valve adjustment

[johnr]

What happens if the valves aren't adjusted every 3000 miles?

[68autobug]

Hi John r
I believe I answered this recently in the technical section...
the valve stems can stretch... if over heated by a valve not closing properly..  this can be due to the valve seat being recessed by the constant pounding by the valve...
You can probably do them every 6000 miles John..  I just got into the habit of doing them after each oil change...
I also wipe all the old oil out of inside the sump, and the tappet covers.. so the oil stays clean for a while...
and wipe out the strainer etc...  and clean it with gasoline if it looks a bit dirty...
I do the tappets very slowly, to make sure i don't make any mistakes...  lol
and they are a pain to do... its good if they don't need to be adjusted... lol
undoing and tightening those nuts etc without changing the tappet clearance is a real pain...

cheers

LEE

[johnr]

Agreed!  I have done it a couple of times and it's a pain.  Adjusting the nuts is a problem.  I found the step-by-step directions in "How To Keep Your Volkswagen Alive" to be the easiest to follow, but I never knew why it was necessary so often.

[68autobug]

Hi John
I usually do mine at every oil change [ every 3000 miles or less]
its a job I don't enjoy doing... laying under the car doesn't worry Me
Yes, its those nuts...  they do like to move the tappet when they move....
I have thought about buying new nuts etc but I don't think it would matter..
I've always wondered though why they didn't use a finer thread???  maybe more trouble with stripping??
One of the locals who has always had an air cooled VW all his life [now 65]
does His at .004" instead of .006" but his engine is a new mexican one [well a few years old now]
Mine used to move about a bit but lately most of them are still at the same setting as last time...
so, don't need to be adjusted.. YES..
Maybe I wasn't doing them as good???  lol...  but once You get used to doing them its easy to find which cylinder..
and i think I printed out the details from Rob & Dave's site - vw-resource.com

cheers

Lee in Australia

PS: I have a twin port 1971 engine in My shed that was in a superbug I bought years ago with very bad HAIL damage.
the girl owner had spent a lot of money on the car...  but Her grandfather gave the engine a tune up...
and it never went again... what He did I don't know... lol...  I'll have to check the tappets again to see what they are like or maybe its timed on the wrong cylinder???   cheers...   LEE

[johnr]

I have always had the same difficulty adjusting distributor points!  Now I have
a Petronex ignition and no more problems! 

[68autobug]

Hi Johnr

Yes I have the pertronix kit in My distributor too..  I think anything to do with feeler gauges is a problem..  John...  lol   

At least We can lay down on the ground to do our tappets instead of leaning over a fender.. lol.

cheers

Lee in Australia.. 

[johnr]

Amen, Lee,  much easier on the back!

[68autobug]

I have bought another engine to fit to My beetle.  its from a manual beetle about 1971.. 1600... it was checked over as it was going into a trike..  which never happened... I think I will need a late model dual oil pump as all my pumps are from 1968 models...  My Beetle is going great at the moment but the engine oil seal has failed, and lots of oil leaking under the engine...
I have also had a new knee fitted just under two months ago... so I won';t be doing anything with the engine for a while..  its heading towards winter now too...  with temps 6c early morning to 25c during the day... so still sunny enough during the day but My new knee doesn't like the cold temperatues.. lol

cheers

LEE in Australia