I just did head gasket replace. Did not remove cam from head or valves from head. Replaced left chain damper. When reassembled, chain maybe off one link on cam sprocket, not sure... Rotor is perfect on #1 in distributor at TDC . Engine idles real rough after warm up and dies.

Do I need to adjust valves when head gasket done?
Does one link on timing chain and cam sproket matter much. I can set timing fine with light but still idles rough.

Also, before repair, I had a lot of water in the oil and oil in the water. I changed oil twice now and flushed block with kerosene between changes. How long will it take to see clear oil. It is still a little foggy.

Thanks very much for advice.

 

make sure that the timing is right. FSM should help you out here.

Then, valve lash would be the next thing to do.

 

I'm sure your cam timing is off making your dist timing off. Valve clearance won't change from the h/g but it should be done anyways. Change your spark plugs and tstat while you're at it

 

I put jumper on diagnostic pins and set timing with light to 5 deg btdc, just like the books all say. If the chain is one link off on the cam sproket, does this make my timing wrong when set as described above? I would guess that it would be slightly off, but not enough to cause the poor idle and stall.

I guess I'll pull the valve cover and adjust valves after I try to reset the chain position.

I am not sure the issue is timing or valves, but except for the water and oil mixing, everything was fine before the head gasket problem.

Maybe I did something wrong in rebuild. The head gasket replacement takes the engine down to the block, ac and alternator being the only things left under the hood.

Thanks for the feedback to all!