DIESEL ENGINE Valves And Operational System

By
Er. Laxman Singh Sankhla
B.E.Mech., Chartered Engineer
Jodhpur, India
Mail ID: laxman9992001@yahoo.co.in
Engine Valves And Operational System.
Refer to figure 4.
The inlet and exhaust valves of a diesel engine are mainly of the mushroom poppet type operated by a camshaft
through the valve lifter and pushrod. The valve train is operated via the rocker arm which is mounted on the top
of the cylinder head. The valves are secured into the valve guide with a retaining spring, washer and a split lock.
The spring forces the valve to hold correctly on the valve seat. The cam mechanism operates it and the force of
the spring brings it back on its position. The rocker assembly mounted on top of the cylinder head does transfers
all these functions and it also contains the tappet adjusting screw and lock. Valve timing must be accurate to
avoid the valve fouling the piston.
Spring plate

Bridge piece

Oil seal

Valve guide
Valve spring
Seat insert

Valve

Figure 4, showing valve assembly.

Duplicated or two valves to do the same function are installed in most of the higher capacity engines. These
valves operated by a single pushrod via a bridge piece which enjoins both the valves. This is done to achieve
improved scavenging, valve cooling, for the increased cylinder head strength. It also eliminates valve bounce
which occurs when the valve opening and the spring frequencies coincides.

Tappet clearance.
Tappet clearance is necessary to allow for uneven expansion between the cylinder block and the cylinder head.
It is the clearance between the end of the valve stem and the tappet adjustment screw. It is essential to allow the
expansion of the valve stem and is normally set when engine is cold thus ensuring sufficient clearance exists
between valve stem and tappet. The valve will close when the engine is hot. Each manufacturer and models are
recommended with their own designed settings and no rule is there that it must be just standard. Badly adjusted
tappets affects the performance of the engine. Insufficient tappet clearance creates loss of compression, power,
increased fuel consumption and burnt exhaust valves.
Excessive tappet clearances make poor induction, poor scavenge, loss of power and increased fuel consumption.
Cat 3412 have two rocker arms per cylinder, one rocker arm for the two exhaust valves and one rocker arm for
the two inlet valves. A bridge that is actuated by the rocker arm connects each pair of valves. See figure 5a &
5b.
To check the bridge and valve adjustment, the engine should be stopped and allowed to cool down.

1197531
Exhaust valve

The V type engine

Inlet valve
12108642

Fig 5a. Cylinder number and valve arrangement.