hey guys, i'm out of idea's here. i have had a bit of a tick on my 77 280z. so i read up, and learned how to do a valve adjustment. first did it cold with the .010 and .012 numbers, so i could understand what i am doing. then did it hot with the .080 and .010 numbers. still ticks. oil is fresh, 5w30, filter is new, 100k on the odo, pulls hard and doesn't hesitate. just annoys the heck out of me!!!!

i am beginning to think i am not adjusting it correctly. as in what i think is .010 isn't really .010. so i plan to have a shop that i know about do it again while i watch.

is there anything else that it could be? anything else to check?

oh and i know its cylinder number 5 or 6 by sticking a screwdriver to it and listening. fyi

By "a bit of a tick," do you mean that you can hear the valves softly ticking when the engine runs? That's normal. It's not going to sound as quiet as an engine with hydraulic lifters, no matter how well the valves are adjusted.

FAIW, 5W30 is a bit thin for these engines, especially in Arizona. But I don't think that's your ticking issue. You're probably better off with 10W40.

Edited March 28, 201114 yr by FastWoman

Injectors usually click/tick. Maybe that is what you hear?

Fuel injectors "tick" also.

L engines are known for mechanical noise, from what I've read, with their non-hydraulic valve system and noisy fuel injectors. Some people like it.

When you wrote .080 you meant .008 right? .080 would be noisy.

noticed you've got your specs backwards...

cold

inlet .008

exhaust .010

hot

inlet.010

exhaust .012

"i am beginning to think i am not adjusting it correctly. as in what i think is .010 isn't really .010. so i plan to have a shop that i know about do it again while i watch."

Click to watch

Too loose is better than too tight. FastWoman is dead on......Z engines with solid rocker to lobe contact ain't going to be velvety quiet. unless your noise is excessive, don't narrow your clearance too much.

  Zed Head said:

Fuel injectors "tick" also.

L engines are known for mechanical noise, from what I've read, with their non-hydraulic valve system and noisy fuel injectors. Some people like it.

Yeah, I kinda do... It gives the engine some personality.

Mine sounds (and looks) like a small john deere at idle.. Is that bad?

Depends on the year, Stinky. My 1972 JD 212 tractor with the Kohler motor is a very smooth machine! But no, you shouldn't see the engine shaking all around, unless you've got some sort of performance cam in it. I'm pretty sure the straight-6 and V-12 engines are the only engines with inherently perfect primary and secondary balance. It should be a smooth running motor, albeit with a light ticking from valves and injectors.

yes my tick is louder than it should. i to like the little tick of non hydro lifters, but this is too much, i can hear it over my exhaust and its gotten worse since i posted this thread. and it was idling smooth, now it idles really rough and almost sounds like its missing, i'll look deeper at it today

Check all of your lash pads.....they're between the tip of the rocker and the valve. They can pop out sometimes.