Kent Bergsma says it's easy to adjust the valves on my '84 300D. I bought his offset wrench kit, valve cover gasket, crush washers and rolled up my sleeves to do the job last weekend. The local import garage (highly respected) wants $250 to do it. I was going to save about $110 by purchasing the tools and doing it myself.
But I chickened out. I wanted to turn the front crankshaft nut by wrench for more accurate positioning of the cams, but couldn't get to it without disassembling the fan shroud and removing the fan first. Then my mechanic friend (who is a 30-year certified ASME wrench turner) told me about all the issues I might then uncover: worn adjustment nuts that need to be upgraded from 5mm to the 6mm type... worn or damaged this and that... risking a valve dropping into the cylinder after everything's back together... catastrophic damage... cats and dogs living together... Hillary Clinton elected president.
It was just too much to bear... so...
I ask: has anyone done this themselves? Should I stop being a scare-dee-cat and just do it? My car is leaving black soot patches on the driveway when it idles, confirming that I don't think the valves have been adjusted in 40k+ miles. Ouch.
Thoughts??
But I chickened out. I wanted to turn the front crankshaft nut by wrench for more accurate positioning of the cams, but couldn't get to it without disassembling the fan shroud and removing the fan first. Then my mechanic friend (who is a 30-year certified ASME wrench turner) told me about all the issues I might then uncover: worn adjustment nuts that need to be upgraded from 5mm to the 6mm type... worn or damaged this and that... risking a valve dropping into the cylinder after everything's back together... catastrophic damage... cats and dogs living together... Hillary Clinton elected president.
It was just too much to bear... so...
I ask: has anyone done this themselves? Should I stop being a scare-dee-cat and just do it? My car is leaving black soot patches on the driveway when it idles, confirming that I don't think the valves have been adjusted in 40k+ miles. Ouch.
Thoughts??