Well, the wife's car was idling very rough, and I was having a hard time keeping her started. I decided to check the valves to see if they needed to be adjusted and found that every one of the intake valves were too loose. The exhaust vavles were right on, but the intakes were way off. How can all five of these be this far off, and the exhaust valves not change at all since the last time I adjusted the valves? Just a little curious.

Mike

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Mike

'80 300D
'84 300D
'85 300D
'87 300D

The Top Ten list abbreviated...

1. How much do you drink before you start a valve adjustment ?

2. Why did you use the exhaust feeler guage for setting the intake valves ?

3. Why did the previous owner replace only the exhaust acorn and locking nuts ?

LOL ... the physics of our engines make ' too tight' the wearing direction....so operator error pops into one's mind with this question....Since I am the first reply feel free to delete and start over...

also if engine was bone cold last time and warm this time, or vice versa, big difference. I've seen valves get tight when I go to readjust them after a year or so when I know I had them set perfectly before.

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1980 500SE/AMG Euro
1981 500SEL Euro
1982 380SEL
1983 300TD
1983 500SEC/AMG Euro
1984 500SEC
1984 300TD Euro
1986 190E 2.3-16
1986 190E 2.3
1987 300D
1997 C36 AMG
2003 C320T 4matic

past: 1969 280SE 4.5 | 1978 240D | 1978 300D | 1981 300SD | 1981 300SD | 1982 300CD | 1983 300CD | 1983 300SD | 1983 380SEC | 1984 300D | 1984 300D | 1984 300TD | 1984 500SEL | 1984 300SD | 1985 300D | 1986 300E | 1986 560SEL | 1986 560SEL/Carat | 1987 560SEC | 1991 300D 2.5 | 2006 R350

"also if engine was bone cold last time and warm this time, or vice versa, big difference. I've seen valves get tight when I go to readjust them "--johnhef

That is one reason engines should always be set stone cold.... like Volks engines...

That is the normal wear... that is not an anomoly ... the longer you go between setting your valves the greater chance of them being too tight..and left to its next stage... so tight that they do not sit firmly on the head between lifts...and thus can not cool themselves properly, and thus burn.

But ALL the intake valves being equally LOOSER... that is against the wear pattern...

This would be my guess with just intakes being LOOSE.

Someone used the exhaust clearance on them last time they were adjusted.

No big deal. Just re-adjust correctly and go on.

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1984 300D Turbo - 4-speed manual conversion, mid-level resto

1983 300D - parts car

1979 300TD Auto - Parts car.

1985 300D Auto - Wrecked/Parts.


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"If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there". Lewis Carrol