[bs121583]

i checked my valve clearance yesterday and found that many of them were too tight.... I have a factory service manual... After i got the size of the clearance i turned to the "valve clearance adjustment chart" to find the shim to install... in order to find the size of shim to use you have to know the present shim size.... I can not find this information in my manual... maybe i'm not looking in the right place but i do need to find out... thanks for the help guys.

yellow = fast

 

[Rob Lee]

Each shim size has a distinct mark, but it may be illegible.

You can use a micrometer to measure the size of the present shim, or use a shim of known size and then measure the clearance.

 

[bs121583]

hey rob I have yet to take the cams off and was wondering if it was possible to see this mark with the cams still in place and if so where would i look... it is a little tight in there so i'm not sure if i can see it without taking more out... the only thing i have off is the valve cover

yellow = fast

 

[linm]

hey can you guys take some pictures!! of what? of everything!?[]

 

[bs121583]

hey linm... i dont exactly know a lot about the valves but since i have mine this far i can take a few pictures... i'll post them in a couple days

yellow = fast

 

[linm]

awesome!,
I just got my service manual as well in the mail and the valve adjusting chapter to me is to vague

i don't know what I should be looking at
if you can, label the stuff you know in your pics?

 

[swjohnsey]

First off, only about half of the shims I have seen (even new ones) have a mark. With the cams on you can't see the mark because the shim is under the bucket that rides on the cam.

The first time you take the cams off map every shim with its size. You can use a dial caliper to measure them because the shims are in .05mm increments which for us metrically impaired is about .002". The next time you adjust the valves you will be able to check clearance and determine correct shim without having to pull cams.

 

[bs121583]

hey johnsey where could i find a dial caliper or micrometer? this is my first time with valves if you couldn't tell... but i'm learning...

yellow = fast

 

[swjohnsey]

You should be able to get either at Sears for one. The dial caliper is faster and cheaper. The micrometer is more accurate. I have a stainless steel dial caliper that was made in China that only cost about $20 that I got from some reloading outfit. The shims are pretty far apart in size so the dial caliper works just fine.

I found it helpful to convert everything to inches before I started working instead of going back and forth continually (remember the Mars probe.) The valves on my bike were .22-.31mm on the exhaust and .15-.24 on the intakes. I converted this to .009-.012" and .006-.009". For every .002 looser you want to make the valve go one shim size smaller and one size larger to make it .002 tighter.

 

[bs121583]

ok do you think my shims would be the same size as yours? i have a 2001... or do you think i should go ahead and get the dial caliper? thanks for all your help... this would be hard without help

yellow = fast

 

[swjohnsey]

The valve clearance might be the same (I am not sure) but every bike, even two bikes that came off the production line one after the other, will have different thickness shims on the various valves. The only way to find out is to take off the cams and measure. So you will need something to measure with.

 

[bs121583]

i think i know.. i'm gonna go try it after work.. thanks for the help... i may be back with more problems ..

yellow = fast