New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1918-03-29
SET OF VALVES
OF IMPORTANCE
Few Realize Need of Adjustment
of Lifters-They Are Hard
to Reach.
THEY ARE OFTEN NEGLECTED.
Best Engine in World Will Lose Power
II Il Is Not Given Attention at
Proper Time-Twisting Wrong
Nut Is Harmful.

One seldom realizes the Importance
of correct adjustment Of the valve lift
ers, yet the best engine in the world
will lose power If these are not prop
erlyI set.
Since they are usually difficult to
reach, dirty to handle, and do not
force themselves on the drivers atten-
tlon, they are neglected until the trOu-
Bile becomes really serious.
OF course If they become noisy
the knocking is so noticeable that the
owner Is forced to make adjustments
Immediately. But ordinarily these
parts receive scant attention and so
the loss of power is attributed to either
the carburetor or ignition, until n thor
Ough o%verhauling of the motor leads to
the discovery of the real trouble.
As aforementioned, they may become
noisy, due to the fact that the space
becomes too wide. AS they rise they
give a hammer blow to the valve
stems, causing a knock which may
readily be heard. BY stopping the mo-
tor, removing the valve cover plates
and shaking them up and down the
ones out Of adjustment may readily be
located.
Examine Adjustment Carefully.
Sometimes several are at fault, so,
while about it, set all of them. FIX.
anime the adjustment carefully to I'M
derstand it, for much damage may be
caused by twisting the wrong nut. One
is locking nut, which must be loosened
first. The adjustment nut is then set
to the right distance and the locking
nut fastened.
The opening should approximate
one-sixty-fourth inch for exhaust
valves, and three-one-thousandths inch
for inlet valves. Use an ordinary busl-
ness car as a gauge for the exhaust
valve clearance. II possible to have
a card the right thickness 1t Is best
to do so. This can be readily meas
ured with a micrOmeter. A piece of
notepaper is about right for inlet valve
clearance. It will be found difficult to
adjust the space correctly unless the
following directions are followed:
Place the desired gauge in space m
screw adjusting nut until it touches.
Now unscrew it either one-sixth or
one-fourth turn. Then lock the nut
that holds it in place. Try the gauge
and see il it has just a slight fric-
ton.
Reason for Unscrewing.
The reason for u~nscrewing the ad-
justing nut is that the l%Qcking-nut
pushes It up and so throws the adjust
ment out Of true. If the clearance be-
comes too great the valves open late
and close early.
Since they should nov exactly
as the designer intended, 1t is evident
that the engine will lose power II
both ends of a stroke are cut Off. II
the clearance is too small the engine
will lose compression and with 1t a
great deal of power. This Is due to
the fact that as the engine heats up
the valve stem lengthens.
As they grow longer they use up
the space between valve stem and
valve litter. If the space is too small
the valve stem rests on valve litter.
As It lengthens the head Of the valve
Is lifted off its seat in the cylinder,
opening the valve and SO losing the
compression.
1t will be evident from this that
valve clearance is one Of the impor-
tant things about a motor and n that
should be borne in mind and inspected
whenever one looks for causes Of lost
mower.