Valve adjustment

[Fred Cook]

I posted this yesterday on IRV2 and would appreciate feedback from BAC too. I am the 4th owner of my coach and after 65,000 miles it still has not had the valve adjustment most believe is absolutely necessary. Motor runs like a top, plenty of power and 8.5 MPG. But I am biting the bullet and having it done next week at Fabick CAT in Fenton, Mo, Saint Louis area. It’s priced at $675, does that seem reasonable? Does anyone have experience with Fabick CAT?

[LaMonte Monnell]

I think I paid about $500 at Ringpower CAT in Brooksville Fl when I had my valves checked and adjusted.

[Larry Moore]

My first coach had a Cat 3126 engine and the valves were not adjusted until we lost an injector, fortunately they found a bent push-rod at that time.  Had the injector not made it necessary to look under the valve covers, the push-rod would have eventually pushed through the side of the block causing an expensive engine failure.  The engine sounded smoother after the adjustment. The first thing that I did to my Cat C-9 miles was to have the valves adjusted, and they did require some touch-up.  Cat says they should be adjusted within the first 10k miles and it has made a believer out of me. Cummins is a completely different story as they have different valve lifters and may not require adjustment until later in the life cycle.

[Laurel Moore]

I have used fabick twice. They  do a very nice job I was happy with their work . 

[Dave Atherton]

Gentleman, planned to stay away from this topic as it seems to come very often on the forum.
I have posted valve adjustment direct off Caterpillar Service Information System on valve lash
on Forum and on Ask Dave. What Caterpillar clearly spells out checking valve lash and adjustment
if nessary at around 50/60 thousands miles, then again 300,000 miles. Cummin engines the same.
When the term check valve lash means the valve clearance has a measurement that a feeler
gauge will slide in between valve and rocker arm. The correct adjust for all Caterpillar electronic
engines as follows, intake valve setting ,015 plus-minus .003. The exhaust valve adjustment
setting, .025 plus-minus .003. What this is saying if a feeler gauge will slide in between valve
and rocker no adjustment is needed. Bent push rods are very unlikely to happen unless valve
adjustment lock nut was not torque correct. Letting engine run at max rpm on long grade yes
Possible bent push rod and or engine failure ( engine running over max rpms with no load )
Today cost of ownership sometimes gets out of hand by who do you listen to and is it nessary.
Looking back on many different post on when to set valves is all over the map but each time
someone has to pay for this service and that price is all over the map also. I have produced
Information from the builder of engine and that should set up sort of guide line how to proceed
with engine maintenance. Dave Atherton Retired Cat Mechanic

[Gerald Farris]

To all coach owners, I am not going to get involved in the necessity of a overhead (valve) adjustment on our coaches, but if you have a coach with a bedroom slide that restricts access to the engine overhead and you are going to have an overhead adjustment, most Cat shops will reduce the price of the service if you remove and reinstall the floor access panels. Cat techs are not carpenters or cabinet makers, so if you remove the mattress, prop up the bed platform, remove the access panels, and put down protective covers for the carpet, the Cat tech will just have to R&R the valve covers and adjust the overhead which should be a labor charge in the 2 to 3 hour range. The issue here is that the overhead adjustment should be done on a cold engine, so you will have to do at least some of the prep work at the shop location and some dealers will not allow this but if you are interested, it is worth asking. 

Gerald