How do you adjust the rocker armes on a Chevy 350?

Answer 1

First remove valve covers, then start car; listen for clattering "tick tick tick" sound. While runnig at idle, adjust one at a time. Slowly loosen the rocker arm till it "clatters", then tighten 1/4 turns till it quiets down. Then move on to next rocker arm. "DO NOT OVER TIGHTEN!!" Adjust all the same, there are 16 of them to do. 2 per cylinder. This is a dangerous job because the engine is running so please take caution!

First I am going to assume you have a standard 350 with hydraulic lifters. Next we are going to do what is called a hot adjustment. A cold adjustment would take more space than I have here. For a hot adjustment first snug all the rocker arms down just until they are contacting the push rods and give them one half turn. Start the car or truck. Starting wuth the first one on the left side loosen it until you here it tapping rather loudly and then slowly tighten it until the tapping stops. Turn it one quarter turn, wait a few seconds turn it another quarter wait, turn it another quarter, wait and one more quarter turn. The correct adjustment is one full turn from zero lash (the point where it stopped tapping). As you are doing this the engine may start to stall. That is okay, just wait a second until the lifter finishes pumping up and continue to tighten one quarter turn until you have reached one full turn. Repeat on all 16 rockers. By the way you are going to have oil running down the side of the engine and maybe some even squirting up at you unless you go to the parts store and but a set of oil clips to be used when adjusting the valves. These need to be removed when you are done adjusting them. Good luck.

Answer 2

Depends what kind of cam are you running... solid or hydraulic?