Hello All,

I've owned a slew of bricks but have never checked my valve clearance in hundreds of thousands of miles. I guess the consensus is that valve adjustment is rarely necessary on these engines. However, I recently purchased a depressor tool and checked and even played with removing shims with a couple of picks and a magnetic probe.

Here's what I found starting from the front (#1) for all eight.

.011 .017 .010 .011 .013 .013 .013 .013

I know what the Bentley indicates: that if checking .012 to .016 is OK, if adjusting .014 to .016 is what to adjust to. I have two questions about this. First, especially for the master mechanics, should I bother adjusting the valve clearance given the numbers above?

Secondly when removing shims for the first two cylinders, I found that the valve clearance of .017 was created by a shim without a designation (unlike the ones stamped 4-10 or 4-15 on #2) and when measured was .190 inches which most closely corresponds with the 4.80mm shim, which seems to be the largest size available. Think I should leave that alone or go looking for the 4.85 shim wherever that may be? Lastly, since the other shims were 4.10 and 4.15 doesn't having a 4.80 seemed a little odd? Anyone have any take on that?

But again, as in the past, my lack of experience breeds a lack of confidence which is why I turn to the BB. Thanking you all for your thoughtfulness this year in answering my call for help and likely for next year as well.

Marty Wolfson

Proud member of the 300K club