I've had such a good run of luck with Gidget - starts up, purrs like a kitten, always happy - that even a small problem warrants a little news.
Gidget and I had a little adventure – well, misadventure – a
little while back. On my way home from
an errand one morning, I was about to get on the freeway when I started hearing
a loud ticking. It got worse, and then I
heard (and felt) an even worse problem – she was only running on three
cylinders. This was a Bad Thing.
I immediately
thought of a burnt exhaust valve and feared the worst. I managed to limp to an O’Reilly’s near my
house, shut things down, and grabbed my tools.
Pulling the valve cover resulted in a huge sigh of relief. Can you spot the problem?
Okay, I can’t make you wait for it. The adjuster on #3 valve backed all the way out. The intake valve wasn’t opening at all.
Well, I could fix that!
I turned the adjuster back down, guessed at the valve clearance, and tightened it up. After reinstalling the valve cover, I turned the key… and she started right up, as pretty as ever.
I drove home and thanked the automotive gods for it not being serious. I reset the valve lash (checking them all – the others were okay) and Gidget is happy once again. I don’t know why that one adjuster backed out, but I made sure to double check everything!
