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Mar 21, 2018 16:44:08 GMT
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Sorry for asking such a dumb question... I want to check/adjust my tappets. I have an Essex v6. It came to me with various upgrades following a rebuild. The hand-written receipt for this lists a Kent fast road cam and "Competition Lifters". How can I go about finding the correct settings... does it remain standard to the Essex? or more likely... settings determined by Kent? I have emailed Kent. I'm guessing that having Powermax pistons, a 3.1 rebore/10:1 compression ratio isn't a factor in setting the clearances. ANY help or advice gratefully received. I want to tackle this next ahead of (or immediately after) an impending oil and filter change.
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Mar 21, 2018 17:20:36 GMT
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Hi, Use the standard clearances, aftermarket cam suppliers usually kept to standard especially fast road.
Colin
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Mar 21, 2018 17:26:54 GMT
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Thanks Colin!
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Mar 21, 2018 17:54:39 GMT
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I checked the website a while back and there appeared to be two or three fast road cams that could be used if I remember correctly (bad memory so maybe not!). Sadly all I have is a hand written scrawl on a bill of work that says only "Kent fast road cam".
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Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,845
Club RR Member Number: 39
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Tappet Noob questionDarkspeed
@darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member 39
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Mar 21, 2018 18:03:28 GMT
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Link above is to the only 3.0L cam listed as Fast Road.
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steveg
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,586
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Mar 21, 2018 19:09:44 GMT
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Pretty sure my Kent Mini cam needed different clearances so it might be worth seeing what they have to say, might depend on the cam design.
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Laters
Club Retro Rides Member
Head Droid Builder and Bottle Washer
Posts: 125
Club RR Member Number: 115
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Tappet Noob questionLaters
@laters
Club Retro Rides Member 115
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Mar 21, 2018 19:49:22 GMT
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I fitted a kcv63 to the Essex I rebuilt in my first v6 car & the tappet settings were different to the stock settings. (if my memory is correct) The camshaft was marked on the end I remember that much. (its over twenty years ago since I messed with a v6 Essex engine)
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Last Edit: Feb 9, 2021 19:14:40 GMT by Laters
Club Retro Rides Gti Member
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Wait... is this telling me to set both the inlet and exhaust at .41? Becaus ethat seems awful big to me. I wont need to find my feeler gauges, I just need to borrow one of my wife's Swedish crackerbreads.
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Last Edit: Mar 22, 2018 8:14:54 GMT by Deleted
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Rich
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,308
Club RR Member Number: 160
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Tappet Noob questionRich
@foxmcintyre
Club Retro Rides Member 160
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Under half a millimetre sounds good to me..
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steveg
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,586
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I thought I had written the figures for the Mini in the workshop manual, I didn't though unfortunately. The clearance on the Mini was bigger and it was pretty noisy at idle and can only assume the clearances were arrived at to give the best power. In theory the bigger the gap the faster the initial valve opening is but I wonder how much difference it really makes.
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Mar 22, 2018 10:17:23 GMT
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There are two reasons why I want (or possibly need) to check/adjust mine. 1. I have a sense of chattering from the left hand bank (from the position of the driver's seat). Not just at cold, but when warm (possibly more when warm). I have deliberated for a while what this could be. It seems a lot more pronounced driving under load than when idling at stationary... so a for a while I wondered if it was possibly something loose and rattling when rolling along. But if I give it a rev in idle/stationary, it will chatter up and then chatter back down again as the engine settles back to idle. Sounds slightly different, but still there. I have also wondered if this is merely a blow in an exhaust gasket as to me it doesn't sound quite like what I would expect of tappets. But then again this is my first Essex, and my first V-engine having only ever had simple fourpots before and one straight six. My car buddy listened to it and said "tappets" immediately, but I'm never too sure I want to just go blindly along with his snap diagnoses. 2. When I take the oil cap out and fiddle with the rocker arm that I can reach with my fingers, there is loose play. It is very loose both rotationally around the fixing point and up and down. It always is, each time I check so I assume that's just loose and it's not a case of that rocker always being left in a natural rocking position each time I switch the engine off. I have to admit I'm plucking up the courage to tackle this but terrified of getting it wrong and getting into a mess... potentially setting it wrong and dinging up my cylinder heads or even pistons. I learned how to set the tappets on old Metro A-series engines, but that was.... ooooh, 25-30 years ago I guess, and it was very simple. I'm not sure how much of that I can remember now, nor how much of it is transferable to an Essex V6 anyway.
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Last Edit: Mar 22, 2018 10:24:41 GMT by Deleted
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Davey
Posted a lot
Resident Tyre Nerd.
Posts: 2,320
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Mar 22, 2018 11:25:55 GMT
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You seem to be over thinking this a little. If you make sure your only adjusting closed valves and you have the correct measurements and a feeler gauge you really can't go wrong, or at least not wrong enough to cause any damage. Plenty of guides online to adjust tappets on the essex engine.
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K11 Micra x3 - Mk3 astra - Seat Marbella - Mk6 Escort estate - B5 Passat - Alfa 156 estate - E36 compact Mk2 MR2 T-bar - E46 328i - Skoda Superb - Fiat seicento - 6n2 Polo - 6n polo 1.6 - Mk1 GS300 EU8 civic type S - MG ZT cdti - R56 MINI Cooper S - Audi A3 8p - Jaguar XF (X250) - FN2 Civic Type R - Mk2 2.0i Ford Focus
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Mar 22, 2018 11:56:16 GMT
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That's entirely possible... I get told that a lot. I've come to accept that part of my process for doing almost anything I'm unfamiliar with is firstly to experience a massive dose of doubt and apprehension. That's necessary though for me to think it all through and gather all the information I could possibly need, and then I just crack on and it's all fine.
But overthinking is definitely my first step.
= )
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Davey
Posted a lot
Resident Tyre Nerd.
Posts: 2,320
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Mar 22, 2018 12:08:27 GMT
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That's entirely possible... I get told that a lot. I've come to accept that part of my process for doing almost anything I'm unfamiliar with is firstly to experience a massive dose of doubt and apprehension. That's necessary though for me to think it all through and gather all the information I could possibly need, and then I just crack on and it's all fine. But overthinking is definitely my first step. = ) Your not the only one. But plenty of help here if you need it!
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K11 Micra x3 - Mk3 astra - Seat Marbella - Mk6 Escort estate - B5 Passat - Alfa 156 estate - E36 compact Mk2 MR2 T-bar - E46 328i - Skoda Superb - Fiat seicento - 6n2 Polo - 6n polo 1.6 - Mk1 GS300 EU8 civic type S - MG ZT cdti - R56 MINI Cooper S - Audi A3 8p - Jaguar XF (X250) - FN2 Civic Type R - Mk2 2.0i Ford Focus
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Phil H
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,448
Club RR Member Number: 133
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Tappet Noob questionPhil H
@philhoward
Club Retro Rides Member 133
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Mar 22, 2018 12:21:31 GMT
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If the one you had a furtle with was on the base of the cam, you can wobble the rocker around in all directions a bit - this is normal.
When you pull the rocker covers off, check all the pushrod guides are present and correct - they're hard but brittle so can snap a corner off. It will be evident at a glance.
If one tappet clearance is bigger than the others, check the stud that holds the rocker and its nut aren't loose in the head (check its height compared to the rest). It's rare but not unheard of for the studs to pull out over time as they're only a (very tight) push fit.
0.41mm (16 thou) sounds about right for a Fast Road cam.
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Mar 22, 2018 12:47:51 GMT
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Cheers everyone. Cheers Phil. I have to make a public confession regarding Phil. For the time I was absent from RR I was over at Scimweb driving everybody nuts with overthinking things. Phil and Jim both very patiently talked me down off the ceiling fan time and time again over there, and helped me out no end with advice, info and suggestions. So now I'm back here, I try really hard not to aim my questions in any way that seems I might be angling for some specific Phil 'n' Jim time. Inevitably Phil always pops by though, and the overthought debt I feel I owe him grows. WHICH ISN'T FAIR. STOP MAKING ME FEEL BAD PHIL. One day I'll repay you. In light of your comment though Phil. If all-directional play is not enough to justify worrying then I'm back to suspecting there may be an entirely different explanation for the noise. I suspect once more it might be an exhaust blow but jiggered if I can find it. I've just dug out and cleaned up my feeler gauges so I might put myself through it anyway just for the practice. Myfeeler gauges have sat at the bottom of my third, rarely used toolbox for probably 25 years now. At first they looked beyond use as they seemed to have corroded into a solid lump. A bit of olive oil and bicarb and some gentle rubbing and they're back in action. The blades are (almost) good as new. It has taken me about 40 mins of deep confusion to work out how to make .41 out of the selection of blades available though. That's how bad I am at this stuff. It utterly bamboozled me for a while.
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Phil H
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,448
Club RR Member Number: 133
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Tappet Noob questionPhil H
@philhoward
Club Retro Rides Member 133
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Mar 22, 2018 13:17:37 GMT
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25 + 16 - easy
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Mar 22, 2018 13:25:33 GMT
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Okay so for clarity, this video shows how much play I actually have Phil. If you wouldn't mind having a look and letting me know if this is acceptable wobble. I will then add even more indebtedness to the massive pile of indebtedness you've already buried me under...
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Mar 22, 2018 13:29:34 GMT
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25 + 16 - easy NO! HA! I don't HAVE 25 or 16. I did solve it eventually when I stopped using a .20+.15+erm, + .hang on, I've... errrr.... hang on. I've got a .30 + .10 + .04 + .06
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