Valve cover removal

Davey b wrote:

Surely point 7 on removal and point 1 on installation contradict each other ??

Once the cover is removed you need to tension the chain before rotating the engine to adjust valve clearances. The factory manual is a little misleading as in the "maintenance" section ref valve clearances there is no mention of the tensioner however in the engine section it states the below (removing the cover does allow slack in the chain)


 

Thanks again Wookie. So I'm thinking, remove tension, remove valve cover, reattach tension. Do necessary work, remove tension again, refit valve cover then replace tension. That sound right ??

Sounds like the "safe" option to me to avoid overtightening which will cause significant damage

I think that's gonna be my plan. Seems like people have different ways of doing it, shame there isn't a "definitive " way of doing it. I'll let you know how I get on, what's the worst that could happen 🤣

Just to clarify, taking out the cap, spring and wedge releases the tension ? Simply refitting the cap, spring and wedge ( after valve cover fitted ) puts the tension back on ?
sorry to sound thick but I've never done this before !!

Davey b wrote:

Just to clarify, taking out the cap, spring and wedge releases the tension ? Simply refitting the cap, spring and wedge ( after valve cover fitted ) puts the tension back on ?
sorry to sound thick but I've never done this before !!

Correct.
 

Thanks Nessism, 😊 

So, took cover off today and checked valve clearances.  All are about 0.12 except intakes on 2 and 3 which are bang on the limit of 0.15
( manual says 0.05 to 0.15 ) would you guys say that's OK or should I look at reshimming  ?

Forgot to say , i measured the gaps by sliding the feeler gauges between the cam lobe and the shim with the cams pointing directly away from the shim. Is that right or am I doing it wrong ?

Davey b wrote:

Forgot to say , i measured the gaps by sliding the feeler gauges between the cam lobe and the shim with the cams pointing directly away from the shim. Is that right or am I doing it wrong ?

Pointing the cam lobe away from the bucket is not the best way.  Reason being, when the cams are positioned this way, the cam lobe just adjacent to the one you are checking may be depressed, pushing up on the cam, skewing it in the journal clearance. This results in your measured values being larger than when following the factory method.  That said, given your measurements, I wouldn't worry about it.  Even if you rechecked using the factor method, your valves would still be in spec, so move on to something else...

Thanks, I might just recheck them anyway as the valve cover gasket I had is the wrong one so I've got some time on my hands .

Previous owner got a bit hands on with the goopy stuff 🤣 
Gonna have hour of fun getting this lot off !!