Valve Clearance - Motor Not Spinning on Reassembly

[treybrad]

I hate that I have to post this, but I think I may have gotten in over my head... I'm right at 26k and checked my valve clearances this weekend. Unfortunately every exhaust valve was just a little too tight and out of spec.

I marked both cams and the chain and zip tied the intake cam to the chain in two spots before removing the CCT and cam caps. Pulled the exhaust cam completely out but left the intake cam zip tied in place. Reassembly was drama free (I thought) -- cams reinstalled, paint marks lined up on the exhaust cam, CCT deployed and there's no slack in the chain.

So I remove the zip ties on the intake cam and go to rotate the motor by hand. All good for one complete rotation, but about 45 degrees after that it stops cold. Crap.

Any ideas what could be happening? My paint marks all line up, I really don't see how it could be out of time. I did not secure the bottom of the chain against the crank sprocket, could it have skipped there? The guide at the crank doesn't look like it would allow it to skip down there.

It stops in exactly the same spot forward and backward and stops dead.

I'm going to start retracing my steps and see what I can find out but any help or troubleshooting tips would be HUGELY appreciated.

trey

 

[WJBertrand]

Unless you dropped a fastener or something through a spark plug hole I don’t see what else it could be besides a timing slip.


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[treybrad]

Ok, stay tuned... Ex cam definitely not in correct position.

Lesson: One or two clear marks are better than a bunch

Ugh.

 

[~TABASCO~]

I’ve performed this job many times. I would suggest pulling the cam cover back off and starting over in checking all is aligned properly. It probably skipped the at the bottom. Something that has always helped me is to make white hash marks on all sprockets and chain. Then I zip tie the bottom with (over board) 4-5 zip ties. Even after everything is re installed I re check everything about five times.
It’s always been a problem with OCD........lol

Just pull it back down and check. And you can spin it with a ratchet with the valve cover and clutch cover off. Just to check and re check.

One more thing I suggest you check is the cam chain (vertical) when the cam cover is off. Make SURE it’s on the guides and has not slid over to either side of the case. Unless you physically look at it, it Wong give you any indication that is off to the side. If you start the motor with it to the side the engine will run and the chain will cut a hole either on the inside case, or outer case. The stories I’ve come across are typically the inside case. This would be extremely bad. Your able to use a flash light and look down into the case with the cover off and see that the chain is correct (or not).
I’m sure you did this, also make sure that you have pre set the stock CCT before re installing. Once installed don’t forget to release it (unload it). I’ve read folks have forgot to do this step and the chain falls right off and they get to start everything over again.

If you have any questions just let me know. I’ve done it a zillion times.

 

[gv550]

Bonus points to Trey for turning the engine by hand before punching the start button.

 

[tntmo]

Bonus points to Trey for turning the engine by hand before punching the start button.

Exactly what I was thinking, you did the right thing checking first. Since you were willing to jump into this job that seems to worry so many people, I'm positive you can solve this issue. Step back, take a break and then start fresh looking at everything and making sure it's correct.

When I did my last check/adjust, I marked the chain at both cams and the crank and then also zip tied everything. I should have pulled the cams and put marks on the inboard side as well, might do that this time around.

Good luck and come back to let us know that you got it done correctly.

 

[treybrad]

Well, it's back together and running great -- thank y'all for the tips and well wishes. The amount of info on this board is staggering. I had read so much beforehand but as I kept referencing other threads after starting found tons of additional helpful hints I had glossed over that would've saved me a lot of time had I paid attention to them first...

Turns out the exhaust cam was off. Wayyy offff -- multiple teeth. I'm not sure how my brain thought it was right. I had marked it too many times yesterday when I pulled it all apart and this morning upon reassembly I guess I just had a brain fart when some of the marks happened to line up.

As noted, luckily I had the sense to turn it over by hand. After I fixed the cam position I must have spun it 20 times to be sure out of paranoia. I checked and checked and rechecked all the marks and sure enough it fired right up when I got it back together.

I'll post some of the things I learned in the 'more lessons learned' thread to keep down on clutter.

Thank y'all again! What a job!

trey

 

[Kyle_E]

Well, it's back together and running great -- thank y'all for the tips and well wishes.

Well and thank you for posting about your problem. I learned from it as I'm sure others will as they go to do their valves.

 

[jmz]

Good thing you got it fixed.

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[tntmo]

So you had tight exhaust valves as well? How many miles on the bike? I had some tight ones on my first check, which I did early at 20k miles. I know a lot of people want to just blow off the valve clearance check, but it's something I feel better knowing that it's been done.

 

[cyclemike4]

I don't know if this has been suggested in any of the threads on the valve adjustments. I do not remember seeing it but I took the entire electrical panel loose off the right side of the frame pulled the wiring out of the frame that went over the motor and hinged it 90 degrees out. Zip tied it to my throttle side handlebar and the cam alignment marks could be seen very easily. Hope that little information helps someone. It sure made things much better for me.

 

[WJBertrand]

That's interesting. I loosened the whole panel but did not get the impression it could be swung that far out of the way. That would make things way easier. Obviously the right side crash bar would also have to be removed.

 

[treybrad]

So you had tight exhaust valves as well? How many miles on the bike? I had some tight ones on my first check, which I did early at 20k miles. I know a lot of people want to just blow off the valve clearance check, but it's something I feel better knowing that it's been done.

Totally agree about not skipping it. I'm right at 26k miles and I'm generally pretty easy on the bike. Most miles are highway touring and easy commuting. Every single exhaust valve was tight, 2 of them just under at .21mm and 2 of them worse at .19mm (spec .22-.28mm). Intakes were all right at .12-.13mm (spec .10-.16mm).

I don't know if this has been suggested in any of the threads on the valve adjustments. I do not remember seeing it but I took the entire electrical panel loose off the right side of the frame pulled the wiring out of the frame that went over the motor and hinged it 90 degrees out. Zip tied it to my throttle side handlebar and the cam alignment marks could be seen very easily. Hope that little information helps someone. It sure made things much better for me.

I should've looked more at getting that out of the way, I will next time if needed. I loosened it and got it a little loose but getting it completely out of the way would have definitely helped.

trey