Ejecting shims?

[SHOtimer]

I just finished my first valve adjustment, on my front head last night, and will do my back tonight, this is my question. I have been reading some posts and some people are suffering from shims being ejected and the heads being destroyed. How can I tell if that happens to me in the future and how can I prevent it. I made sure each shim was completely seated, is there anything else to do.
Thanx
Doug

 

[fricker66]

I haven't experienced an ejected shim but from what I've read, you'll hear if the shim is out of the bucket. Just make sure you double check all of the shims for proper seating and put a drop of oil on the top of the shim to ensure adequate lubrication upon startup.

 

[sdpatt]

The only way that I can imagine a shim can get off of the tappet is to have the tappet stick in its travel and not allow the valve to return to the fully seated position. This would let the cam lobe swipe against the shim and leave enough clearance above the shim once the lobe has rotated past the shim. The only other possibility is that the shim was not put in the tappet correctly. If you are visually verifying that the shim is seated and measuring the "as-left" gaps to be in spec, this should not ever be a problem. Rest easy.

I also squirt several pumps of Castrol 10W-30 from an oil can on each cam lobe before I reinstall the valve covers. When the engine is running, this area is literally flowing with oil. Just open up the oil fill cap and watch the cam lobe spin and the flow of oil past the opening.