1992 Festiva L EFI SOHC Valve clearance specifications

[repriebe]

A friend of mine has a 1992 Festiva L. He brought it to me thinking the hydraulic lifters were bad because it has a LOT of valve train noise. I asked him if he was sure it had hydraulic lifters, and he said yes. Well, long story short, it does not. I have not been able to find specs for this fuel injected, SOHC engine valve clearances. I did find on this forum the specs for the older carbureted version, but I am a little hesitant to use them without checking. Any help will be greatly appreciated!

[repriebe]

O.K. - I found the Ford service manuals for the 1988 and the 1989 Festiva, and the 1988 shows valve adjustment procedures and specs while the 1989 manual says that it has hydraulic lifters (which might mean that all engines from 1989 onward had hydraulic lifters). Is it possible that someone put a 1988 head on the 1992 engine, or is it possible someone put a fuel injected intake on a 1988 engine and dropped it in there? This car is perplexing!

[theastronaut]

The factory manual rocker clearance it really loose, like .012". I used .006 intake and .008 exhaust on my two carb cars for 60k+ with no issues.

[repriebe]

THANKS! I haven't checked to see where they are now, but thought .012 warm (as it does say in the 88 service manual) was a bit "loose". I will see where they are and set them to.006 and .008 like you did yours. That sounds more inline to where I think they should be too, plus will make my friend alot happier as well!

[theastronaut]

I set mine cold btw.

[repriebe]

i figured those were cold. His were all over the place! Some of them were as much as .014! It is much better AND quieter!

THANKS AGAIN!

[theastronaut]

No problem! Setting them tighter also helps add a little bit of lift for more flow. My first '88 had valves that had opened up to as much as .025", they were super loud.

[repriebe]

Yes, his is running MUCH better now!