T350 Shim Removal

[martin996uk]

Hello all. Some help needed please. I’ve checked all the valve clearances on my T350 and every single one is out of tolerance. So I’ve ordered a shim kit. I’ve taken out almost all of the shims and measured them whilst I wait for the shim kit to arrive. I used the method of levering the follower to the side horizontally and then getting the shim out with a strong magnet. This method is ok unless you need to get the shim out 4 and 5, 8 and 9 and 12 on the inlet side. And 12 on the exhaust side. How on earth do you get the shims out of these ones? You can’t slide the follower far enough to the left/right in order to get the shim out. Do you have to somehow compress the vertical valve spring? If so, I can’t see a way of doing that without damaging the cam lobe. What would you use for leverage with a small pry bar? I’m baffled. Any help would be greatly appreciated. And pictures would be even better.

[martin996uk]

How do I loosen the camshaft caps?

[martin996uk]

I won’t be stopping right there, Plasticman. I’ve never heard of a camshaft cap. Maybe you could point me in the right direction of where it is and what it is. Then advise me how to loosen it.

[martin996uk]

Thanks for your reply, Matt. I’m not going to get involved with loosening camshaft caps. I was just looking for the best way to compress the valve spring without damaging anything. I have a small pry bar but I can’t see where the safest place to put it is so I can lever the spring downwards.

[martin996uk]

Thanks Matt. I’ve done it now. It was a lot easier than I expected it to be. Cheers.

[martin996uk]

How do I loosen the camshaft caps?

[martin996uk]

The first response was from cinquecento. He mentioned about loosening the camshaft caps. I now realise what camshaft caps are. It seems an extremely drastic method to get a shim out. Anyway, I used the ‘levering the valve spring down’ method.

[martin996uk]

For some reason there’s a pool of oil gathered in the bottom left area, underneath cam lobe 1 and 2. And almost teaching cam lobe 3. Is this normal? I noticed it when I took the cam cover off.

[martin996uk]

The first response was from cinquecento. He mentioned about loosening the camshaft caps. I now realise what camshaft caps are. It seems an extremely drastic method to get a shim out. Anyway, I used the ‘levering the valve spring down’ method.