Charles,
It is better to have valves that are loose or adjusted correctly making
noise than to have tight ones that will burn up your exhaust valves. A little
valve noise is normal. If you never heard it before they were too tight and the
engine wasn't breathing properly as you noticed by the power gain.
Mike MacLean
60 Sprite
00 Ford F-150
99 Mercedes E320W
92 Honda Accord
87 Honda Civic
"Charles D. Sorkin" wrote:
> Good morning, list:
>
> I finally readjusted the valves on my 1275 engine yesterday to what I
> believe is the correct clearance of 0.012 inches when cold (or in my case, a
> little bit warm). I have no knowledge of when the valves were previously
> adjusted ever, but they were relatively quiet before I did the adjusting.
> Subsequent, I noticed two things:
>
> 1. I am getting significantly more tappet noise than before. Not
> terribly loud, but noticeable. Is this normal? Even if its not...
>
> 2. I am definitely getting more power output, maybe 5-15 hp, especially
> in the midrange of RPMs. The engine, besides the tappet noise, is
> generating an exhilarating low frequency rumble/roar that really sounds
> fantastic, better than I've ever heard this car sound.
>
> Should I be concerned about the valve noise given this?
>
> Later in the day, I fixed an exhaust leak between the manifold and the pipe,
> an after breaking one of the studs (profanity omitted), I discovered that my
> idle is now siting exactly at 1000 (as per the factory specs) and the
> backfiring problem (a pop whenever the RPMs dropped quickly) vanished.
> Unfortunately, the above-mentioned roaring sound quieted a bit.
>
> After I finish up this tuneup, next step: rust repair.
>
> Regards,
>
> Charles
> '74 Midget
> cdsorkin@ix.netcom.com
> Bloomfield, NJ
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