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Mon Apr 28, 2025 8:59 am

Hey everyone,

VIDEO LINK: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/EakHueDKX0o

I was doing a valve adjustment on my 1600 and had a weird issue I couldn't find previously answered anywhere.

Found TDC, adjusted valves for 1, no issues. (no issues for 3 or 4 either)

When at BDC for valve 2, the rocker seems to go back way too far. Unlike the other 3 which have a little bit of play to fit the feeler gauge in, the intake and exhaust for 2 pull way far back, like almost a quarter inch.

Any advice? What could be going wrong? Could it be a timing issue and it's way way off? Any advice is appreciated, thank you!

Mon Apr 28, 2025 9:09 am

Hi, and welcome.

Can you post a picture of your rockers? Are you saying instead of .006”, you’re getting a gap of something like .250”? That would be a major problem and the engine would sound like a box of rocks.

Does it run and drive ok?

Robbie

Mon Apr 28, 2025 9:26 am

airschooled wrote: Hi, and welcome.

Can you post a picture of your rockers? Are you saying instead of .006”, you’re getting a gap of something like .250”? That would be a major problem and the engine would sound like a box of rocks.

Does it run and drive ok?

Robbie

It runs and drives ok but tends to stall when idling and it doesn't sound too bad which is a part of what's confusing me. I'll upload a video tonight.

Mon Apr 28, 2025 9:33 am

Brokeswagen wrote: airschooled wrote: Hi, and welcome.

Can you post a picture of your rockers? Are you saying instead of .006”, you’re getting a gap of something like .250”? That would be a major problem and the engine would sound like a box of rocks.

Does it run and drive ok?

Robbie

It runs and drives ok but tends to stall when idling and it doesn't sound too bad which is a part of what's confusing me. I'll upload a video tonight.

Take a picture that clearly shows the amount of the adjusting screws on each cylinder the protrude above the lock nuts.

Mon Apr 28, 2025 11:17 am

Brokeswagen wrote: airschooled wrote: Hi, and welcome.

Can you post a picture of your rockers? Are you saying instead of .006”, you’re getting a gap of something like .250”? That would be a major problem and the engine would sound like a box of rocks.

Does it run and drive ok?

Robbie

It runs and drives ok but tends to stall when idling and it doesn't sound too bad which is a part of what's confusing me. I'll upload a video tonight.

Just updated original post with a video link!

Mon Apr 28, 2025 11:18 am

Wildthings wrote: Brokeswagen wrote: airschooled wrote: Hi, and welcome.

Can you post a picture of your rockers? Are you saying instead of .006”, you’re getting a gap of something like .250”? That would be a major problem and the engine would sound like a box of rocks.

Does it run and drive ok?

Robbie

It runs and drives ok but tends to stall when idling and it doesn't sound too bad which is a part of what's confusing me. I'll upload a video tonight.

Take a picture that clearly shows the amount of the adjusting screws on each cylinder the protrude above the lock nuts.

Just updated original post with video link!

Mon Apr 28, 2025 11:41 am

Hey, no shame because it’s your first time posting, but vertical videos on YouTube don’t let us pause, zoom in, or see any details.

A picture sideways across all four threaded adjusters would be more helpful; I can’t see #1’s valves to compare against. It is most likely a bad previous adjustment. If anything was wearing out to cause this, #3 would be bad as well since they share the same cam lobe. Plus, exhaust and intake valves expire under different circumstances, so it’s unlikely both would go bad on one cylinder like that. If someone set the engine to #4 tdc and adjusted #2’s valves, this is very likely the result.

If the threads are sticking out more than cylinder number one, I would say adjust and drive on. If the threads are equal, you could have an internal issue.

Robbie

Mon Apr 28, 2025 12:14 pm

Thanks a lot Robbie,

I'll make sure to fix videos in the future, and no issues with #3 so you're probably right, it isn't wear and tear. The threads are WAY more exposed than #1 so I'll adjust it and hopefully we'll be good to go! Thanks again I appreciate the advice!

Mon Apr 28, 2025 4:23 pm

How mashed up are the working ends of the adjusting screws? Maybe 30 years ago, there are a pile of really junky screws on the market, maybe that is what you have.

Mon Apr 28, 2025 7:14 pm

Adjust the to .006 and post another pic. Looks to me like the last guy fucked up the adjustment because there are way too May threads showing on the adjustment screws

Mon Apr 28, 2025 8:00 pm

Brokeswagen wrote: 1) It runs and drives ok but tends to stall when idling and 2) doesn't sound too bad which is a part of what's confusing me. I'll upload a video tonight.

1) a car stalling is soooo unacceptable to me, I bet you find a bit of improvement with your valve adjustment. Assuming your points gap and timing have been checked, and you’ve repaired any vacuum leaks, you should notice a definite increase in power and decrease in noise.

2) if this is a solid 9 out of 10, what would you rate yours?

Mon Apr 28, 2025 8:23 pm

I see a couple of things besides the obvious. One, the distributor is in wrong and should be rotated 90° to the right. No biggie, it can be run that way as long as the plugs are correct. Two, you have the pulley at BDC but the rotor pointing at #3 and you’re trying to adjust #2.

Firing order is 1-4-3-2. 1 is TDC, 4 is BDC, 3 is TDC and 2 is BDC.

Mon Apr 28, 2025 9:12 pm

So many videos on YouTube on this subject. Check out this one, he has a distributer with a rotor like yours. Notice where the rotor is pointing at TDC on #1 and at BDC at #2, etc.

No doubt that your adjusters are way out of adjustment, but you need to be working on the correct valve when adjusting.

Tue Apr 29, 2025 5:42 pm

airschooled wrote: Brokeswagen wrote: 1) It runs and drives ok but tends to stall when idling and 2) doesn't sound too bad which is a part of what's confusing me. I'll upload a video tonight.

1) a car stalling is soooo unacceptable to me, I bet you find a bit of improvement with your valve adjustment. Assuming your points gap and timing have been checked, and you’ve repaired any vacuum leaks, you should notice a definite increase in power and decrease in noise.

2) if this is a solid 9 out of 10, what would you rate yours?

I adjusted the valves, set the point gap, and retimed. This is night and day from how it was before. And no more stalling! Thanks again for all your help!

Tue Apr 29, 2025 5:50 pm

Could be aliasing but is that fan belt set right? If it is loose, it will slip at highway speeds

Tue Apr 29, 2025 5:57 pm

Thanks for confirming; I think it is loose. I tried to tighten it but couldn't get it set without the belt getting pinched between the alternator and wheel. I was gonna try again later. And now I'll make it a priority

Tue Apr 29, 2025 7:34 pm

I went back to your video to look at your belt and pulley. My guess is that you’re running a $6 generator pulley made in China. If so, I recommend finding one of better quality. Not a fancy billet aluminum one because when you introduce one of those you bring more reliability problems. Try and find a German one.

Tue Apr 29, 2025 8:09 pm

aeromech wrote: I went back to your video to look at your belt and pulley. My guess is that you’re running a $6 generator pulley made in China. If so, I recommend finding one of better quality. Not a fancy billet aluminum one because when you introduce one of those you bring more reliability problems. Try and find a German one.

Gene Berg used to make a billet pulley for a bus. Bus pulleys are larger than most of the aftermarket pulleys because those are made for lighter weight cars who are concerned about speed, like a fast bug or a sand rail. Bus owners are concerned about heat so we run a stock size pulley. I ran a Gene Berg pulley about 200,000 miles before it cracked. I replace it with another and drove another 400,000 + miles with it. I don't think they have been sold for years. As Gary says, do not run the cheap Chinese ones for the above reason of cooling. Stock pulleys are best but if you go that way, make sure you study them here in a couple threads because there are different factory pulleys with different sizes and timing marks based on the engine year and family.

I believe, and others can correct me but the stock 1600 bus pulley is marked with a D and is 7" or 178mm. There is one thread where someone said they had a 169mm pulley that they thought was original.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=251672

Tue Apr 29, 2025 8:18 pm

My point wasn’t size, it was metallurgy. Berg is as good as aftermarket gets but a stock German pulley will not break like cheap Chinese $6 pulleys do

Wed Apr 30, 2025 12:43 am

aeromech wrote: My point wasn’t size, it was metallurgy. Berg is as good as aftermarket gets but a stock German pulley will not break like cheap Chinese $6 pulleys do Gary, someone could not pay me to use a cheap Chinese pulley, and the Berg bus ones are NLA. I agree with you that original German is the best option and use different colored paint or something for any custom timing marks.