Valve clearances slightly out - do I fix it?

Sooooo... The cams are back in and it rotates by hand without any crunchy noises. Success you might think, but alas I am a ham fisted goon and damaged 2 of the cam cap bolts after buying a torque wrench to avoid doing just that.... Lesson learnt, don't trust a new torque wrench at the extremes of its adjustment....

So, I put 2 random bolts in for now (they're surprisingly similar to the originals) but I'm guessing it would be advisable to replace them with the genuine items? Does any kind soul have a couple kicking about they could post for beer tokens? Also, the bolts seem to have taken the damage, no swarf came out, the replacement bolts went in (and tightened up (by hand)) fine.... I'm probably ok, right?

Next up, I suspect a far more minor problem but on the front cylinder, the 2 & 3 arrows point to the first pin in their respective links of the timing chain as shown in the manual but on the rear cylinder, they point to the second pin.... Common sense says it should be fine, they're still 16 pins apart but I thought I'd check.

Rear cylinder:



Front cylinder:



Strechy bolt:



Detail of rear inlet cam:



Click for much bigness!

[jambo]

From your description of the pin 2 and 3 item I assume you mean everything on the diagram lines up but the whole chain is essentially 1 tooth forward or back. If so it matters not a jot. The marks that matter are on the cams and crank. If it makes you feel better you can pop the cams out slip the chain round one tooth and reassemble I suppose. Or just turn the motor over a few times, can't remember if it would change or stay the same.

I have a couple of spare cam cap bolts, drop me a pm with your address and I'll get them in a bag to you.

Just to check when the cams went back in, that the motor was turned 360 degrees between installing one and the other? If they both line up as per the diagram at the same time it won't run right.

Jambo

Sent without a real keyboard

Thanks very much, I figured the position of the chain didn't matter but thought I'd check. Yes, the engine was turned 360 degrees between cylinders, I followed the manual pretty accurately and it all lines up as it should. I suspect the chain may have moved one tooth on the crank pulley sometime during the disassembly but as you say, it makes no odds. I didn't check it before removing them so it may have been like this before anyway. The timing marks only line up right as it is, not if I try one tooth either side so I'm happy.

Thanks again!

In case anyone was worried, it still runs, started very nicely and no nasty noises at all

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5OEqHnSlqc

I'm very relieved! Thanks to everyone, especially jambo for posting me replacement bolts out to France!

How long did it take you all told? Mine probably need doing at some point!

Originally Posted by atassiedevil

How long did it take you all told? Mine probably need doing at some point!

Difficult to say as it was done over a few days. I'd allow 1-1.5 hours to take it all apart and check the clearances if you've not done it before, then maybe half an hour to take the cams out and check the shim sizes if they're out of spec. Once you've got new shims, probably another couple of hours to put it all back together.

It's not a difficult job, getting to the tensioners is a PITA and if you have to wait to get new shims you'll have parts everywhere which increases the chances of mistakes when reassembling... but I managed it so it can't be too hard!

Thanks. Will give it some thought and get out the tools

Get a precision torque wrench, unless you're happy you can do the cam cap bolts to 10Nm by hand!

10 Nm doesnt seem like a lot to me.
I am a novice, and thinking about doing this job aswell. Could someone tell me if there's any reason to go and buy a precision torque wrench or just do the cap bolts by hand?

It sounds to me like it wont matter too much if they aren't torqued a little less than 10Nm, since they are just keeping the lid on the engine, and wont take any pressure from within?

[jambo]

Originally Posted by Vinc

10 Nm doesnt seem like a lot to me.
I am a novice, and thinking about doing this job aswell. Could someone tell me if there's any reason to go and buy a precision torque wrench or just do the cap bolts by hand?

It sounds to me like it wont matter too much if they aren't torqued a little less than 10Nm, since they are just keeping the lid on the engine, and wont take any pressure from within?

Originally Posted by Sid Squid

Just for you baby!



OK, maybe I labelled one spark plug a bit - the other one's hiding.

I think you're confusing the cam cover and cam cap bolts.

A major reason for using a torque wrench on items like this is to make sure that all parts are done to the same tightness. The cam cover would matter less.

Jambo