I read somewhere, maybe a post here, that you can set your valves cold and just set them a little tighter. Does anyone do this? Thanks in advance for anyones reply.

http://www.4x4wire.com/forums/showflat.php?....#Post976697

some good info there <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Cold 22re valve adjustment

.007 intake
.011 exhaust

Sorry to beat this to death, but I was thinking, if things expand when they heat up, wouldn't you want to set the valve clearance loser when cold?

It's only 1/1000th of an inch difference, so don't lose any sleep over it. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cyclops.gif" alt="" />

If doing a cold setup, like for a rebuild, I set them up at .008/.012 with heavy drag, and that's pretty close. I do a warm set after I've broken it in, and am retorquing the head anyway.

Yes, things expand when hot, but I think it has to do with the way the expansion happens in the head. Likely due to the higher expansion rate of aluminum (the head) vs. steel (the valves) cause the valve stem to sink into the head as it expands (aluminum expands about 50% more than steel due to heat). So I found that setting 0.001" tighter when cold came out with just about the correct hot clearance, which should be checked in any event.

Link to expansion rates of various metals

Thanks for your reply 4Crawler, I can sleep at night again.

>>>*I ran some "High-tech" tests... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />... on this using a Pizza oven way back, that was interesting. Crude but it worked.

Some came up looser warm, some came up tighter. It wasn't much, the worst one changed just .0015"..

Rule of thumb is to set them cold, warm her up and double-check. Forget the posts you read about the "stiff sliding fit" etc.

A feeler guage is for measuring, so measure.

The surprise is how much actual valve action is affected by lash, tighter advances the valve openings, looser retards. You can actually affect the engine's response by a bit with valve lash, so getting them uniform is as important and getting the setting right....*EB

I've got a question on this, I just finished rebuilding my 92 22re, put a new cam in it, set valves loose, broke it in, went to tighten them up after break in and the #1 cyl intake valve wasn't showing nearly as much threads as the rest of them, about 1/2 as much thread actually. This was a little unnerving. I double checked all the settings and had my neighbor who has worked with motors (mostly domestic though) for 20+ years verify they were all set right for my new cam. Does having that big of a difference in threads showing say something? The motor is really noisy, partly due to exhaust leak, I think, but can't find - but also seems to be valve noise related. What do I need to check for, how do I diagnose this problem. Most everyone here is more into domestic stuff so I'm having trouble trusting local mechanics. Not to mention you seem to be the resident mechanical genious. thanks in advance EB.

Oh and my cam gear is not yet set 2? advanced, (adjustable cam gear ordered and on the way) would that have anything to do with it?

>>>*Cam timing has no effect on the adjustment.

Note there are two different length adjuster screws available, it is possible it is as simple as one could have been changed.

Valve installed hieght could also be the cause, or weak spring tension can allow the valve to rotate rapidly, this means wear and seat recession.

A cylinder running hotter than normal can collapse the head of the valve, common with refaced valves which is why we never reface them.

A misground cam lobe could cause this, common with regrinds and very rare with new. Base circles should be reasonably even, 4-5 thousandths is no concern, more than that and the grinder operator needs to be chatted with.

Also a rocker pad that has been refaced a bit too much, wear in the rocker shaft underside or rocker arm shaft bore.

All those things can stack up to be quite a bit....*EB