The E4 cam calls for .015 valve lash. Most information I see says .019. Any reason I should not set valve lash to .015?   

I believe .019 is for a stock cam. I have an E4 set at .015.

  Dennis in Lititz PA

If the cam is aftermarket, always go by the manufacturers specification.


Lawrenceville, GA

I'm not advising anyone to do this but I set mine at .017. Just my feeling that the wider the gap the more time the valve is on the seat to transfer heat, I think combustion chamber temps are higher with the crap gas we have in Calif. 8500 miles on the engine now and no problems.. A lot of the miles are 150-300 mile road trips running at higher rpms..

I have the E4 in my 272 and currently run it at 0.019” hot lash.  I’ve run the lash at 0.015” but off idle drivability is better with the looser lash.  I’ve experimented with as much as 0.025” lash but it’s simply too noisy.  Even at 0.019” lash, it’s noisier than at the recommended 0.015” but drivability makes the increase in tappet noise tolerable.  The camshaft has a notably rumpier idle though at 0.015” lash than when it's set at larger values.  There’s almost 150K miles on that camshaft now so running with the increased lash settings does not seem to present a ‘wear’ problem.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)