Help! What valve gap should I use??
gonif
I recently bought my 1st VW, which has a 2180 engine in it. I don't have
much experience working with cars, but I'm trying to learn now.
Anyway, does anyone know what the valves should be gapped at? I'm getting
conflicting responses from different people. Some people say .006", some
say .002", and one person said use .004" for cylinders 1, 2, and 4, and
..006 for cylinder 3. Of course, the "idiot" book says .006".
One guy said it depends if my rocker arms are make of steel or aluminum.
Ummmmmmm....... help?
Also, when removing the valve cover, is it normal for all that oil to
gradually leak out? I must have collected close to a quart over 45
minutes or so.
Thank you!
Jeff
Jeffry Johnston
They were supposed to be set at .004 but VW retroactively changed it to .006.
I would like to hear more about this myself. I set my intakes at .004
and my exhaust at .006. I turn the tappet in very gently 'til it touches
then open about 1/8 turn for .004 and 3/16 turn for .006. Then check it
with a feeler gage to make sure, but after you get the feel of it you can
tell if it's OK by the sound and feel when you "rock" it by hand.
I have: .004=1/8 turn .006=3/16 turn felt tipped in the lid of my
tool box that I carry in my '67. The only time I adjust them is when
they are out of adjustment, according to the feeler gage, usually they check
out fine.
Have you changed the oil? It should have 3 quarts (if it doesn't have an
extra volume sump added to the bottom or oil filter or oil cooler etc.)
After changing the oil check the dip stick, you may have the wrong one in
it. Of course, you can always get a used one that's the right size.
Are you sure it was that much oil or just seemed like a quart?
Alvin Johnston <--Libertarian
John Connolly
> conflicting responses from different people. Some people say .006", some
> say .002", and one person said use .004" for cylinders 1, 2, and 4, and
> ..006 for cylinder 3. Of course, the "idiot" book says .006".
>
> One guy said it depends if my rocker arms are make of steel or aluminum.
not your rocker arms...
run .006 valve clearance....on all cylinders...>
>
>
> Also, when removing the valve cover, is it normal for all that oil to
> gradually leak out? I must have collected close to a quart over 45
> minutes or so.
>
it helps if you turn the engine off when the valve
cover is off.....
John
PS: I am kidding.... ;)
--
Richard Troy
The ENGINEERING was done for .004" (.1mm). But VW found that most
Americans (where most of the cars were going) ignore their cars as long
as the key turns and the motor starts, and surely weren't going to
adhere to any 3k mile fidling schedule... SO they increased the
published spec to .006" as insurance. You only loose a little
performance if the gap is too wide (and it makes some extra noise), but
this was considered worth it as insurance against a valve tightening up.
IE: the engine can tolerate too loose better than too tight.
ALL of the aircooled VW engines run great at .004" - you just have to
check the adjustment more often to be certain you don't burn a valve. My
engines are run at .004" - all valves, all the time, nomatter. Sometimes
when I'm in a hurry, I'll let a valve that's at .005" slide by and not
bother to adjust it...
Also, the issue of aluminum vs steel/iron is this: The pushrod should
match the cylinder type. There were some special aluminum cylinders, and
these require special -mostly- aluminum pushrods. If you have standard
iron cylinders, use standard pushrods and don't worry about it. If you
have aluminum cylinders, worry about it!
RT
--
Richard Troy, President
The Karmann Ghia Club of North America
4200 Park Blvd, #151, Oakland, CA, 94602
rt...@Postgres.Berkeley.EDU
rt.g...@Barra.com
510-531-1320
510-643-1016 @UCB
510-642-5615 FAX @ UCB
The KGCNA Web Page:
http://s2k-ftp.cs.berkeley.edu:8000/personal/rtroy/kgcna/
gonif
a 2180 engine's valve clearance should be set to. Thank you for
responding, though!
So can I draw the conclusion that the valve gap isn't that critical? Are
all VW air cooled engines gapped the same then? I was told that the 2180
is a "high performance" racing engine... but it should still be gapped the
same as a stock 1600?
If the gap is too wide what happens? Or if it's too narrow?
Thanks you guys, I really appreciate it. This stuff is kind of confusing
when you're new to it.
Jeff
Oh--and the oil that leaked out SEEMED like a quart...probably less. It
filled up two Carl's Jr chicken salad to-go plates, however much that is.
(I hadn't bought an oil drip pan yet..)
Dr. Bug
jared
'63 Bug (Dolores)
MyVWsGotMe
In article <gonif-23049...@ip228.sna.primenet.com>,
go...@primenet.com (gonif) writes:
>So can I draw the conclusion that the valve gap isn't that critical? Are
>all VW air cooled engines gapped the same then? I was told that the 2180
>is a "high performance" racing engine... but it should still be gapped
the
>same as a stock 1600?
>
>If the gap is too wide what happens? Or if it's too narrow?
>
>Thanks you guys, I really appreciate it. This stuff is kind of confusing
>when you're new to it.
What's critical is that there IS a gap, no matter how small,
when the engine's hot. The valves are set cold, and there is
relative growth of all the different components and materials
to take into account. All that matters is that you never have
a gap go down to zero, because that means a valve will be
remaining slightly open at combustion, and therefore the
expanding gases of combustion will be rushing past the valve
seat, burning the seat or valve, damaging the valve/seat
sealing surface. It doesn't matter what cam you run, or what
valve sizes, or what stroke crank you've got. The cam-lifter-
pushrod-rocker-valve geometry is the same. Exceptions
might be other-than-stock pushrod materials, and ratio
rockers that are drastically different from stock. I can
only hope that anyone offering pushrods has done their
homework and tried to make them expand at the same
rate as the stock ones. Ratio rocker manufacturers ought
to be responsible enough to include gap adjustment
instructions with their product; if they don't offer that,
I'd recommend purchase elsewhere.
Anyway- more gap = more ticking noise, but it's just
fine as far as the engine is concerned. (within reason)
And less gap = less noise, but if you try to run the
gap too low, you will burn a valve. When one burns
the seat, you'll lose adjustment as well: the valve will
go tight, and you'll have to increase the gap to get
it back where it is supposed to be. A check you
can do, if you enjoy the company of hot oil, is to
check the gaps hot, and make absolutely sure that
none have gone to zero. Most will tighten up some.
This is no fun, but with a fresh, expensive motor
like that it's probably well worth it. A call to the
shops that BUILD these motors is a good idea
too- ask what they recommend in an engine built
like yours. Any way you look at it, though, you
will find that .006" is likely to be very close to
optimum. Hoep this helps... Rob
Rob <--- 74 Sun Bug, 66 Sunroof Bug, 71 Notchback