Valves question

[Veraciousreasoning]

Hey all,

 

So I am doing my valve clearance today and this is the first time I've ever set the valve clearance before. I also bought a new gasket for the valve as the person who owned the truck before me used some red stuff that seemed to be like caulk. I am cleaning the old gasket off today and was curious if you guys can help me with a couple things. just for reference the truck is a 1980 720

 

1.  How do I tell which one is the intake and which one is the exhaust? I have the factory service manual and Haynes and nether are explaining which one are which just the order on how I do them. 

2.  What bolts am I putting my wrenches on?

3. I uploaded an image. The truck has 173,000 miles...does this seem clean to you? I didn't wipe anything down or touch anything except the gasket area. 

Edited February 5, 2022 by Veraciousreasoning

[wayno]

Look at your intake/exhaust manifolds for what valves are intake/exhaust.

 

 

Edited February 5, 2022 by wayno

[Logical1]

The head does look nice and clean, here is your picture with the nuts used to adjust the clearance encapsulated in red.

[datzenmike]

There are three 'nuts' the top one is the smallest and up under the rocker almost out of sight. The middle one, second up from the bottom is just the lock nut. You loosen it, adjust the top one, and tighten the lock nut to hold the setting. You have to hold the top one when tightening the lock nut or they both turn and you loose your setting. After tightening always re-check the lash to be sure.

 

I recommend a diesel oil that are high in ZDDP to protect that nice cam and rocker pads from wear.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

The valve adjusters should be VERY tight or they wil come out of adjustment. That said, you will need a good pair of wrenches to loosen and tighten them enough. Snap_On wrenches are proven to flex less than cheap wrenches and will not round the nuts. Either way, be careful when loosening/tightening the jam nut, not to round it off.

 

 I also have a Snap-On extended crow foot wrench for a 1/2" drive ratchet that is for the nut. It works great, but a bit cumbersome.

 

[Veraciousreasoning]

15 hours ago, datzenmike said:

There are three 'nuts' the top one is the smallest and up under the rocker almost out of sight. The middle one, second up from the bottom is just the lock nut. You loosen it, adjust the top one, and tighten the lock nut to hold the setting. You have to hold the top one when tightening the lock nut or they both turn and you loose your setting. After tightening always re-check the lash to be sure.

 

I recommend a diesel oil that are high in ZDDP to protect that nice cam and rocker pads from wear.

 

Thanks. So I basically did the ATF transmission flush. I drained all the oil, put the ATF and new oil/filter, drove for about 150-300 miles and drained the oil. It was blacker than night. When it comes to the Diesel oil should I use 15-40? It gets roughly 10-20 degrees at night/morning and wanna make sure it would work. I think they also have 5w-40 at the autostore. 

[Veraciousreasoning]

5 hours ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

The valve adjusters should be VERY tight or they wil come out of adjustment. That said, you will need a good pair of wrenches to loosen and tighten them enough. Snap_On wrenches are proven to flex less than cheap wrenches and will not round the nuts. Either way, be careful when loosening/tightening the jam nut, not to round it off.

 

 I also have a Snap-On extended crow foot wrench for a 1/2" drive ratchet that is for the nut. It works great, but a bit cumbersome.

 

 

As of today I have a husky set cause it was all I could afford. I am thinking of finding the wrench sizes and going to the autostore and just buying 2 snap-on wrenches for this job. I'll make sure they are super tight. 

[datzenmike]

No 5W oil. It's recommended for climate that never goes above 0 F. 10W30 is fine

[Veraciousreasoning]

1 hour ago, datzenmike said:

No 5W oil. It's recommended for climate that never goes above 0 F. 10W30 is fine

 

Yeah I usually put 10w30 but I cant find diesel oil nearby that is 10w30. I'll just put 15 40 for now and order some online. 

[Veraciousreasoning]

On 2/5/2022 at 2:10 PM, wayno said:

Look at your intake/exhaust manifolds for what valves are intake/exhaust.

 

 

 

I still can't seem to figure out which one is which as the exhaust manifolds leads to the same area as the intake. This is all very confusing and the Haynes manual only tells me the sequence and the factory service manual just tells me gap. 

Edited February 8, 2022 by Veraciousreasoning

[Veraciousreasoning]

So the service manual doesn't tell me anything other than the gap setting. 

I attached the picture of the Haynes manual. It tells me the sequence but It doesn't tell me what the gap should be on each. Which is kind of annoying. Any help would be appreciated and I can take more pictures if need be of my engine. The intake and exhaust are all pointing to the same areas so it's hard to determine which is what. 

[datzenmike]

Front to back are...

 

Exhaust.... 0.012"

Intake....... 0.010"

 

Intake....... 0.010"

Exhaust.... 0.012"

 

Exhaust .... 0.012"

Intake....... 0.010"

 

Intake....... 0.010"

Exhaust.... 0.012"

[Veraciousreasoning]

4 minutes ago, datzenmike said:

Front to back are...

 

Exhaust.... 0.012"

Intake....... 0.010"

 

Intake....... 0.010"

Exhaust.... 0.012"

 

Exhaust .... 0.012"

Intake....... 0.010"

 

Intake....... 0.010"

Exhaust.... 0.012"

 

You're the man. I wish you were my neighbor. The amount you've helped me deserves a 30 pack and some mushrooms lol 

[Veraciousreasoning]

Hey quick question

 

When I am tightening down the the valve cover...How tight do I tighten it and what order should I? I did front to back front to back then middle. 

[datzenmike]

Try 8 ft lbs or wrist tight. No need to force. If oil appears, sometimes the gasket crushes after a few heat cycles, go around and snug them up. Order shouldn't matter.

[Veraciousreasoning]

So I still haven't gotten around to doing it and today I tried to do it. It seems I don't have the right kind of wrench or its to small. Anyone ever do this to a 80 and can give pointers. 

[datzenmike]

'80 720 is an L20B same as all other L16/18 and L20Bs of the '70s.

 

Warm engine thoroughly, at least 15 minutes.

Move plug wires out of way

Remove valve cover

Set engine to TDC top dead center on the compression stroke of the #1 cylinder. First two cam lobes should be upward at 2 and 10 o'clock. Find the V notch on the back side of the pulley and set to zero on the ignition timing scale near the alternator...

 

 

Maybe practice this on a cold engine till you are sure you have it. If V notch not found position the front two cam lobes equally split at 2 and 10.

 

AT TDC you can set half the valves without laboriously bumping the starter.

 

#1 set both valves

#2 set the intake

#3 set the exhaust

 

Turn engine exactly ONE turn back up to zero on the timing scale and set the other half

 

#2 set exhaust

#3 set the intake

#4 set both.

 

Intake is 0.012"

Exhaust is 0.010"

 

Front to back is

 

Exhaust

Intake

Intake

Exhaust

Exhaust

Intake

Intake

Exhaust

 

With a little practice you can do this in under 10 min. That way you have more than a minute each and you only need 30 seconds. Engine never gets time to cool off. If over ten min, pop the valve cover and wires on and let it idle for 5. Hot setting is best as this is what the engine runs at. Setting cold is also ok but it assumes that when hot the clearances will expand to the correct amount. I like cold setting for initial setting if head was apart, but then hot check to be sure.

[Veraciousreasoning]

What size wrench is for the bottom nut? I bought a bunch of wrenches and none of them fit. I used a 7/8ths wrench and it was still too small. 

[Veraciousreasoning]

Nevermind I am a fucking idiot. I thought the big nut on the bottom was what I was suppose to loosen and I didnt see the tiny one. Got it all done and only had to warm it up 2 times. 

[Veraciousreasoning]

So I set my valves and it seems to have quiet down a bit. I do still hear a little tick but I am wondering if that is normal or should I drive it for a couple days and check the adjustment? I took a video of it but I can't really pick it up on my phone. Going to try to figure out a way to pick up the sound. 

[datzenmike]

Well an intake might easily have been set to an exhaust setting by mistake. Check them cold and see if one is set looser than the rest.

[Veraciousreasoning]

1 hour ago, datzenmike said:

Well an intake might easily have been set to an exhaust setting by mistake. Check them cold and see if one is set looser than the rest.

 

When you slide your feeler in how much drag should there be? I can move the gauge and I get a slight bit of drag but not to sure how much drag I should feel. 

[datzenmike]

Slight drag is about right.