THE PORTAL HUB - Pinzgauers, Haflingers, Volvo 303s and more!

I thought I'd post a quick note about the most frustrating, but also the easiest Pinzgauer repair yet.

My Pinz has been running poorly again since coming out of hibernation. I chased gremlins last year too. Last spring it was running on 3 cylinders for a few weeks and then magically fixed itself mid-summer and then magically went back to bad in the fall, then ran OK right up until snowfall. Fuel filter clear. Cutoff solenoids work. Fuel system seems OK. Bad gas? It ran well when I charged the batteries for a while... Hmmm. Low voltage? Electrical issues? Pinz SSI going bad? 2400 rpm module going bad?

Two weeks ago, after a long trip, the poor performance was unbearable and I wondered if I'd burned a valve on the trip- I pulled the plugs to see which cylinder was bad and found #3 plug was totally covered in carbon. The rest were great. 2 minutes with a steel brush and re-checking the gap on all plugs. Fire it up and it starts smoking and burning all the junk out of cylinder #3 and voila- 25% increase in horsepower!

I adjusted the valve lash the next day and one of the #3 valves was too loose- almost .300 mm instead .200 mm- if I remember right. Either the slightly large gap wasn't opening the exhaust valve enough OR I'll need to re-do the rings this winter. Either way, check the plugs every once in a while to get an eye inside your engines.

Is there a guide for doing/checking the valves?

These are the instructions that I've always followed with great success. Thanks Jim L.!

Thanks handy to have!

I used that same method. The hardest part is that SSI doesn't have a rotor per se and lining up a precise 180 degree timing mark is tricky. I had to eyeball across the case seam.

There is no need to look at any indicator at the pulley or taking off any part of the ignition..
if you remove all valve covers you see the rockers move.
Cylinders 1 and 4 are a pair, as well as 2 and 3.
With outlet closing and intake opening on cyl 1 you adjust the valves on cylinder 4, and vice versa. the same goes for the other pair.

Yes, that's ultimately how to confirm it.