valve adjustment question

[madness522]

I'm coming up quickly on the 6K service and want to do it myself. I was wondering what to use to check the valve clearances. Would any tappet gauge work or is there something more specific I would need to use for an RT?

 

Thanks

[Rottweiler]

Any old guage will work, but here's the catch, you will need 2 blades for the exhaust and 2 blades for the intake to be used all at the same time. You can buy expensive separate feelers with fancy rubber coated handles or you can buy 2 sets of cheapo feeler guages and remove the blades that you need, which works just as well for much less $$$. Tie the 2 sets of blades to strings attached to 2 aligator clips, which clip to a head fin. This will keep you from dropping them on the dirty garage floor. Check out the FAQ for excellent how-to's.

[BigArn]

But the feeler guages from a BMW dealer like Bob's BMW. You can mail order them and have them in the mail in a couple of days. You will not be sorry. The plastic handles make them easy to handle and gives you a place to tie on some wire or string to help keep them in place.

[Ken H.]

Search this board for "OVFD" Somewhere around here there is a link to the old standby step-by-step document.

[LJR]

OVAD is here

[John_Bennett]

 

Two gages would be ideal, but I just use one.

 

I have the gages you buy at Sears.

 

The "go, no-go" method mentioned in the How-to's works best for me.

 

Previously I used the "drag feel" method. The last two times I used the "no go" method and now run mine a little tighter as a result. My "feel" wasn't as good as my ego led me to believe.

[madness522]

Great info! Thanks to you all!