Valve service suggestions

[jaeger22]

Greg, in my experience and everything I have read, they almost always tighten up. If they are on the edge of the range, I adjust them back to the center of the range or even a bit more.
And if I recall, you are in winter down time so no rush. In that case, get new shims for sure. My exhaust valves were all at the tight end of the range and one was way tight and out of range. Sorry to hear that you and one other poster found your valves tight but it does make me feel better about mine. I thought I was the ONLY one and that made me worry about my motor.
So you said you found TDC with a screwdriver. Did you follow the manual using the K and T timing marks for the check? If not, you may want to try that before you pull the cams. You may get different results and they MAY be better.
Are you going to pull the motor? Try your pivot trick? Overall it is less work to do it in the frame but if you are going to be down for the winter. . . . Good time to pull the swing arm and lube everything up. ::008::

 

[greg the pole]

thanks Jager,

I figured as much. In my experience, exhaust valves were usually tight on the first valve check.

yes I used the manual, with the K AND T marks. The marks on the camshaft sprockets are impossible to see.
I looked for both in and ex lobes to point out, and the screwdriver to be at the highest point (or the middle of it).

I'm not 100% sure about pulling/pivoting the motor. Looking at it last night the majority of the bike has to come apart.
For the time being, i'll order up the 9.48mm shim kit, wait for it to arrive, and plan my next step.

 

[scudrunner]

Jeepers. I do all my own maintenance as well and I am coming up on my first valve check too. I'm not looking forward to it! I'll be reading your posts to see how you make out. ::017::

 

[avc8130]

If the valves are within the tolerance range, I wouldn't touch them personally.

The tolerance range is there for a reason.

Valves need clearance at the cam shaft to prevent a valve from being open during the combustion event.

Yamaha chooses the tolerance range and adjustment interval. It is a safe assumption that they choose them wisely.

In theory, the interval is determined such that if the valve is at the lower end of the tolerance range, it will NOT go to 0 clearance before the next interval is passed.

I prefer to leave well enough alone.

ac

 

[greg the pole]

I hear you, but some of the valves are 0.04 tight. That's way outside of tolerance.

I'll recheck them tonight, but i'm not hopeful.

http://thetenerist.wordpress.com/2013/10/29/tenere-valve-check-and-adjustment/

 

[avc8130]

I hear you, but some of the valves are 0.04 tight. That's way outside of tolerance.

I'll recheck them tonight, but i'm not hopeful.

http://thetenerist.wordpress.com/2013/10/29/tenere-valve-check-and-adjustment/

Oh, well anything outside of tolerance needs to be adjusted. Sorry, I wasn't tracking. I thought you said the valves were on the tight-side of the tolerance, but still "in".

ac

 

[avc8130]

I haven't looked into it, so please don't shoot the messenger...

How tough is it to release the electrical panel and maybe move it slightly to gain some access? Crazy concept?

ac

 

[greg the pole]

four bolts. But I have a boat load of wire going the quickest path possible (installed by me)
Still does not help, the frame is directly in the line of sight.

 

[avc8130]

four bolts. But I have a boat load of wire going the quickest path possible (installed by me)
Still does not help, the frame is directly in the line of sight.

Drat.

I can't believe this from Yamaha. Everything else about this bike is so easy to work on. How could they do this to us?!?!

ac

PS: did we REALLY need 3 threads about this? it's hard to follow them all!

 

[greg the pole]

i've been thinking about that.
Not sure why they didn't put the timing marks on the other side of the gears.
Oh well.

Using the timing marks, and the screw driver is sufficient.
I think the cam removal should be easy enough. If I secure the chain to both sprockets, including down at the bottom before removing the tensioner, this should give me enough room to put in the new shims, and button it all back up.

here's hoping.

 

[BWC]

Greg, As I did a bit of a preemptive valve clearence check last winter at 30,00 km there are a few things that helped. With a little wait time on your side, one thing that worked was to use some gasket adhesive (Honda 3 bond in my case ) and using just enough to fasten the cam cover gasket in place to the cam cover, and let it set well.
Getting the cam cover off is one challenge, getting it back on without disturbing the gasket is a bit more challenging. Took me 3 or 4 unsucessfull trys till I went the adhesive route. The spark plug gasket sealing area, and the right side half circle sections is where it wants to come off when reinstalling the cam cover. Also the wiring harness that runs along the right side needs to be REALLY WELL held back out of the way. I used multiple large bundle ties and worked the wires up and away as far as possible to get the max clearence to reinstall the cover.
And although my valves were within spec. in your case as your doing a valve adjust and removing the cams, I find its helpfull to remove all the cam buckets ( very carefully so no shims fall into the engine :-\ ) and record the shim thickness and its valve clearence so next time you will know what shims will be needed if any future checks find some out of spec.
I bought a 9.48mm shim kit as the local dealer dosen't share well. Its somewhat understandable why they keep shims in stock for their servicing and not for resale, and was told if I wanted any I would have to order them so I just got the kit to lessen the wait time when the day comes.

Time, paitence and a good bright flashlight are very helpfull. ::008::

 

[fredz43]

deleted. sorry

 

[greg the pole]

Greg, As I did a bit of a preemptive valve clearence check last winter at 30,00 km there are a few things that helped. With a little wait time on your side, one thing that worked was to use some gasket adhesive (Honda 3 bond in my case ) and using just enough to fasten the cam cover gasket in place to the cam cover, and let it set well.
Getting the cam cover off is one challenge, getting it back on without disturbing the gasket is a bit more challenging. Took me 3 or 4 unsucessfull trys till I went the adhesive route. The spark plug gasket sealing area, and the right side half circle sections is where it wants to come off when reinstalling the cam cover. Also the wiring harness that runs along the right side needs to be REALLY WELL held back out of the way. I used multiple large bundle ties and worked the wires up and away as far as possible to get the max clearence to reinstall the cover.
And although my valves were within spec. in your case as your doing a valve adjust and removing the cams, I find its helpfull to remove all the cam buckets ( very carefully so no shims fall into the engine :-\ ) and record the shim thickness and its valve clearence so next time you will know what shims will be needed if any future checks find some out of spec.
I bought a 9.48mm shim kit as the local dealer dosen't share well. Its somewhat understandable why they keep shims in stock for their servicing and not for resale, and was told if I wanted any I would have to order them so I just got the kit to lessen the wait time when the day comes.

Time, paitence and a good bright flashlight are very helpfull. ::008::

good call on setting the new gasket in place first.
I'm not there just yet. I will cover all holes before taking anything apart.

Here's my question to you and Jaeger22.
Why does yamaha say, remove the camshafts, then the camshaft sprockets? could you not leave the two well alone, and together?
Or is an issue with room?

 

[avc8130]

i've been thinking about that.
Not sure why they didn't put the timing marks on the other side of the gears.
Oh well.

Using the timing marks, and the screw driver is sufficient.
I think the cam removal should be easy enough. If I secure the chain to both sprockets, including down at the bottom before removing the tensioner, this should give me enough room to put in the new shims, and button it all back up.

here's hoping.

When you have the cams out, transfer the marks to the "inside" so you can see them for re-assembly/next time.

ac

 

[greg the pole]

yeah, I thought about that.

So why does yamaha say to separate the gears from the cams?
I usually leave both of those together on chain driven cams... ???

 

[mcrider007]

When you have the cams out, transfer the marks to the "inside" so you can see them for re-assembly/next time.

ac

Why wait until the cams are out, couldn't you line up the crankshaft mark and then mark the inside of the cams to an easy to see reference point?

 

[avc8130]

Why wait until the cams are out, couldn't you line up the crankshaft mark and then mark the inside of the cams to an easy to see reference point?

Sure...but if you are marking things, might as well wait until they are out to transfer the markings over. You don't need the marks unless you are removing the cams to change shims.

ac

 

[greg the pole]

Chime in here ac.

if you have the repair manual, read page 5-16, and 5-17.

Why remove the camshaft, then remove the camshaft sprockets?
why not leave them together?

what am I missing here yamaha?

 

[jaeger22]

How tough is it to release the electrical panel and maybe move it slightly to gain some access? Crazy concept?

Actually AC that is the best thing to do. It is a pain and as Greg said it takes time to remove all the relays and connectors. But then you can feed the main wire bundle out the right side and out of the way. It is then WAY easier to get the valve cover off and on. I tried it both ways because it seemed like too much work the first time. But the second time I pulled it all out and it was less work over all.

if you have the repair manual, read page 5-16, and 5-17.

Why remove the camshaft, then remove the camshaft sprockets?
why not leave them together?

Greg and I talked but for everyone else, no you don't have to remove the sprockets. That section of the manual is a generic removal of the cams and includes taking them apart but you don't need to do that to change the shims.

Why wait until the cams are out, couldn't you line up the crankshaft mark and then mark the inside of the cams to an easy to see reference point?

Because you will never really need them unless you pull the cams and it is way easier to do with the cams out. I used a dremel tool to cut a thin line and then put a dab of white paint to make them easy to see. Kind of hard to do installed.

 

[True Grip]

Good stuff guys.

All these tips will be helpful!