[ST] Crank story continues...

[David Earl <dlearl@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>BTW, read the service manual, you might not be able to rotate the engine
360 deg with a valve held down!!

I'll repeat to ensure no one comes back to me saying they bent a valve
because they did what I said without referring to the service manual!

BTW, read the service manual, you might not be able to rotate the engine
360 deg with a valve held down!!

BTW, read the service manual, you might not be able to rotate the engine
360 deg with a valve held down!!

And let me repeat your repeat.  It's true.  Pardon my bad memory, it's been 9 months and 6000 miles since my last adjustment, so I can't remember exact sequences, but the cam is rotated to fully opened, then BACKED UP on one set of valves (I can't remember which set, IIRC it's the exhaust set) so to address the issue in the "Crank story continues..." it is neccessary to rotate the engine both forward and backwards to do the job.  I was really concerned about this for several reasons  (mostly, I've heard it can run a oil pump dry to run an engine backwards)  but two factory wrenches I really trust told me not to worry.  As for the "just rotate the tire" method, it doesn't really work, I tried.  At issue is the fact the to really get the cam RIGHT, it's a matter of (single) degrees, hard enough to do using the proper technique discussed in the manual, nearly impossible to to with the tire.
Lastly, if you use the factory tool, be careful.  For obvious reasons, it's made of soft cold pressed steel (so it GIVES when confronted with the HARDENED steel of the cams, buckets, etc) and it's really easy to bend the tongs and a bit of a trick to get them straightened out so they work again.  I found this out the hard way when I brain fart confused me as to which direction the motor wanted to turn and the tool met the cam lobe.  A slight heart stopper followed when a bit of oil residue on the cam surface LOOKED like a huge gouge when I turned the cam around the right way!

And to repeat one more time:
read the service manual
the process is discussed in great detail there.  And a word of caution: if you have an older ST and a newer manual (like I found out I had, once again, the HARD way) the torque on the valve cover bolts IS NOT, I repeat  NOT 25 Nm as listed in the manual.  It' 8 Nm.

David
'99ST
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