Valve Check Assistance Requested

[Jeffs]

Greetings,

I live in Mulvane, KS (just south of Wichita) and I am in the process of performing my first valve adjustment. I have checked all the valves and I have a couple that will require new shims.

I have a shim kit so I am ready to go. What I am requesting is if there is anyone in the area that would be willing to come over and watch me perform the shim change. I have read all the posts, and have a pretty good understanding on how to do it, but since this is my first time I would feel a lot better if someone watched me and made sure I did not mess it up.

I will provide the beer, all you need to do is make sure I don't make a catastrophic mistake.

I work first shift and am home evenings. I can be reached at 316-371-3893 or [email protected]

Thanks,

Jeff S

 

[Queensland Ken]

yamafitter did a real good excel spread sheet for when you do your valves.

Link

Use the spread sheet and record all the shim & clearance values.

It really is quite easy, the hardest part is making sure you get the cam chain right on the exhaust cam first.

There are plenty of posts on the procedure.

 

[MCRIDER007]

There are plenty of posts on the procedure.

I am going to make a wild guess that he has already read the posts and knows the procedure.

 

[Bustanut joker]

Kansas... The middle of nowhere.

Pretty sure yer on yer own man. Read up what Bill has posted and whatever you do, don't forget to ty wrap the timing chain!

 

[Jeffs]

Sanity check!

Thanks for the spread sheet link. After taking a deep breath and re-reading the valve check how-to and the manual I feel confident that I have the lobes in the proper orientation, 10:00 and 2:00. I checked them in the order the manual states 1, 2, 4, 3.

Now here is my issue. All the valves are loose....yes, all of them. On the intake I can slide a .14mm feeler gauge on all intake valves and on the exhaust I can slide a .178mm on all exhaust valves.

I bought the bike used and have the receipts from the previous owner. at 26K he had a "Major Tune-up" which cost a bit less than $800.00 I assume this was the valve check. However, there was no documentation on the valve readings.

Is it likely / possible that all my valves are loose?

My bike is a 2008 FJR with 58K miles on it.

Thanks

 

[MCRIDER007]

Thanks for the spread sheet link. After taking a deep breath and re-reading the valve check how-to and the manual I feel confident that I have the lobes in the proper orientation, 10:00 and 2:00. I checked them in the order the manual states 1, 2, 4, 3.
Now here is my issue. All the valves are loose....yes, all of them. On the intake I can slide a .14mm feeler gauge on all intake valves and on the exhaust I can slide a .178mm on all exhaust valves.

Your valves are not loose, they are on the edge of being tight. The intake valves are supposed to be between .15-.22mm and the exhaust valves between .18-25mm. If it were me I would re-measure and if they are within .01mm of the recommended range I would call it good; the valves will tighten over time but there is a big safety margin built into those clearances and any change is going to be minimal before the next valve check. If your bike is in an unheated garage, that alone could change the readings by .01mm.

 

[Bustanut joker]

Good catch MC.. Temperature should always be taken into accout.

 

[Jeffs]

Thanks for getting me thinking straight! I am embarrassed to admit it, but I was thinking backwards on the sizes....DOH! So now that I have that cleared up here are my measurements in mm.

EX

1 202, 202

2 203, 190

3 203, 203

4 202, 202

Intake

1 152, 152

2 153, 152

3 153, 153

4 178, 178

Outside air temp is 67. I also ran across another thread where the FJR owner mentioned to use a GO-NO GO approach. If the .152 fits in the Intake you are good, if you get .178 at the exhaust call it good.

I am going to call mine good and not mess with them.

This check was not difficult at all. (once I got over the couple of brain farts) I had the bike torn down and valves checked in one day. This was my first FJR valve check and getting to them was not that bad.

The only bad thing that happened was that I tore my valve cover gasket so I ordered a new one.

I know that Kansas is in the middle of nowhere, but if there are any local FJR riders I do have a No-Mar tire changer available.

Thanks for all the replies.

 

[Queensland Ken]

One little trick I have with the gasket is to silastic it into the cam cover.

It make it so much easier when you reinstall it, stops it being knocked out when you maneuver the cover in.