LUVTruck.com

Hello everyone. I'm new to this site and I have a totaly stock 1980 Luv with about 80,000 miles. Most of those were towed behind a motorhome. The only thing done to the engine was the head was removed for valve repair and it had to be shave around 12 thousands. Other than that is stock. I was wondering about valve adjustments but I cant find any literature. If you know anything that would be great.

Ok, so I take it that no one has ever adjusted the valves on their Luv.

To do a valve adjustment, you really need to pick up a decent manual and read it thoroughly. Without first studying the instructions and specifications regarding valve lash adjustment, you really won't understand what you are doing or why, or what effect it can have on your engine.

You can find a Haynes or a Chilton at most any auto parts store, or you can get both of those or a factory manual on ebay. Now that you bought a 1980 Luv, in order to maintain and repair a vehicle that is nearly 30 years old - a decent manual really should have been your next purchase,

Although valve lash adjustment is a relatively simple process requiring few tools - if you've never done one before, you can seriously damage your engine if you don't do it correctly.



Or you are just too impatient and you haven't given us all a chance to respond to your post. And if your impression of this site is that none of us here have ever worked on our trucks much - man are you misinformed...lol

So when you get your hands on a decent manual, holla back if you have any more questions, and I'm sure someone here will help you as soon as they get a chance.

Thank you but I'm not impatient and I think your whole reply was rude!!! I have been on many forum sites for various vehicles and we've always treated a newcomer with hospitality and respect. If no one can answer my question in a week then I was right to say that no ones completed this task. And thats not a rip on anyone either but usually someone reply's with some sort of responce. There's obviously other posts with numerous replies that guys knew about. I didnt realize that I had to wait for weeks so that someone could get around to me. I have spent countless hours on other forums answering repeated question over and over to guys that didnt know and needed answers. And I have done my fair share of vehicle maintenance over the years. I was more looking for lash specs than a step by step process (although any information is always helpful) since I've already looked for a manual. I dont know where anyone else has found one but I have scoured parts stores with no luck. The closest I came was the library but it was on a similar Izuzu and I wasn't sure if it was the same.
If I could find a manual I wont need to bother anyone with questions. I dont mean to sound upset but I was offended.

have you even looked at ebay for a manual? there always on there so dont even say youve looked every where

oooh and if you dont like the way this forum is... then find a different one cuz if you were in that big of a hurry you should have just gone to a shop and let them do it but i guess you must think we all just sit our fat asses on the comp and reply to every question, not all of us have done this, but some have and maybe the ones who have didnt see the post or was busy

you know this took me about a second to find you looked real hard now take your five bucks and invest it in something you WILL need in the future to keep it properly tuned and in shape

Wow...WTF started all of this? And ugotluv...FFS calm down before you burst something...lol

All I said was you really need a manual for your truck to properly do a valve adjustment. And how would I have known of that you hard prior experience in automotive maintenance? Since you never included that little tidbit of info in your post, my super dooper psychic powers aren't working today, and my crystal ball fell off of my workbench and got cracked, then how was I to know?

It is pretty darn hard to tell a person's level of expertise over the internet if they don't tell you, so I was being cautious about offering help to a new person without knowing them at all that could possibly do more harm than good. I wasn't intentional trying to be rude - just honest. If for some odd reason that offended you, then I apologize.

And a week around here to wait for a reply for a post from a new member that isn't about an emergency isn't that uncommon...but getting the attitude that you are giving here from some new members wanting help unfortunately is. That ultimately can and does effect some people's eagerness to reply to newcomer help requests like yours. Not an excuse - just an explanation.

So now that we've got that out of the way, if your book has the specs for a G180 engine from 76 to 82 , you should be ok. If not - then I can "talk you through" the whole process if you want.

But let's all take a deep breath and calm down a bit first, OK?

I've not been here on the site very long myself, but valve lash is a relatively common maintenance procedure. For me, the search function provides a tremendous amount of information without having to actually post another topic.

Not to be rude, but you can probably find exactly what you're looking for using that feature. If you want specific information like valve lash clearances, it's usually best to have a manual. Obviously, not everyone has or wants a manual right off, I know I never intended to actually get 'involved' with these trucks, but I don't think anyone here meant to offend you.

Nearly any question you might have on these trucks has probably been answered here at least once, so I think the lack of a more immediate response is just an indicator that the information is probably already here.

At least that's been my experience...

Welcome to the site, hope this doesn't set a negative tone for your stay here. There are a lot of really great folks on this board, and a tremendous amount of information to sift through...

Good luck with your truck

_________________
"If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves" - Thomas Edison

Well I have to say thank you nukeday and tumwatertaz. I was a little upset but no big deal. Like I said I've been on many forums and usually if someone asks a question they get some sort of a responce in a day or two, even its a sorry that no one knows. Thats the only reason I replied to my own post like I did. I dont mean to offend anyone here either and I really appreciate your concern. As nukeday said, not everyone wants a manual right off and I did look but I have to admit I didnt look on ebay. I've never bought anything on ebay. Just never got into it enough. And thanks tumwatertaz, I will look at that Izuzu manual again to get the specs if you say that its the same.

Any Schucks Auto Supply or Napa Auto Parts can order you a Chilton's Manual for your make and model. Usually, none of the stores you go into will carry any books for anything much more than 10 years old -- they can't move them off the shelves. Just ask the clerk to order you one and thay should get it in in a couple of days. Good Luck!

Here are the instructions that I used, culled from a search of this site. Be aware that there is disagreement as to the alignment of the TDC marks on the cam. On my 80 luv engine, the #4 was at TDC when the cam marks were aligned, not #1. Proceed with caution and be sure. The rocker arms should be loose before adjustment is made, as the cam lobes should not be making contact with them. If your engine is currently running OK, you wont need much of an adjustment, so any drastic change in adjustment is probably the wrong thing to do. Again, make sure where your engine position really is. Did I say to be sure? I thought I did.

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Valve adjust G180 engine

Start out by removing the valve cover and the spark plugs to make it easier to turn the engine over.

Get a wrench that will fit the big nut on the cranchshaft pulley and turn it until the mark
on the crankshaft pulley alligns with the "0" mark on the timing chain cover.
Now, look on the cam and see if the line on the front of the camshaft is lined up with
the mark on the 1st rocker arm bracket. this line tells you whether #1 cylinder is on
the compression stroke or if #4 is on compression stroke.
If the lines are lined up #1 is on compression stroke and you can adjust the valves.
You will need a feeler gauge.
The clearence for the valves is .006" for intake and .010" for exhaust (cold).

intake and exhaust on #1
intake on #2,
exhaust on #3.

Once those are adjusted turn the crank 1 full turn till it lines up with "0" again.
While the lines were lined up before, they won't be now, so this means #4 is on compression stroke.

adjust intake and exhaust on #4
intake on #3
exhaust on #2.
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ok I could be wrong its been a while but I think for the timing you have to set the #4 tdc then align the marks or you will be 180 out ... I did mine on the #1 tdc and was off read the book more and found one place that said #4 tdc and no other mention of it.. I over looked it many times...but don’t do it this way till you verify I am right or someone else chimes in on this I know everything had to be off #1 tdc but one was #4 tdc and I think it is the timing chain...... any help here people also ill dig up my book and look, if I can find it.
ok found it. in the factory manual on the install it said...(check valve timing; rotor and mark on distrbutor housing should be in alignment when #4 piston is in firing position. Timing mark on crank pulley should align with TDC mark ("0" mark) on front cover.)

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I agree with the above. Cam timing is set with #4 on compression stroke.
At this point the line on the cam is pointing up. What I used to do is, with the head off, turn the crankshaft to TDC. Take off the distrubutor cap and see if the rotor is pointing to #4. If it is not--rotate crankshaft one more revolution to TDC. With the head back on in this position both rockers on #4 will be a bit loose (rattle with some play in them, valves clossed). At the same time #1 will have play in one rocker (intake valve) and no play in exaust valve rocker as the valve is pushed open. At the next crankshaft revolution the process is reversed.
A good time to adjust the valve clearence at this same time. Rockers loose means the valves are closed. Tight rockers mean a valve is probably pushed open.

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I did a post a while back that walked through the steps to check alignment of the cam, crank, and distributor gear, here is the basic steps from it:

To check for misaligned disti drive gear:

Remove valve cover
Turn the motor so the timing mark on the crank pulley is at 0 degrees
Check the valves to see which are fully closed (rocker should have a little slack)
You want #4 both valves closed, #2 exhaust and #3 intake closed to put the #4 cylinder in firing position. There is also a mark on the camshaft gear and on the rocker bracket right behind it, they should line up I believe, but as long as the valves are closed on #4 (not #1) and the mark on the gear is straight up and down it is right.

Pull the disti and look down the hole. (You can pull the cap and look what wire the rotor points at, but pulling the works you can be more precise)

The slot in the gear at the bottom should be straight up and down, and it will be offset toward the front. If its offset toward the back or not straight up and down then you know its in there wrong. Find a way to line up the rotor with the #4 wire on the cap and you can work around it.