Input would be most appreciated.

[RonH]

Hi,
any knowlegeable input would be appreciated.

I plan to check / adjust the tappets on my '88 2.3 16v Cosworth in the v. near future. I have been to my nearest Merc. dealer (Hertford), and been told they do not stock adjustment shims.The parts guy also checked and said there are no adjustment shims showing at Milton Keynes and that any would need to come from Germany.
As i would want to do the job straight away and not have my car sitting with bits taken apart, while i wait for shims to arrive from Germany, i have been looking for some alternative.
On an American Merc. site I found the following from a guy by the handle "Racing".,,,,,,,,,,


"Shims in turn can be picked up way cheaper at any Citroen or Peugeot dealer.
Indeed,they are the same measurements as kawasaki bikes,but then again...spares for bikes ain´t exactly known to be cheap".

Has anyone out there done a tappet adjustment using shims from another source, and if so what dia. were they.......also, are the exhaust and inlet shims of differant diameters.
Even if you haven't done this job, maybe someone has the diameters of these shims in their database....i can't seem to find them.
There are far more Citroen and Peugeot dealers than Merc. dealers where i live, in fact, there is a motorbike place not 300 yds. from where i live (never been into motorbikes, so never been in there !).

Any help would be much appreciated.

Ron H.

 

[meanie]

I can't vouch for the dimensions,but I can say that the PSA shims are as tough as old boots.
If you can find them in stock at a local Peugeot dealer or specialist then you can always get them machined down to the size you need (most engineering firms who specialise in automotive type work will have a magnetic holder for this purpose).
Why do you think that they need adjusting though?If the gap is too big then something is worn.If the gaps have closed then you have a far bigger issue with valve seating or stretch,which would cause me a few concerns on this engine.

 

[RonH]

Someone must know.

Hi Meanie,
have no outward reason to believe that my tappets need adjusting,
but informed sources say that the gaps, on these engines, should be checked at least every 15000miles. and as i have done at least 20000miles, since aquiring the vehicle, think it is something i should at least check out. There is no mention of this check ever being done, in the limited service records that came with the vehicle, so think i owe it to myself to have a look.
Anyway back to the shims.
Renault and Peugeot shims seem readily available, but vary in diameter as to what size engine they are from. So it would be nice to source somewhere local that has shims in stock in case i need some on the day.i still need to know the diameter of the shims on a 2.3 16v...........even if i possibly don't need them in the end !.

ANYONE ?

All the best RonH.

 

[RonH]

Got the answer i was looking for!.

"The valve shims are actually 13mm dia shims from Kawasaki, they fit a range of bucket over shim Kawasaki bike engines from the early 80s including the z650, GPz750 and the GPz550. The part number is 92025 - XXXX the suffix relates to the different thicknesses. The shims are hardened and available in 0.05mm increments from 2.05mm-3.10mm. They are NZ$11 a pop here in Auckland. I've also heard that 13mm Peugeot shims also do the trick."

 

[meanie]

"The valve shims are actually 13mm dia shims from Kawasaki, they fit a range of bucket over shim Kawasaki bike engines from the early 80s including the z650, GPz750 and the GPz550. The part number is 92025 - XXXX the suffix relates to the different thicknesses. The shims are hardened and available in 0.05mm increments from 2.05mm-3.10mm. They are NZ$11 a pop here in Auckland. I've also heard that 13mm Peugeot shims also do the trick."

13mm shims would be from the psa engines with the XU or XUD designations.

You would probably have more luck from a specialist,the dealers tend not to keep them in stock nowadays.

Going back to my earlier comment about why-these engines do sound like a bag of nails at the best of times (so much so that it's can be a job to tell if anything is wrong).However,I do recall one of the other techs having to adjust them & finding that some of the shims had 'compressed' so, if they are the same as the PSA shims,you may be better off with them in terms of durability.