Valve Adjustment (stock pulley)
Tools needed:
13mm wrench
adjustable (crescent) wrench
straight slot screwdriver
shop rag
some paint or finger nail polish
and a
.006 in feeler gauge.
Parts needed:
A new set of valve cover gaskets.
This adjustment has to be done with the engine dead cold to be done correctly. (let it sit overnight if you ran it that day.)
First, put the car in neutral and set the parking brake. (Chock the wheels if your not on level ground.)
Remove the distributor cap. Take the adjustable wrench and turn the crank clockwise while looking for notchs in the pulley on the side closest to the engine. You might have one, two, or three notchs in the pulley. You want the last one (farthest to the left as you turn the engine) to line up with the case halves. Make sure that the distributor rotor is pointing at the #1 plug wire, there is a notch in the distributor body that marks the #1 position. If it is pointing the opposite direction then turn the engine over another 180 degrees.
Put a dab of paint or something on that last notch. It's your TDC or, "top dead center".
Now, make a mark 180 degrees on the other side of the pulley, that's your BDC, or "bottom dead center".
Remove the bail from right side valve cover by looping a rag around the center of the bail, and pulling out and down. Or, if you have after market units in place unbolt them.Lay the cover down where it will catch the oil dripping from the head.
Slide the .006 in. feeler gauge between an adjuster and valve stem on the #1 cylinder (right side, towards front of car) The gauge should slide in and have a slight amount of drag on it, if it goes in freely or won't go in at all, that valve needs to be set.
Loosen the lock nut with the 13mm wrench and put the feeler gauge in place. Now, take the screwdriver and tighten/loosen till you get a slight amount of drag on the gauge. Tighten the lock nut, making sure the adjuster doesn't spin with it. I usually use the screw driver to hold it while I tighten the nut. Check it again after its tight and move on the next valve on #1 cylinder.
Check it and make adjustments if necessary.
Now with both valves on #1 taken care of, turn the crank over backwards (counter clockwise) 180 degrees to BDC (bottom dead center). Now, your ready to check and adjust both valves on the #2 cylinder (right side, closest to rear).
When your done there, turn the engine over backwards another 180 degrees to TDC.
Move to the left side of the VW and remove that valve cover. Check and adjust #3 cylinder (left side, towards front of VW).
Turn the engine over backwards 180 degrees one last time to BDC. Check and adjust the valves on #4 (last one, left side towards rear of VW)
Replace the valve cover gaskets with new ones. Don't use sealant on the cylinder head side of the gasket because you will have a extremely hard time getting them off next time, and its not fun scraping that stuff off either.
Pop the distributor cap back on and your done.
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