350 valve adjust

[squarede]

Can someone tell me what is the best way to turn the engine on a straight 350 while performing a valve adjustment?
Thanks,
Ray

[jdemaris]

Can someone tell me what is the best way to turn the engine on a straight 350 while performing a valve adjustment?
Thanks,
Ray

If it's a gas engine, just turn it with the fan belt. If a diesel, use the fan belt, bump it with the starter, and/or use a screwdriver against the flywheel teeth through the TDC timing port.

[squarede]

Thanks,
It's a diesel, and that's about what i was thinking; however, when looking at the service manual, I was concerned that I would be able to turn it around 360 degrees to do #2 intake and #3 exhaust without going too far. I think it would be hard to do by bumping the starter.

[jdemaris]

Thanks,
It's a diesel, and that's about what i was thinking; however, when looking at the service manual, I was concerned that I would be able to turn it around 360 degrees to do #2 intake and #3 exhaust without going too far. I think it would be hard to do by bumping the starter.

Bumping with the starter won't always get you exactly where you want to be - but you can get close. Deere makes a flywheel turner that engages with the flywheel teeth and is turned with a wrench - but it's not necessary. A screwdriver stuck in the same hole works fine. We had several official turners in our Deere shop and rarely used them.
As a general rule of thumb, you can crank - and with any one cylinder - when one valve is fully open - adjust the other. That's a quick way to do it - just recheck all when done. The true reason for valve lash adjustments is valve timing - and using Deere's .014" and .018" puts all in the ball park, but rarely perfect since it's a "fits all" spec for mass produced engines. In theory, you can gain a little efficiency and power if you disregarded the generic Deere specs and adjusted valves via a degree wheel and measure valve timing. It is often done with race engines where every bit of power counts. Not so important with a 350 Deere.