[linm]

ok, so i couldn't wait any longer, i took off the cover. how do i position the cylinders at TDC? also, if anybody can help? whats this cam shaft tensioner thing ihave to remove to adjust the shims? the service manual is kind of vague.

if nobody can help, i guess i can figure it out by myself eventually

Originally posted by linm

Well, i'm gonna adjust my valves for the first time by myself. I got the carbs off and fairings off so far, before i take off the top end, is there anything i should know first?

is draining the coolant necessary for taking the top end off? cause that's what the service manual says.

also since i got my carbs of for the first time in my life, is there anything i should look adjust on the carbs?

oh, i also have a carb sync'er coming in the mail soon...

one more thing, i noticed that the 1 and 4 vacuum hoses are capped off, is this how it's suppose to be?

 

[GreenEnvy]

You're way over my head, I'm having a shop do mine for me.


-=Welcome To Canada=-

2002 Green 6R
1986 Gixxer 7/11

 

[swjohnsey]

How about information to check the clearance first and then if need be you can think about adjusting.

There is a way to check the valves with minimal turning of the crank but I have found it easier to just turn it. To get to the crank you will need to remove the little cover in front of the cluth cover on the right side of the engine.

On the valve you want to check turn the crank until the pointy end is facing directly away from the valve cup. You will need to make yourself a chart to record the valve lash at each valve. Start with a feeler guage smaller than spec and increase by one until it won't go. The last one to go is the lash. The exhausts are hard to get at without moving the radiator but it can be done with bent feeler guages by feel.

 

[linm]

anywyas, so say cylinder four, the pointy things pointing up would be tdc for that cylinder? I see TDC marks on the crank bolt, where do i line the the line up with so it's TDC? or should i just use your methood of pointing up?

Originally posted by swjohnsey

How about information to check the clearance first and then if need be you can think about adjusting.

There is a way to check the valves with minimal turning of the crank but I have found it easier to just turn it. To get to the crank you will need to remove the little cover in front of the cluth cover on the right side of the engine.

On the valve you want to check turn the crank until the pointy end is facing directly away from the valve cup. You will need to make yourself a chart to record the valve lash at each valve. Start with a feeler guage smaller than spec and increase by one until it won't go. The last one to go is the lash. The exhausts are hard to get at without moving the radiator but it can be done with bent feeler guages by feel.

 

[swjohnsey]

There are two TDC marks, one labeled 1/4 and the other 2/3. When the mark is lined up with the case split on the left side of the opening as you are looking at it (and the valves are closed) it is TDC for that cylinder.

All of the valves on the radiator side are exhaust valves. All of the valves on the carburator side of the head are intake valves.

If you look on the end of the cam sprockets you will see some marks that say EX IN. When you align the TDC 1/4 mark up with the case split and #1 is up to fire the marks on the cam sprockets will line up with the top surface of the head. Sometimes they paint them at the factory so they show up better.

 

[swjohnsey]

P.S.

I think you should probably just adjust each set of valves with the pointy end pointing directly away from the valve. It is a fool proof method. You end up turning the engine more but there is less chance of making a mistake.

 

[linm]

ok, so i'm sticking these sae gauges underneath one of the valves.
i've never used these things before so, please excuse my stupidity.

when do you know the gauge is to big? cause i can slide some thicker gauges underneath and it would go, BUT it would tug on it when i try to pull it out, does that mean i should use one size smaller, or keep on going until the thing doesn't even tug at it anymore?

example: on the inlet side, i can fit a .076mm gauge underneath and it gives me a slight tug, and the next step up is .102mm, and i can still get it underneath but it's real tight. have to force it under.

also if .076mm is correct, can this be? spec is between .11 and .19

Originally posted by swjohnsey

P.S.

I think you should probably just adjust each set of valves with the pointy end pointing directly away from the valve. It is a fool proof method. You end up turning the engine more but there is less chance of making a mistake.

 

[linm]

swjohnsy

ps, when i get this complete i'll buy you a six pack of your choice

 

[linm]

one more thing, i have #4 cylinder pointing straight up. on service manual it says to measure inlet on #2, but the pointy things are not pointing straight up. they are pointing to the front of the bike, when measuring the valves, should the pointy thing always be pointing up?

 

[swjohnsey]

This is were experience helps. Start out by doing all the intakes. They are easy to get at and you can see what you are doing. You are not going to be able to measure the clearance exactly because of the limited number of feeler gauges you have. So if a gauge goes easy and the next one doesn't go at all you know the real clearance is between the two values. If it goes very tight it is probably the value.

So on that valve you got the .102 under. That valve is too tight. The shims come in .05 increments. You would have to decrease the shim size by one size to give you .152 clearance, or about right in the middle of the range.

 

[swjohnsey]

They have a way to adust the valves so that they mechanic only has to turn the engine twice. The pointy part doesn't have to be pointing exactly away from the valve. There is some leeway and they use it to save time. If you follow their scheme exactly you will be alright.

 

[linm]

wouldn't you like to learn how to adjust valves yourself without having to fork over hundreds of dollars to a mechanic.

and if you do it yourself, at least you know it has been done.

it's kind of fun learning these things, although it seems now that i need somebody to hold my hand doing it.

but somewhere done the line, i know i'll be teaching somebody else how to do it as well, so swjohnsey doesn't have to keep repeating himself

Originally posted by CdnNinjaZX6R

You're way over my head, I'm having a shop do mine for me.


-=Welcome To Canada=-

2002 Green 6R
1986 Gixxer 7/11

 

[linm]

Well, i'm gonna adjust my valves for the first time by myself. I got the carbs off and fairings off so far, before i take off the top end, is there anything i should know first?

is draining the coolant necessary for taking the top end off? cause that's what the service manual says.

also since i got my carbs of for the first time in my life, is there anything i should look adjust on the carbs?

oh, i also have a carb sync'er coming in the mail soon...

one more thing, i noticed that the 1 and 4 vacuum hoses are capped off, is this how it's suppose to be?

 

[swjohnsey]

Mechanics mostly work flat rate and are in a hurry. They don't have the time to get it "just right." When you do it yourself it might take a while but you know it is right when you are done.

 

[linm]

is it possible that all my inlets valves are tight?
each one of them are between .076mm-.102mm

only one of them is .127-.153

bike is a 99 and is creeping up to 16,000 miles

i haven't the slightest clue if previous owner did any maintenance. i picked up the bike with 15,000miles

Originally posted by swjohnsey

Mechanics mostly work flat rate and are in a hurry. They don't have the time to get it "just right." When you do it yourself it might take a while but you know it is right when you are done.

 

[linm]

give me some encouraging words here, cause i'm about to shoot myself. i finally got all my valve measurements, it looks like all my valves are tight and i only have 1 inlet valve in spec? can this be?

anyways , i was so happy to finally get all my measurements done, so i went to take off the cam chain tensioner. i got that middle bolt loose and the top cap bolt, but how the heck do you get the bottom bolt off? there is absolutely no room. I would use the kawi mini wrench, but that thing almost rounded up the top bolt, i'm pretty reluctant to use it.

any tips and tricks? is there any special tool to get a socket into those tight little spots?

Originally posted by swjohnsey

Mechanics mostly work flat rate and are in a hurry. They don't have the time to get it "just right." When you do it yourself it might take a while but you know it is right when you are done.

 

[swjohnsey]

It is possible that that many valves are out of spec. When I adjusted mine at 15,000 all the exhausts were tight and a few of the intakes.

Before you start taking the cams off you need to make sure you know what the cam alignment looks like when it is right. Turn the crank until the 1/4 TDC mark lines up with the case split and the look at the cam sprockets. All four marks should be lined up with the top of the head. If they are not turn the engine another 360 and and look. If they are not lining up you need to figure out what you are doing wrong before you take it apart.

To get that bottom cam tensioner bolt out I use a neat little thing call a wiggle extension. It works like a universal joint socket.

 

[ash]

The inlets Clearance are 0.11 - 0.21 mm 0.00433" - 0.00826"
The exhausts Clearance are 0.21 - 0.31 mm 0.00826" - 0.0122"

These are measurements taken from cold where the bikes been stood for at least 5 hours.

You really need a chart to record these clearances properly so you can demonstrate you have done this very important task satisfactorally.

If you are going to remove the cams, paint the cam wheels and camchain with tippex or similar white paint so it goes back as you took it off. You also need compartmentalised boxes to store the shim buckets and shims and also a micrometer. Also I would say, that you need a torque wrench which goes down to 5 NM and use it to strip the bike (so you know that you can put it back together with the correct torque)

I would strongly suggest that you obtain metric feeler gauges and a 0-25mm micromter to save confusion.

I can email you a blank shim chart I made up if its helpful.


Ash

Live to ride, Erm Erm, Where are my Car Keys ?

 

[linm]

swjohnsey,
uh oh, i already loosened the middle bolt of the cam tensioner. I read this huge warning on the service spec that said, do not turn crank when this is removed. although i did line up 1,4 at the case split.

it also said to NOT screw the middle bolt back in once you have loosened it, which i have already.
and where do i get this wiggle thing?

Ash,
I don't really a valve chart, pen and paper with some circles seem to work fine for me
What do i need the micrometer for? and you say "IF" i remove the cams, is there a way to remove the shims without doing this? and what's this marking up the chain and wheels? and also why do i need compartmentizlized boxes for my shims?
sorry for all the questions, I must understand the purpose of doing something to better help me put everything back together

 

[ash]

You must remove the camchain tensioner and reset it or it will shag your camchain ASAP. Its like a ratchet inside and it will over tension the camchain chain and stretch it.

DO NOT ROTATE THE ENGINE WITH THE TENSIONER IN !!.

The reason for using tippex is so that you don't put the cams back on the wrong tooth and you get the alignment between the cams and the flywheel correct.

The micrometer is to measure the shim thicknesses if you dig them out to change them. They lie under the shim bucket on the end of the valve, are about the size of a watch battery and control the valve clearance, there is no way to get to them without taking the cams out.

You need a compartmentalised and labled correctly container to hold your shim buckets ans shims relative to each valve.

I would strongly suggest you read the service book very carefully until you understand what is involved in this and you make sure you have the proper tools to hand or can get a mechanically minded friend to help you. It could become very expensive if your not 100% certain of what to do.

Ash

Live to ride, Erm Erm, Where are my Car Keys ?