Valve Clearance Check

[geordieguy]

Steve,

 

I kept all the gaskets and reused them as they looked OK, I used the red gasket sealant think it was locktite on both sides of the gasket.

 

seemed to work, I have had no leaks, fingers crossed.

 

:drinks:

[ChrisG]

The rocker cover seal is supposed to be reused a few times according to the service manual.

 

I used a bit of gasket goo (dunno the number but the Loctite high temperature one) just hold the seal in place while I fitted it together, the bits that go around the spark plug holes can be particularly problematical.  You shouldn't need any to make it seal.

[Studley Ramrod]

:wifgeni:

[steve27bha]

Thank you all for the replies. I'll go check my goo stock.

[shaftdrive]

got mine going into ecosse motorcycles in Aberdeen , I try and do a lot of bike stuff myself but I would be shitting myself if I did something in the wrong order, or dropped something or skinned my knuckles  , engines coming up for 70.000 and this will be the first time that the valves have been checked , I might ask the mechanic to keep a note of the measurements just to see how much out they are, bike starts ok now with a new battery in and still accelerates strongly , :good:

[steve27bha]

Mine is all closed up and seems to be working OK. I had one inlet and three exhaust shims to replace @ 26,400 miles on a May 2009 registered bike.

I struggled with the top coolant pipe and its sealing O ring, but another thread came to the rescue and I've added my experience there.

Gaining access to the camshaft cover is a pain - getting into the 16 valves of a V4 VFR800 was easier! Also I found the torque for the cover bolts at 55Nm felt far too high - I left them at about 25Nm when the wrench started to feel funny.

I used a blue gasket goo from the back of a workshop drawer in the grooves of the cover to hold the outer seal in place. The spark plug hole gaskets seemed to stay in place OK without goo.

I did the cold start mechanism mod with the bellows and socket head stainless bolts, and disconnected/plugged the pipe to the flapper valve. That seems to be OK so next time I'm under the airbox I'll remove the unused gubbins.

With a liberal smattering of stainless used in the rebuild and some detailed cleaning the bike is looking good - just in time for the weather turning.

[leehenty]

torque for cam cover bolts  6mm threaded should be 10 Nm.

[steve27bha]

torque for cam cover bolts  6mm threaded should be 10 Nm.

 

First, welcome back and thank you for commentating.

 

I'm pleased to hear that my feel was justified, but perhaps someone should tell Mr Yamaha - see  WSM page attached.

 

Now they are too tight, I assume it's better to leave them as is rather than release back to 10Nm, particularly given the work needed to access them. Your advice would be appreciated.

[leehenty]

I would leave them alone now they are in. They must be reasonably strong to stand 25nm, usually the thread in the soft alloy head strips before they break.

[Studley Ramrod]

I mistakenly torqued mine up to 20Nm once and one of them sheared off.   Luckily, Dappers had a spare wan.

[Deauman]

Just done mine at 20400 miles. Yes I know that's nowhere near the specified interval but my thinking was I wanted to change the spark plugs since they have never been looked at and put a new air filter in so while I'm that far into it I might as well just check the valve clearances. I'm bound to go over 24000 in the middle of the best riding season and I don't want the bike off the road then. From what I'd read about clearances not needing adjusting till 40000miles or more I really expected to find them all ok and then I'd leave them for another 10000 miles. As it turned out 5 of them were too tight. One inlet was down to 0.10mm.

Anyway I ordered some new shims from a nice guy at Dirtbikebreaker

(http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281594228910?_...EBIDX%3AIT)

last Friday afternoon and they arrived Saturday morning!! He also had a suitable o-ring for the water pipe (18 x 0.25mm). That slipped easily onto the pipe even though technically it should be 19mm.

So what have I found out?

• It's not that difficult if you take it slowly and systematically.
  
• The plugs were almost like new.
  
• Cable tying the cam chain to the sprockets does wonders for the peace of mind. You know it can't go wrong!
  
• You will get bits of crap everywhere when you clean up the water pipe hole no matter how careful you are. (I think this is where the term holey crap comes from). A rebate router bit does a good job (not in the router of course). Take some time to find all the bits trying to hide in oily crevasses.
  
• Silicone grease for the o-ring. A little dab of ordinary grease to hold the gaskets in place. They are re-useable and don't need sealant.
  
• Silicone grease on the airbox spigots and a bit of heat if it's a cold day makes re-assembly easier.
  
• If you don't reconnect the fan wiring you will boil the coolant!!! orry:
  
• My knees are killing me from all that squatting down.
  
• The bike runs sweeter than before so I'm happy.
  

[muddy]

Admirable work. Never had the guts to take it on, mainly because I'm frightened of cocking it up, but also cos I don't have garage where I can store a stripped down bike in case I did make a mistake.

[ChrisG]

Admirable work. Never had the guts to take it on, mainly because I'm frightened of cocking it up, but also cos I don't have garage where I can store a stripped down bike in case I did make a mistake. 

 

Yeah, unless you've already got a stack of spare shims it's really a 2 evening/weekend job, with some time in the middle to get the replacement shims delivered.

[geordieguy]

Yep, it took me two weekends to strip down and put back together, the middle week was a waste waiting to get the shims.

 

Next time will be a lot quicker, as everything in life its just having the balls to give it a go ! :good:

 

Plus everyone on here will give you help and advice... And ..... would even come round and give you a hand if things really do go pear shape.

 

That was my experience. :badgerrock:

[Apache]

It's an old thread but the obsession with checking valve clearances intrigues me. All the bikes I've had with bucket shims , I've never needed to regap any of them ? The advice I was given many years ago by a kawasaki dealership was to check them at 20000 miles and if they're OK forget about them. I did that on my 78 z1000 and it's been fine (now at 53000). The other bikes were sold on all with higher than average mileage. Re my 97 TDM the check them at 28000 and if OK forget them advice was repeated by the suppliers mechanic at the first service. That was its last official service. I look after them myself. The TDM currently has 98897 miles on it and still pulls like a steam train. Rocker cover has never been off. In that mileage it's had carb diaphragms at 70000 and emulsion tubes at 94000. That's it , nothing else. Best goddam motorcycle I've owned in 43 years of riding.

[bjorge]

I would guess that more important than adjusting valve clearances is fixing valves if e.g. exhaust valves have deposits in seat leading to significally increased gaps. Or ? Has anyone experienced improved performance just by adjusting clearances ?

[fruitcake]

I would guess that more important than adjusting valve clearances is fixing valves if e.g. exhaust valves have deposits in seat leading to significally increased gaps. Or ? Has anyone experienced improved performance just by adjusting clearances ?

 

Adjusting clearances wont improve performance, simply prevent poor performance and potential damage.

[bjorge]

 

Adjusting clearances wont improve performance, simply prevent poor performance and potential damage.

 

I would guess that Inlet valves actually may remain partly open when seats are worn and clearances not adjusted - but at what mileage would this normally happen ? Anyone having registered their gap increment rate to tell ?

[fruitcake]

 

I would guess that Inlet valves actually may remain partly open when seats are worn and clearances not adjusted - but at what mileage would this normally happen ? Anyone having registered their gap increment rate to tell ?

 

Yeah that's the danger, too tight and you risk burning the valves out.  Too loose and you get lash.

 

Mileage is a bit hard to say as it depends how you ride.  Pootle along at low revs and it could go ages.  Hammer the bike at high revs constantly and expect faster wear.

 

Following the service intervals is always the best advice.

[Tpeti]

I want to resurrect this topic, I am just in the middle of the valve clearance checks. I have done it before on my VFR, but that was easy with the cogs

Today I measured the gaps, and when I moved to TDC on cyl 1, I saw that inlet camshaft was off with a tooth. I attached a pic, I hope you will be able to see it.

Also, on TDC the camshaft just hitting the cyl 2 valves, I was thinking if I move somewhere else the camshaft, zip tie the chain to the cogs and then just change the shims and put everything back. Also mark everything with paint.

Or just go what I read in the manual and do with TDC?

My concern is the inlet camshaft I will need to press down and can skip a tooth again.

Thank you in advance