Hi everyone, i have just recently bacame the proud owner of an R reg felicia 1.3 with 39k miles on the clock and looking through this forum has already been a huge help...

i have changed the oil and filter and spark plugs and found out that the thermostat housing was broken.......parts ordered from jorily skoda.......

but i have my haynes manual and i was going to check the valve clearances and the book says you have to turn the crankshaft to get the valves into the right position to check the gaps but im not sure how to do this:O so any advice on this job would be great....

:)Welcome.

Easiest way to turn the engine over in my experience is to remove the spark plugs and jack up the drivers side front so that the wheel is free to rotate. It's important that the passengers side front wheel is still on the ground. Select any forward gear, turn the wheel and the engine will rotate.

thanks david......

I have no problems putting it in 5th and leaving the plugs in. Although you have to push against the compression but don't need big muscles but removing spark plugs would get rid of that if needed.

Here's one approach at adjusting the clearances without any gauges thanks to Richard Black http://briskoda.net/forums/felicia-fun-forman/proud-owner-tractor/99064/#post1143814

Haynes isn't 100% clear for this procedure in my experience (despite their own one spanner rating), I think some bits are written for a mechanic rather than a complete newbie. You check the valve opposite the one that has just opened (i.e. spring just compressed fully) which means the opposite valve is at the heel of the cam (spring fully open which means the valve is closed). (I made the mistake of doing just the opposite when I first tried). When you get the rocker cover off and start turning the engine hopefully it will become clearer.

My favourite method of rotating the engine is plugs out, and a big spanner on the end of the crankshaft!

thanks for the replys guys....i tried all the methods and found that richard blacks feeler guageless method worked best for me.......another wee job done