So I was told I needed a valve adjustment once my motor was broken in. My question is what exactly would I be listening or looking for to know that I need an adjustment. Only thing I notice is that once the car has been driven a little bit and warms up the drivetrain is a lot louder and clackety sounding...interesting choice of noise description I know, but its all I can come up with haha. Would a valve adjustment help that..or is that something else? Ty

Engine:LT4 383 H/C all bolt ons.
1.6 rockers
.600+ lift cam (maybe this is it?)

 

It's recommended to check it to be sure it is still like it should be after the new parts have "settled in". This is really whether you hear anything or not. So, you should probably check it out and who knows, it may get rid of your noise at the same time.

 

I think it also depends on the type of cam shaft you are running too. Like a hydraulic cam shaft probly will not need any more ajusting but like shoebox said its good to check it. But if you got like a solid roller cam shaft then yea I would make sure they are ajusted.

 

yeah its hydraulic, thats another reason why I was wondering why I needed to adjust it lol...thanks for the responses. Also you said "its whether I hear something or not" when I check for the adjustment....what if the noise is still there? It seems louder than it should be, but I'm not sure if its supposed to be that way or not...because its done that ever since I picked it up from its tune. And thats when the tuner said that he thought I might need a valve adjustment.

 

The "clickety clackety" sound will be it's loudest just on top of the valve covers if you need an adjustment. I'd pop the hood while it's running & try to isolate the sound first though before tearing anything open.

 

yeah I tried using a scope to isolate the sound...and its deffinitly sounds like the majority of the noise is from the valve covers...I'm also wondering now if maybe they are making contact on the valve covers? I still have my stock LT1 valve covers and was told that they would work....but could this be the problem?

 

If the rockers were contacting the valve covers, you should be able to lay your hand on them and feel it. You should also check the relationship of your pushrods to your guideplates if you have NSA rockers.
It doesn't matter if you have an hydraulic or solid roller cam. An after break-in evaluation should be done just so you know that things are the way they are supposed to be, IMHO.