Valve Adjustment

[Mopar1973Man]

It is suggested to be done at 135K miles which I think is too far down the road. Mine where out of adjustment a bit at 92K miles. So this is how I did my valve adjustment on my truck.

Valve adjustment is fairly simple to do and does require much for tools. You need a feeler gauge set (0.010 and 0.020), 9/16" box wrench, 10mm short socket, 15/16" socket, both 3/8" and 1/2" ratchets, Allen wrench and a mirror.

The first thing you need to do is pull the valve cover off the engine. You'll need a 10mm short socket and a 3/8" ratchet. Loosen all the bolt till you can lift the bolt up. Don't bother removing the bolts from the valve cover. Once you got that the valve cover will come off on the passenger side. You got to slide it towards the turbo and work it over the top of the heater hose. Take your time is will go...

Now you got to remove the breather cover on the gear cover. It just twist off. Once this is removed you won't be able to see the gear unless you use a mirror.

Now you need to use your 1/2" ratchet and the 15/16" socket to rotate the alternator. You want to turn it towards the passenger side (or towards coolant bottle). You want to get the gear to be in the TDC (Top Dead Center) like in the picture above.

Now you'll start adjusting valves. But you can adjust all of them right now. Intake valves 1, 2, 4 and Exhaust valves 1, 3, 5 which I've circled for you.

Using a feeler gauge you want to adjust all intake valves to 0.010" gap and all exhaust valves to 0.020" gap. You'll be inserting the feeler gauge like shown. This is the part you got to take your time on. As you'll notice as you tighten up your adjustment screw the feeler gauges seems to be pinched in-between but try to hold the feeler gauge flat you'll notice it get loose again. So take your time... Now when you get ready to tighten the lock nut finger spin it tight. Then as you tighten the nut you go to hold the adjustment screw still. But if you notice your gap is loose twist both nut and screw tighten a little bit. Or twist the adjustment screw loosen as you tighten the nut. This will increase or decrease the gap a little but not much.

Now that you done this set now you go to do the other half of the valves. So now twist the alternator some more till you see (BDC -Bottom Dead Center) for the VP44 pump gear.

Now adjust the the rest of the valves. Intakes 3, 5, 6 and Exhaust 2, 4, 6. They are marked in the picture below.

Double check all the jam nuts that they are TIGHT!

You now have completed a valve adjustment on you engine. Now you got to reassemble the valve cover. Replace the gasket if it damaged. Then remount the breather cover on the gear case and hook up the vent tube. You'll hear a slight difference when you start the truck up. It going to be a bit quieter. Let it idle a bit and double check your valve cover for leaks.

[Guest]

not sure but I can not see any pictures thanks ED

[Mopar1973Man]

not sure but I can not see any pictures thanks ED

Please refer back too... http://mopar.mopar1973man.com/cummins/2ndgen24v/valve-adj/valve-adj.htm Sorry about that... But it seem everytime I make update I tend to loose the link to the pics... :rolleyes

[Drafter]

Just did this following these directions. Here are some tips/ comments.On my 02, The oil breather unscrews (it is threaded) from the cover in front of the injector pump. There is a rubber seal between the breather and the cover that could use penetrating oil similar, at 103 k miles mine was very stuck. I couldn't get a good grip on it and tried to use a screwdriver inserted in the hose nipple to help turn it. It is a hard reinforced plastic and the nipple broke without warning. A little JB Weld took care of it, but I wish I had gotten some lube on the rubber seal before I tried to remove it.My 5 mm allen wrench was a good fit on the valve adjusters. I love a metric and SAE hardware mix, it sells tools anyway.This is when I wished I had a complete set of Snap-on opened wrenches or at least a 9/16 th's. There is not a lot of clearance around the check nut and the closed end of Craftsman wrenches didn't drop all the way down. I had good results with snugging the check nut down with the open end and then torquing with a socket. Sometimes this left the valve lash tight on the feeler gauge and needed to be re-done.The Haynes and Dodge manuals want you to use a special barring tool (I think they called it that) that went thru a hatch and turned the flywheel with a long extension. Using a 15/16th socket on the alternator worked slick. Just in case you were wondering, the trailing edge of the fan blade is holy F sharp enough to deeply shave a knuckle on the way by.When removing the valve cover, keep the rear most bolt down in the valve cover. Mine was up and it ripped the insulation on the firewall above it, which dropped some crud on the valve train. Blow the area off with compressed air before going in. 18 Ft-lbs on the valve cover bolts.