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Spring Training: Understanding Valvespring Pressure
By
Brian Wagner April 23, 2019Building an engine is more than just assembling a bunch of parts to the correct tolerances and torque specifications, everything has to be matched together for the application. The valvetrain is one of the areas where properly matched parts are vital to ensure that the engine functions properly and the valvesprings are the key to this. We talked with Nolan Jamora from
ISKY Racing Cams about valve spring pressure and what you need to know when selecting your springs.
Having an understanding of what a valvespring is other than some coiled metal wire is important to helping grasp what its role is within the valvetrain. The valvespring is one of the most important parts of the combustion process and is the backbone of the valvetrain itself. Knowing what correct valvespring pressure is will help in the selection of the correct valvesprings so you get the most out of your engine and prevent catastrophic valvetrain failure.
Valvespring Basics
A valvespring by itself really isn’t that complex of a component, it’s a spring that has the task of either holding a valve open or closed during the combustion process inside the cylinder. It also has to make sure the lifter stays in contact with the camshaft in most applications as the engine operates. The valve spring helps to make sure that all the fuel and air enter and leave the combustion chamber on time, much like a conductor of a train makes sure it leaves or arrives at the station when scheduled.
When you examine a valve spring it looks like it might be made of just an average metal material that’s wound into the desired shape. The truth is a lot of thought goes into what the springs are made of. According to Jamora, valve springs are made of a specific recipe of materials and are processed with care.