42/43/4400 Valve Adjustment Procedure

[arrabil]

You're welcome.

 

[Interlaux]

Wow - its been said but deserves re-saying

Thanks for taking the time and the effort - once its gets a little cooler I'm taking it on:thumbsup:

just hitting 1740 hours - maybe time!

 

[arrabil]

Just remember my part numbers are for the 4200.

 

[dfkrug]

Looks great, ARRABIL! I know at least MJNCAD has been dying to do his.
No excuses now...

Anyway, I did not remove my FEL mount or use the inspection hole at
all.

What I did is rotate the crank (I used the front pulley bolt) until the
valve is closed, then I checked the lash. By rotating the crank a few
times you can see roughly how many degrees of rotation it takes for
the valve to go thru its open and close process so you can shoot for
the center of the small diameter part of the cam. The cam position
does not have to be exact since the cam small diameter is constant
for nearly 180 degrees. You can also check the lash, rotate the
pulley a bit, check it again, and look for no change.

If you use a remote starter button, you can't really do it this way as you
don't have the precise control over cam position. I usually use a
remote starter with lash adjustment on cars, and just look for closed
valves (OHC) and mark them off.

This process is quite easy with an OHV engine like the JDs, even though
you can not see the cam lobes, as you can with OHC.

I did not know you could rotate this engine by turning the fan blades....
good to know.

 

[arrabil]

I did not know you could rotate this engine by turning the fan blades....
good to know.

Sometimes frustration does result in something positive. I was so annoyed by the one ratchet click at a time rotation by the crank bolt that I shoved the fan and it moved. Never would have thunk it under normal circumstances. Sure doesn't work on the 533!

 

[wrede]

I was just going through the service intervals for my JDeere 4300 tractor, and noticed that one is supposed to check engine valve clearance at 500 hours. The valve clearance specification is .006-.010? cold, which suggests to me that the adjustment can稚 be too critical. The description of the procedure in this thread is very helpful, and so I guess I will have to remove the loader for the first time in history. My question is: is the 500 hour service interval realistic, or can I wait much longer? There are no leaks, and the engine runs well.

 

[RoyJackson]

I was just going through the service intervals for my JDeere 4300 tractor, and noticed that one is supposed to check engine valve clearance at 500 hours. The valve clearance specification is .006-.010? cold, which suggests to me that the adjustment can稚 be too critical. The description of the procedure in this thread is very helpful, and so I guess I will have to remove the loader for the first time in history. My question is: is the 500 hour service interval realistic, or can I wait much longer? There are no leaks, and the engine runs well.

I like to go by the manual, but I'm also one not to fix something that ain't broke...why not give you local Deere dealer a call and see what he says (which will probably be "Go by the manual")?

 

[mjncad]

I'm 150-hours past due on adjusting my 4200's valves, and so far I haven't noticed any problems. I still would have preferred to do it at 500-hours; but will get to it when I can.

Removing the 420/430 loader and installing it is no big deal. I always remove it when I'm doing my 200-hour services as it's in the way.

 

[JordanFTW]

Thanks for sharing! The photos help a great deal!

I've done many valve adjustments on all types of engines in my time and I would like to add the following info.

They tell you to use a flat head screwdriver. I always use my fingers.

I would (and do) use a screw driver or valve adjustment tool for the reasons below.

With the feeler gauge still in place (this is important so the stud doesn't move), tighten the nut completely.

This is one of the reasons behind the use of a screw driver, so you can hold the stud while tightening the nut. I would not recommend someone do it the way you have described; using the feeler as a spacer to prevent the stud from turning. Your tolerances will end up being tighter than the feeler rating if you rely on the feeler gauge to hold the stud in place. This is why I would recommend the help of a screwdriver to hold the stud while tightening the nut.

Slide the feeler gauge in between the rocker arm and the valve cap and tighten the stud until the feeler is in there really tight but still moveable.

Again, you can end up with tolerances that are too tight working this way. When using small feeler gauges like these you never want "really tight". You can deform the feeler gauge and your tolerances will end up being tighter then the feelers rated thickness, you want a slight drag on the feeler and that is all.

If you do decide to use this method, you should never go by the tightest end of the range value but rather somewhere on the looser end of the range because you will end up with tighter clearances. With arrabil using a .008 feeler and these techniques, he probably ended up with something closer to .0075-.0065 (still in acceptable range, and still perfectly ok IMO) With JD's wide range in acceptable clearance it shouldn't matter too much about this quirk, but I would still recommend using a slight drag method and not a crank it down method.

Great write up regardless, just wanted to add my .02$

 

[Johnp33]

To set the valves, what I do is if you know the firing order turn the engine untill you get valve overlap, that is when the exhaust is closing and the intake is opening that will be TDC or close to it if it is a six Cylinder engine most firing orders 153624 so if you have overlap on #1 then set #6. on 5 you set 2, on 3 you set 4.
If you do not know the firing order, turn the motor, and just watch the valves when one goes on overlap mark it down and 2 revolutions you know the order.
If the tag says .006 -.010 then I would be setting the intakes at .006 and the exhaust at .010
I did it for a living so I have 3/8 drive deep sockets driven into a box end wrench and put the Allen wrench or screw driver threw the drive hole. Turn it in untill it is tight then back the screw out, very little and lock the nut and you want a slight drag as was mentioned.
Take your time and do it right, even if you go over it twice.