling in the push rod holes, put paper towel around the rods.
After I get everything adjusted and I'm wishing my grill guard stuck out further so I could move around easier, I put the cover back on and tighten things up. Start putting all the tools away so I don't forget and leave them when I start the engine. Of course I remembered to put oil in it, hop in and start her up. She sounds smoother and quieter than I can remember her being. It could be the fact that I was half expecting to hear something rattling around in the engine or the valves were way off because I did them wrong. I reset my radio and turn the truck off. While putting my tools away it starts sprinkling so I thank God again and go take a shower and get ready to go to work. I couldn't have timed it down any better, finished the truck at 9:25, tools up by 9:30, out of the shower and everything else done by 9:50, get to work by 10:00.
A few things I have noticed -
She feels better at idle-1000 rpm for moving from a stop(actually feels stronger)
Oil pressure was reading at idle the same as when the engine is above 1500 rpm, which is probably attibutable to the fact that I poured all 3 gallons (12 quarts) in and still had the original oil in the oil filter. Ah well, that's what the crank case vent (Puke tube) is for.
The engine will vibrate enough to turn the screws for the plastic cover if they are loose in the hole (I didn't put it back on because I'm going to paint it)
A few things to take away from this-
Never buy a set of feeler gauges that have a bolt and nut
Put paper towel around the push rods to prevent anything from falling in.
Keep plenty of paper towels around.
Registered User
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 8,234
Likes: 1
From: Texas/Oklahoma Border
Good news is...will go very easy next time.
I put my .010 and .020 feelers on top on my set (has the screw on nut). I remove these two to do a valve lash. Just a thought.
Magnet inside pan should work fine.
RJ
I put my .010 and .020 feelers on top on my set (has the screw on nut). I remove these two to do a valve lash. Just a thought.
Magnet inside pan should work fine.
RJ
Thread Starter
Chapter President
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,741
Likes: 0
From: Big Spring (now Stephenville), Tx
Now that I know paper towels can be very useful in there and using a big socket wrench to break the nuts on the rocker arms loose it should only take me an hour at most.
Well, magnet is on the out side of the pan. If the nut doesn't come out in the next oil change I'll probably be finding one small enough to go in the hole.
Today I took the sizes I needed and the size above and below then put them together with a twist tie.
Well, magnet is on the out side of the pan. If the nut doesn't come out in the next oil change I'll probably be finding one small enough to go in the hole.
Today I took the sizes I needed and the size above and below then put them together with a twist tie.
I watch wind blow...
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 1,390
Likes: 0
From: Red Dirt territory of TEXAS
that does sound like a pain, i do not know what size magnets you are using but i think a magnet of a large speaker or sub woofer would be sufficient. let it catch it then drag that magnet slowly towards the oil drain. i do not know what the inside of the pan looks like. if its smooth or if it has baffles or something. Good luck .
Registered User
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 533
Likes: 0
From: big spring tx.
OK, so I had a rather experience. I finally got around to adjusting my valve lash yesterday and I take the valve cover off and get the vibration dampner to top dead center (after figuring out I couldn't get a wrench in to where the barring tool goes, I guess I would have had to have taken the fender well out to get to it), and have already checked what the clearances where, then I get the first nut broke loose for the #1 intake rocker and I'm holding the feeler gauge set that was held together by a bolt and nut.
Well apparently when I was going between the various sizes the nut popped off and I see motion and hear something go in the direction of the #1 push rods. Upon further inspection I see the nut in the hole for the exhaust pushrod but its not all that far in, so I grab a pen magnet.
That should be the end of the story, but noooooo. The end of the magnet was just big enough that it moved the push rod out of the way and the nut goes further down. So I try to do the chop stick method with a pair of screw drivers and it just dissapears.
So remove the rocker arm and push rod and the nut is no where to be seen. I think at this point all color drained from my face, but my assistant didn't notice because he was looking in the hole going "no it has to be right there".
I had a few more assistants pull up and we're going over the various ways to get into that area of the engine. I immediatly threw out the suggestion of using the torch and cutting the top half off and then welding it back on after we get the nut out. Lets double check and make sure it wasn't in the hole for the intake push rod, so we pull that rocker arm and push rod.
So after a call to Bnold I gather that the nut can fall in the oil pan. OK, lets see if it is in the oil pan, so we drain the oil...no nut. Hmmm, ok lets see if we can flush it to the oil pan. I'm under with a magnet at the drain hoping to catch it and got the assistants pouring the oil in the push rod holes. We all hear it hit the pan.
OK now what? We have it in the pan how are we going to get it out? One of the assistants calls his dad who works on 12Vs fairly regular (why didn't we call him earlier?). His dad says that as long as its in the pan the screen on the pick up will prevent it from going back into the engine, but to be safe go get a magnetized oil drain plug. O'Reilly's has them, but not for this big of a plug, so we run over to Tractor Supply and look for something that we can put on the end of some bailing wire. Nope but there is something equivelant so I buy that and a pair of magnets that I'll put at the bottom of the pan in case we can't get the nut out. Stop by Walmart and get 3 gallons of Delo (do they not make any that is not formulated for CJ-4?). Ah well, I'll put 2,000 miles on this oil and put AMSOIL back in.
I try fishing in my oil pan for awhile to no avail. Then one of my assistants try, once again to no avail. Just stick the magnets at the bottom and hope and pray that nothing goes wrong with that nut. I'm tired at this point and my brain isn't working, I hooked up one of the negative battery cables to go roll up my windows (I had them rolled down so I could hear my phone, but I still couldn't hear it), and I try the windows. Their not going up (great now what?). I go hook the other negative cable, still no go. Then finally I realized I hadn't turn the key on to use the windows.
I started taking the valve cover off a little after 3:30pm yesterday and by the time I put the tools up last night so we could go eat it was 9pm. Of course I wasn't done yet. I still have 2 rocker arms and 2 push rods sitting in the plastic valve cover and no oil in the engine. Got up this morning and started digging everything back out (I'd love to have a garage) at 7:20.
Put everything back together and now I start on the whole reason I had started this project to begin with. The front valves aren't hard to get to, but this was the first time I have ever laid on my engine so I could work on #4 back. Oh BTW I figured a very good solution to keep things from falling in the push rod holes, put paper towel around the rods.
After I get everything adjusted and I'm wishing my grill guard stuck out further so I could move around easier, I put the cover back on and tighten things up. Start putting all the tools away so I don't forget and leave them when I start the engine. Of course I remembered to put oil in it, hop in and start her up. She sounds smoother and quieter than I can remember her being. It could be the fact that I was half expecting to hear something rattling around in the engine or the valves were way off because I did them wrong. I reset my radio and turn the truck off. While putting my tools away it starts sprinkling so I thank God again and go take a shower and get ready to go to work. I couldn't have timed it down any better, finished the truck at 9:25, tools up by 9:30, out of the shower and everything else done by 9:50, get to work by 10:00.
A few things I have noticed -
She feels better at idle-1000 rpm for moving from a stop(actually feels stronger)
Oil pressure was reading at idle the same as when the engine is above 1500 rpm, which is probably attibutable to the fact that I poured all 3 gallons (12 quarts) in and still had the original oil in the oil filter. Ah well, that's what the crank case vent (Puke tube) is for.
The engine will vibrate enough to turn the screws for the plastic cover if they are loose in the hole (I didn't put it back on because I'm going to paint it)
A few things to take away from this-
Never buy a set of feeler gauges that have a bolt and nut
Put paper towel around the push rods to prevent anything from falling in.
Keep plenty of paper towels around.
experience. I finally got around to adjusting my valve lash yesterday and I take the valve cover off and get the vibration dampner to top dead center (after figuring out I couldn't get a wrench in to where the barring tool goes, I guess I would have had to have taken the fender well out to get to it), and have already checked what the clearances where, then I get the first nut broke loose for the #1 intake rocker and I'm holding the feeler gauge set that was held together by a bolt and nut. Well apparently when I was going between the various sizes the nut popped off and I see motion and hear something go in the direction of the #1 push rods. Upon further inspection I see the nut in the hole for the exhaust pushrod but its not all that far in, so I grab a pen magnet.
That should be the end of the story, but noooooo. The end of the magnet was just big enough that it moved the push rod out of the way and the nut goes further down. So I try to do the chop stick method with a pair of screw drivers and it just dissapears.
So remove the rocker arm and push rod and the nut is no where to be seen. I think at this point all color drained from my face, but my assistant didn't notice because he was looking in the hole going "no it has to be right there".
I had a few more assistants pull up and we're going over the various ways to get into that area of the engine. I immediatly threw out the suggestion of using the torch and cutting the top half off and then welding it back on after we get the nut out. Lets double check and make sure it wasn't in the hole for the intake push rod, so we pull that rocker arm and push rod.
So after a call to Bnold I gather that the nut can fall in the oil pan. OK, lets see if it is in the oil pan, so we drain the oil...no nut. Hmmm, ok lets see if we can flush it to the oil pan. I'm under with a magnet at the drain hoping to catch it and got the assistants pouring the oil in the push rod holes. We all hear it hit the pan.
OK now what? We have it in the pan how are we going to get it out? One of the assistants calls his dad who works on 12Vs fairly regular (why didn't we call him earlier?). His dad says that as long as its in the pan the screen on the pick up will prevent it from going back into the engine, but to be safe go get a magnetized oil drain plug. O'Reilly's has them, but not for this big of a plug, so we run over to Tractor Supply and look for something that we can put on the end of some bailing wire. Nope but there is something equivelant so I buy that and a pair of magnets that I'll put at the bottom of the pan in case we can't get the nut out. Stop by Walmart and get 3 gallons of Delo (do they not make any that is not formulated for CJ-4?). Ah well, I'll put 2,000 miles on this oil and put AMSOIL back in.
I try fishing in my oil pan for awhile to no avail. Then one of my assistants try, once again to no avail. Just stick the magnets at the bottom and hope and pray that nothing goes wrong with that nut. I'm tired at this point and my brain isn't working, I hooked up one of the negative battery cables to go roll up my windows (I had them rolled down so I could hear my phone, but I still couldn't hear it), and I try the windows. Their not going up (great now what?). I go hook the other negative cable, still no go. Then finally I realized I hadn't turn the key on to use the windows.
I started taking the valve cover off a little after 3:30pm yesterday and by the time I put the tools up last night so we could go eat it was 9pm. Of course I wasn't done yet. I still have 2 rocker arms and 2 push rods sitting in the plastic valve cover and no oil in the engine. Got up this morning and started digging everything back out (I'd love to have a garage) at 7:20.
Put everything back together and now I start on the whole reason I had started this project to begin with. The front valves aren't hard to get to, but this was the first time I have ever laid on my engine so I could work on #4 back. Oh BTW I figured a very good solution to keep things from falling in the push rod holes, put paper towel around the rods.
After I get everything adjusted and I'm wishing my grill guard stuck out further so I could move around easier, I put the cover back on and tighten things up. Start putting all the tools away so I don't forget and leave them when I start the engine. Of course I remembered to put oil in it, hop in and start her up. She sounds smoother and quieter than I can remember her being. It could be the fact that I was half expecting to hear something rattling around in the engine or the valves were way off because I did them wrong. I reset my radio and turn the truck off. While putting my tools away it starts sprinkling so I thank God again and go take a shower and get ready to go to work. I couldn't have timed it down any better, finished the truck at 9:25, tools up by 9:30, out of the shower and everything else done by 9:50, get to work by 10:00.
A few things I have noticed -
She feels better at idle-1000 rpm for moving from a stop(actually feels stronger)
Oil pressure was reading at idle the same as when the engine is above 1500 rpm, which is probably attibutable to the fact that I poured all 3 gallons (12 quarts) in and still had the original oil in the oil filter. Ah well, that's what the crank case vent (Puke tube) is for.
The engine will vibrate enough to turn the screws for the plastic cover if they are loose in the hole (I didn't put it back on because I'm going to paint it)
A few things to take away from this-
Never buy a set of feeler gauges that have a bolt and nut
Put paper towel around the push rods to prevent anything from falling in.
Keep plenty of paper towels around.
Sounds like something a guy from Big Spring would do
Just messin with ya, glad you got her going
Trending Topics
Registered User
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 4,053
Likes: 29
From: lyman, utah
OK, so I had a rather experience. I finally got around to adjusting my valve lash yesterday and I take the valve cover off and get the vibration dampner to top dead center (after figuring out I couldn't get a wrench in to where the barring tool goes, I guess I would have had to have taken the fender well out to get to it), and have already checked what the clearances where, then I get the first nut broke loose for the #1 intake rocker and I'm holding the feeler gauge set that was held together by a bolt and nut.
Well apparently when I was going between the various sizes the nut popped off and I see motion and hear something go in the direction of the #1 push rods. Upon further inspection I see the nut in the hole for the exhaust pushrod but its not all that far in, so I grab a pen magnet.
That should be the end of the story, but noooooo. The end of the magnet was just big enough that it moved the push rod out of the way and the nut goes further down. So I try to do the chop stick method with a pair of screw drivers and it just dissapears.
So remove the rocker arm and push rod and the nut is no where to be seen. I think at this point all color drained from my face, but my assistant didn't notice because he was looking in the hole going "no it has to be right there".
I had a few more assistants pull up and we're going over the various ways to get into that area of the engine. I immediatly threw out the suggestion of using the torch and cutting the top half off and then welding it back on after we get the nut out. Lets double check and make sure it wasn't in the hole for the intake push rod, so we pull that rocker arm and push rod.
So after a call to Bnold I gather that the nut can fall in the oil pan. OK, lets see if it is in the oil pan, so we drain the oil...no nut. Hmmm, ok lets see if we can flush it to the oil pan. I'm under with a magnet at the drain hoping to catch it and got the assistants pouring the oil in the push rod holes. We all hear it hit the pan.
OK now what? We have it in the pan how are we going to get it out? One of the assistants calls his dad who works on 12Vs fairly regular (why didn't we call him earlier?). His dad says that as long as its in the pan the screen on the pick up will prevent it from going back into the engine, but to be safe go get a magnetized oil drain plug. O'Reilly's has them, but not for this big of a plug, so we run over to Tractor Supply and look for something that we can put on the end of some bailing wire. Nope but there is something equivelant so I buy that and a pair of magnets that I'll put at the bottom of the pan in case we can't get the nut out. Stop by Walmart and get 3 gallons of Delo (do they not make any that is not formulated for CJ-4?). Ah well, I'll put 2,000 miles on this oil and put AMSOIL back in.
I try fishing in my oil pan for awhile to no avail. Then one of my assistants try, once again to no avail. Just stick the magnets at the bottom and hope and pray that nothing goes wrong with that nut. I'm tired at this point and my brain isn't working, I hooked up one of the negative battery cables to go roll up my windows (I had them rolled down so I could hear my phone, but I still couldn't hear it), and I try the windows. Their not going up (great now what?). I go hook the other negative cable, still no go. Then finally I realized I hadn't turn the key on to use the windows.
I started taking the valve cover off a little after 3:30pm yesterday and by the time I put the tools up last night so we could go eat it was 9pm. Of course I wasn't done yet. I still have 2 rocker arms and 2 push rods sitting in the plastic valve cover and no oil in the engine. Got up this morning and started digging everything back out (I'd love to have a garage) at 7:20.
Put everything back together and now I start on the whole reason I had started this project to begin with. The front valves aren't hard to get to, but this was the first time I have ever laid on my engine so I could work on #4 back. Oh BTW I figured a very good solution to keep things from falling in the push rod holes, put paper towel around the rods.
After I get everything adjusted and I'm wishing my grill guard stuck out further so I could move around easier, I put the cover back on and tighten things up. Start putting all the tools away so I don't forget and leave them when I start the engine. Of course I remembered to put oil in it, hop in and start her up. She sounds smoother and quieter than I can remember her being. It could be the fact that I was half expecting to hear something rattling around in the engine or the valves were way off because I did them wrong. I reset my radio and turn the truck off. While putting my tools away it starts sprinkling so I thank God again and go take a shower and get ready to go to work. I couldn't have timed it down any better, finished the truck at 9:25, tools up by 9:30, out of the shower and everything else done by 9:50, get to work by 10:00.
A few things I have noticed -
She feels better at idle-1000 rpm for moving from a stop(actually feels stronger)
Oil pressure was reading at idle the same as when the engine is above 1500 rpm, which is probably attibutable to the fact that I poured all 3 gallons (12 quarts) in and still had the original oil in the oil filter. Ah well, that's what the crank case vent (Puke tube) is for.
The engine will vibrate enough to turn the screws for the plastic cover if they are loose in the hole (I didn't put it back on because I'm going to paint it)
A few things to take away from this-
Never buy a set of feeler gauges that have a bolt and nut
Put paper towel around the push rods to prevent anything from falling in.
Keep plenty of paper towels around.
experience. I finally got around to adjusting my valve lash yesterday and I take the valve cover off and get the vibration dampner to top dead center (after figuring out I couldn't get a wrench in to where the barring tool goes, I guess I would have had to have taken the fender well out to get to it), and have already checked what the clearances where, then I get the first nut broke loose for the #1 intake rocker and I'm holding the feeler gauge set that was held together by a bolt and nut. Well apparently when I was going between the various sizes the nut popped off and I see motion and hear something go in the direction of the #1 push rods. Upon further inspection I see the nut in the hole for the exhaust pushrod but its not all that far in, so I grab a pen magnet.
That should be the end of the story, but noooooo. The end of the magnet was just big enough that it moved the push rod out of the way and the nut goes further down. So I try to do the chop stick method with a pair of screw drivers and it just dissapears.
So remove the rocker arm and push rod and the nut is no where to be seen. I think at this point all color drained from my face, but my assistant didn't notice because he was looking in the hole going "no it has to be right there".
I had a few more assistants pull up and we're going over the various ways to get into that area of the engine. I immediatly threw out the suggestion of using the torch and cutting the top half off and then welding it back on after we get the nut out. Lets double check and make sure it wasn't in the hole for the intake push rod, so we pull that rocker arm and push rod.
So after a call to Bnold I gather that the nut can fall in the oil pan. OK, lets see if it is in the oil pan, so we drain the oil...no nut. Hmmm, ok lets see if we can flush it to the oil pan. I'm under with a magnet at the drain hoping to catch it and got the assistants pouring the oil in the push rod holes. We all hear it hit the pan.
OK now what? We have it in the pan how are we going to get it out? One of the assistants calls his dad who works on 12Vs fairly regular (why didn't we call him earlier?). His dad says that as long as its in the pan the screen on the pick up will prevent it from going back into the engine, but to be safe go get a magnetized oil drain plug. O'Reilly's has them, but not for this big of a plug, so we run over to Tractor Supply and look for something that we can put on the end of some bailing wire. Nope but there is something equivelant so I buy that and a pair of magnets that I'll put at the bottom of the pan in case we can't get the nut out. Stop by Walmart and get 3 gallons of Delo (do they not make any that is not formulated for CJ-4?). Ah well, I'll put 2,000 miles on this oil and put AMSOIL back in.
I try fishing in my oil pan for awhile to no avail. Then one of my assistants try, once again to no avail. Just stick the magnets at the bottom and hope and pray that nothing goes wrong with that nut. I'm tired at this point and my brain isn't working, I hooked up one of the negative battery cables to go roll up my windows (I had them rolled down so I could hear my phone, but I still couldn't hear it), and I try the windows. Their not going up (great now what?). I go hook the other negative cable, still no go. Then finally I realized I hadn't turn the key on to use the windows.
I started taking the valve cover off a little after 3:30pm yesterday and by the time I put the tools up last night so we could go eat it was 9pm. Of course I wasn't done yet. I still have 2 rocker arms and 2 push rods sitting in the plastic valve cover and no oil in the engine. Got up this morning and started digging everything back out (I'd love to have a garage) at 7:20.
Put everything back together and now I start on the whole reason I had started this project to begin with. The front valves aren't hard to get to, but this was the first time I have ever laid on my engine so I could work on #4 back. Oh BTW I figured a very good solution to keep things from falling in the push rod holes, put paper towel around the rods.
After I get everything adjusted and I'm wishing my grill guard stuck out further so I could move around easier, I put the cover back on and tighten things up. Start putting all the tools away so I don't forget and leave them when I start the engine. Of course I remembered to put oil in it, hop in and start her up. She sounds smoother and quieter than I can remember her being. It could be the fact that I was half expecting to hear something rattling around in the engine or the valves were way off because I did them wrong. I reset my radio and turn the truck off. While putting my tools away it starts sprinkling so I thank God again and go take a shower and get ready to go to work. I couldn't have timed it down any better, finished the truck at 9:25, tools up by 9:30, out of the shower and everything else done by 9:50, get to work by 10:00.
A few things I have noticed -
She feels better at idle-1000 rpm for moving from a stop(actually feels stronger)
Oil pressure was reading at idle the same as when the engine is above 1500 rpm, which is probably attibutable to the fact that I poured all 3 gallons (12 quarts) in and still had the original oil in the oil filter. Ah well, that's what the crank case vent (Puke tube) is for.
The engine will vibrate enough to turn the screws for the plastic cover if they are loose in the hole (I didn't put it back on because I'm going to paint it)
A few things to take away from this-
Never buy a set of feeler gauges that have a bolt and nut
Put paper towel around the push rods to prevent anything from falling in.
Keep plenty of paper towels around.
Thread Starter
Chapter President
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,741
Likes: 0
From: Big Spring (now Stephenville), Tx
Intake is .010 and exhaust is .020, but you have to rotate your engine around to top dead center and then you will only have certain valves available for adjusting and I can't remember those without my list, which is in my truck which is another story today.
We went to the drag races in Ennis and I ran my truck 5 passes in 4 hours. The last two I borrowed a Smarty then I went and turned the truck off for a minute, when I went to start it, it would just crank. Uh Oh, so the guy who let me borrow the Smarty from and another friend of mine that has been through about every problem imaginable with a common rail start looking the truck over. Apparently the pressure relief valve is stuck in relief mode and is releasing all the pressure (at least its doing its job) but I need the pressure to start the truck. So we make a quick fix which seemed to work fine.
Then we get back to town and go eat and the same thing is going on.
Tomorrow could be a long day.
We went to the drag races in Ennis and I ran my truck 5 passes in 4 hours. The last two I borrowed a Smarty then I went and turned the truck off for a minute, when I went to start it, it would just crank. Uh Oh, so the guy who let me borrow the Smarty from and another friend of mine that has been through about every problem imaginable with a common rail start looking the truck over. Apparently the pressure relief valve is stuck in relief mode and is releasing all the pressure (at least its doing its job) but I need the pressure to start the truck. So we make a quick fix which seemed to work fine.
Then we get back to town and go eat and the same thing is going on.
Tomorrow could be a long day.