[T3] valve

[Jim Adney]

On 23 Jul 2012 at 11:39, ken2k wrote:

> i was checking my valves and noticed that the number 2 intake valve
> is even with the spring, the other 3 stick out about another quarter
> inch. what does this mean? will it cause a problem eventually? i took
> it for a long road trip and it ran fine, but seemed to have less power
> on the steep hills, but that may have been my imagination. 

I had to assemble some old parts here to be sure of what you should 
see. With good parts, the end of the valve stem should stick up maybe 
.010 above the spring retainer. You'll see this if you remove the 
rockers and lay a small ruler across the end of the valve/spring 
assembly.

The retainer, however, is recessed in its center, so you should be 
able to see a few mm of valve stem before it disappears into the 
keepers, which sit flush with the recessed ID of the retainer.

I'm guessing that you see the correct stuff on 3 of those 4 valves.

As a test, I tried a valve with only 1 keeper, to see how far down 
that would sink. It didn't sink very far, but I'd guess that if a 
valve got installed with only one keeper that would quickly wear 
until it looked like what you see now.

Finally, it's possible that the keeper grooves have worn to the point 
that Keith mentions. I've never seen it get this bad, but I haven't 
seen all that many valves.

I recommend that you remove the rocker assy. to get a better look at 
this. If both keepers are there, you have a problem that probably 
requires removing the head and replacing the valve. OTOH, if there is 
only one keeper there, someone with the right tools could remove that 
keeper and replace the retainer and keepers. If the valve stem isn't 
too badly damaged, that fix should last a long time.

I would NOT drive this much more before doing something about it.

-- 
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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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