Hey happy New Years folks! I have a question about valve adjustment and TDC. If the mark on the cover is aligned with the notch on the sprocket that would indicate TDC yes? Otherwise what would be the purpose of the marks? The only reason I ask is I've been through many of the valve adjustment threads and people speak of making sure you're not 180...which is obvisouly bad. Is it possible for the marks to be lined up and not be TDC? I have a feeling I have to make adjustments on the exhaust side. I have a vibration through the steering wheel, regardless of idle or moving. I don't hear really any VT noise. I'm still a little up in the air if it's a motor mount as well. I may check the plugs to see if any of them are loose.

And yes I will let the car sit over night before doing the valve adjustment haha...don't want that argument starting all over again.

 

The normal mark that people speak of is an indentation on the crankshaft balancer/pulley and is used to check ignition timing. As the crank to camshaft is 2:1 this mark can be 180 degrees off as piston TDC occurs twices for every revolution of the camshaft. TDC would be when the pointer on the timing belt cover aligns with the mark on the pulley and piston at TDC on comprssion stroke, valves closed.

When doing a valve adjustment, the pointer is on the upper front cover and is to be aligned with the TDC mark on the front camshaft pulley and with the cylinder number of the valves that are to be adjusted, first #1 then turn the crank clockwise until the number 4 appears on the front camshaft pulley and is aligned with the pointer, then 2, 5, 3, 6.

 

watch.

 

Yah I did actually watch that, and unless I spaced out and missed something, he didn't even mention tdc. I was going to use this as a reference when actually doing it. I'll watch it again. I'm not immune to zoning out.

 

You don't have to be perfectly at TDC for a valve adjustment. The numbers on the cam sprocket are more than accurate enough. All you need is for both valves to be closed. So anywhere near the top of compression or power strokes is fine. It's good to be accurate but you have nearly 180 degrees of crank rotation with both sets of valves being fully closed. I would use the numbers on the cams and not worry about TDC. You can't be 180 off on the cams since they rotate at half engine speed. If you line up the numbers on the cam, the crank mark you see is going to be the right one, not 180 out.

 

Yep just watched it again, and no mention of TDC. Also doesn't start with cyl 1. I think Turbo answered my question and pretty much confirmed what I needed to know. When the marks are lined up, for the particular cyl shown on the pulley, that has to be TDC, otherwise there is no meaning in lining those up. When I rip it all apart I'll rotate it to a cyl twice and check valve positions on each just to confirm, but I think the question has been answered.

Also, is it imperative to start on cyl 1? The Chiltons says start at 1, but I don't know if it's necessary or just a better logical communication of the procedure for the book. I personally don't see a need to start at any particular cyl, but if I'm wrong, I'd love to hear it.

Thanks fellas.

 

Perfect IHC. That's exactly what I needed to hear. Thanks much. I got a little concerned when I heard people talking about making adjustments 180 out and it didn't really seem like it would be possible as long as you lined up the notches for the cylinder listed (ie, notches lined up and cam sprocket listing the cyl number).

 

I started at cylinder 3 because it was the first one that showed up lol. And I rotated the crank two-three more revolutions after the adjustment to make sure I didn't make a mistake. +1 to what IHC said about TDC. It doesn't have to be there. The valves need to be closed on the compression and combustion strokes, so you have ~180 degrees on the crank of both valves closed. Just point that arrow as close as you can to the number and you're all set.

 

OP, in what thread/threads was/were someone talking about being 180 out? I gotta see this...

And I really doubt the vibration you are feeling will be solved by a valve adjustment....

 

It could have been the long vavle adjustment thread with the debate about which temp is recommended before doing the job. I read about 4 or 5 threads. Yeah I'm not totally certain it needs it, but its at 98k and is recommended to check it, and most importantly, I want to learn my car. I figure as long as I don't make any mass adjustments it should be fine. Valve covers are quite dirty. Would like the see the condition of the valves....so many reasons. But yeah I hear ya, it may not fix the vibration and probably would throw a misfire code if the idle was so hosed that it transmitted a vibration through the steering wheel. Either way, I'd still like to check them. Certainly can't hurt it.

 

It certainly doesn't seem like it would matter really, which one ya start at. I think the book are just taking a clean logical approach to convey a message. I just wanted to make sure. I don't wanna F this up haha

 

Protip: take your time man! Also, get a couple cans of intake manifold/throttle body cleaner because your intake manifold will probably be dirty. This is not required, just a bonus since you'll have it all apart anyway. I did mine about a year ago, check out the thread and you'll see the nastiness: https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-2004-2008-93/valve-adjustment-pics-need-some-advice-878485/

Also, IHC did a nice write up of his, too. His findings are why I'm going to run Redline in my car until the end of time. So take note of how worn the rocker arms and cam lobes appear, it might tells us something about the type of oil that's used. And post some pics man!

 

Want to see the valve train or condition of the head, just take the oil filler plug off and have a look inside.


Just an FYI-Also, on the valve adjustment video, when done, one can hear the rocker/valve noise fairly easily, so an adjustment certainly isn't going to eliminate what is considered normal noise.

 

Nice, seeing your pics definitely makes me want to get inside my covers now. Yeah I'm definitely plan on taking my time. I still have to order gaskets, which I may or may not need, but it would be nice to have them if needed. Cool thanks for the help and good thread ya had there. I'll hit up IHC's thread as well.

 

Yeah I did look down in there actually and it doesn't look too bad. Maybe a little build up here and there. Not too shabby though. Yeah I'm not hearing any real noise from the valves. I'm definitely not expecting any earth shattering improvements. If the vibration it the steering wheel clears up because of it, great. If not I guess I'll just deal with it. I'm also considering painting the VCs, but at least cleaning them up. Its not the cleanest engine I've ever seen, but it is New England so....honestly...I think I'm just bored, and I'm having trouble finding a good mechanic up here, so the only thing left for me to do is learn how to do it myself. I've done really only repairs on cars when needed...brakes, a ball joint or two, sensors, bearings, swapped a carb out once or twice back in the day..shit like that. I really wanna start digging in a little deeper. This seems like a good start.

Definitely, thanks for the info Turbo. You guys are alright

 

So I guess I need to ask one more dumb question. Up around 3k or 3500, I get a sound like ..I dunno, a bong or dice in a cup, and not all the time. It's not very loud. The wife doesn't hear it, but I hear it. Recently had the 105 minus the valve adjustments done, and was wondering if valve noise would be constant or is it possible to get maybe that type of sound if the exhaust side started getting too tight? I have used 93oct gas, but it's hard to find so usually 91. It doesn't really sound like pinging, more like plastic. So I guess part B is, anyone's engine covers rattle or anything, because it sounds like plastic or possibly like a pump sucking air. All fluids are good.