NC750x Bad Engine Noise after Valve Adjustment

[SteveL]

Maybe a bit late to the party, but when I was 15 in 1975, I had a Vauxhal Victor and did the engine up, valve clearance was 12thou from memory.
Later my brother had a Cortina which we did some work on but without the aid of a manual. I set the clearance same as the Victor and it was truly awful, ran very poorly and made a lots of noise. It turned out the correct value was 24thou, who would have guessed?

 

[lootzyan]

... It turned out the correct value was 24thou, who would have guessed?

Ancient times. You would need to know the engine design differences in both vehicles. The most important thing was the position of the camshaft in the engine. This could account for the difference in valve clearances.. Was the camshaft in the engine block or in the cylinder head? Was it a SOHC or DOHC engine type? All types were common back then.

 

[SteveL]

Ancient times. You would need to know the engine design differences in both vehicles. The most important thing was the position of the camshaft in the engine. This could account for the difference in valve clearances.. Was the camshaft in the engine block or in the cylinder head? Was it a SOHC or DOHC engine type? All types were common back then.

Was a 1958 Victor, push rods and rockers. The Cortina was likely similar. Any overhead cam disgn would have much smaller clearances.

I said I was 15, what kind of car do you think I would have had? Certainly not new, that thing was older than me.

 

[lootzyan]

...I said I was 15...

Admire your good memory. Between '79 and '86, I adjusted valves in a large number of car engines. But I don't remember a single required valve clearance value. To tell the truth, I never tried to remember such information.

 

[SteveL]

Admire your good memory. Between '79 and '86, I adjusted valves in a large number of car engines. But I don't remember a single required valve clearance value. To tell the truth, I never tried to remember such information.

Well it was a standout moment to discover the massive discrepancy between what seemed likely and what was meant to be. Memory isn't really that good in general terms though. And I only dabble with engines and their internals on a "needs to be done when I get around to it" basis.

Like today I decided to change the oil and filter on my 2014 NC750x DCT because I had the goods, I had the time, I'm going on a training ride next Sunday (maybe 250km), and it was probably 2 years since I last did the job. Also I found some seepage from the DCT clutch oil filter cover so when shopping for an O ring to fix that.