How do you go about properly gauging drag when using a feeler gauge? I want to check the valves on my fiancee's Honda, and have no clue how to use a feeler gauge besides how it looks like you use it.
How to properly gauge drag with a feeler gauge?
- Thread starter sciphi
- Start date
- Status
I stop when I begin to fell "light resistance"
While you are developing a feel for the gauges, adjust for the lightest of drags at the target size, then try one thousandth over, it should be tight. Then try 1 thousands under, it should be completely loose.
It's also important that you have the gauge aligned with the gap, a little crooked makes it feel tighter than it is.
If it's a job that I am going to repeat I will buy a cheap feeler gauge set and take it apart and just use the gauges for the gaps I'm checking. Without the extra weight and bulk of the entire set and the holder it's easier to feel what you are doing.
It's also important that you have the gauge aligned with the gap, a little crooked makes it feel tighter than it is.
If it's a job that I am going to repeat I will buy a cheap feeler gauge set and take it apart and just use the gauges for the gaps I'm checking. Without the extra weight and bulk of the entire set and the holder it's easier to feel what you are doing.
+1
Originally Posted By: XS650
It's also important that you have the gauge aligned with the gap, a little crooked makes it feel tighter than it is.
This is easy to do with the Honda valvetrain. I make sure the feeler guage is perfectly flat with the top of the valve stem to get an accurate feel.
It's also important that you have the gauge aligned with the gap, a little crooked makes it feel tighter than it is.
This is easy to do with the Honda valvetrain. I make sure the feeler guage is perfectly flat with the top of the valve stem to get an accurate feel.
With the danger of repeating what others have said....
In my Acura, for example, the intake valve clearance is spec'd at 0.006 -- 0.007 in. [Make sure you have the spec'd values for her engine, found either in the service manual, or on a sticker on the bottom surface of the hood.]
I adjust so that the 0.006in feeler fits, and the 0.007in doesn't. If the 0.006in can barely move -- this might be the drag you are referring to -- I'll loosen it a little.
After I do all the valves, I'll rotate the crank again to double-check the valves.
Only on a cold engine, of course.
Good luck, and take your time!
In my Acura, for example, the intake valve clearance is spec'd at 0.006 -- 0.007 in. [Make sure you have the spec'd values for her engine, found either in the service manual, or on a sticker on the bottom surface of the hood.]
I adjust so that the 0.006in feeler fits, and the 0.007in doesn't. If the 0.006in can barely move -- this might be the drag you are referring to -- I'll loosen it a little.
After I do all the valves, I'll rotate the crank again to double-check the valves.
Only on a cold engine, of course.
Good luck, and take your time!
It also helps to move the rocker by hand to ensure all clearances in the valve train (especially so for pushrod engines, and, yes, they are still around, I have one) are taken up. You could have a film of oil fill up a gap and make the valvetrain seem tighter than it actually is.
Thanks! This is making much more sense now. I'll have a fun afternoon checking the valves in her car in a few thousand miles.
All I can second is double check your work.
There is also tool available at Amazon, screw driver with a contraption to hold the lock nut; it is called "Honda Valve Adjuster Tool". You can do without the tool but the tool is supposed to make the job lot more easier.
- Vikas
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31BF5HCJFGL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
- Vikas
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31BF5HCJFGL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
Last edited:
Many years ago when most cars were OHV my teacher told me to drag a feeler gauge over a weak magnet to get the "feel" of how it should feel when the clearance is correct.
- Status
