26K Valve check

[Groo]

Ok, my '05 passed the 26K mark on the way back from WFO... so it now sits at 28K, and it's time for a check of the valve clearances (I also need that throttle position sensor recall work done....). I've done ALL the maintenance to date on my bike, and consider myself a decent wrench. I'd love to hear from anyone who has done this themselves as to how bad it is, on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the toughest).

I've got Torch's description of the job from the FJRinfo site... Valve check and adjustment and think I'm capable of it... I kinda had the same feelings before I removed my forks and changed the fluid/springs with those, and/or swapped in my Spiegler SS lines, and back before I had done any electrical farkling. Those seem to have come out ok, so it's probably just the fear of the unknown rearing it's ugly head.

For those of you who have done this themselves... anything particular I should be aware of?

I'm thinking I'll take it into a shop for the TPS recall eventually... since that's on Yammy's dime, but I'd kinda like to do this one myself, to make sure it gets done right. Plus, I can take the opportunity to do a rad. flush... since I haven't done that since sometime last year...

 

[Bounce]

I do most of my own maint. I took it to Yamaha for the valve clearance check for one reason. So THEY were on deck in the event that there was anything in the life of the bike WRT to "the tick" and such.

 

[weekend rider]

Good point, it's on record. When they do a valve check they check only. When they are doing a valve check and find a valve out of adjustment , do they adjust it or leave it and reassemle the bike than tell you about it? Than when they are done with the bike do you have to ask them to do a valve adjustment? Or do they adjust the valve when they have the bike apart when they are doing the valve check only?

It seems that there could be two seperate charges one for valve check the other for valve adjustment. Curiou would like to know, mine is comming up soon.

 

[Constant Mesh]

I did the clearance check on my '04 last summer. It's a bit tedious but not too difficult. A lot of disassembly required just to get to the top of the engine. I was fortunate in that no adjustments were needed so I didn't have to remove a camshaft.

You can do it. I'd recommend you work in an air-conditioned shop. If you get a bit frustrated and you're hot the job can linger on.

You should disconnect the throttle cables at the handlebar and pull them back through the frame and away from the engine. You can remove the round slotted plastic peephole cover on the right side of the engine to access the crankshaft for rotating the engine with a socket wrench. You don't really need to see the timing marks to position the camshafts. You can just look at the relative positions of the cam lobes to position the camshafts for measurements.

When you begin to remove the head cover you'll notice that the right front of the cover doesn't want to come out so easily. A plastic air deflector behind the radiator extends back over the right front of the head cover. If you bend the air deflector forward a bit this will allow the head cover to rise and come out. This is the only place where the deflector interferes with the removal of the cover.

The #3 right intake valve clearance was a bit difficult to measure. It was difficult to get the feeler gauge in position for that measurement. All the other fifteen measurements were easy to accomplish.

You'll need to stick the head cover gasket to the cover before reinstalling the cover. If you don't you'll have a hell of a time trying to get the gasket in place in that tight frame spacing.

I reused the O-rings on the coolant pipes and thermostat housing connection. Others have used new O-rings. You can put a dab of silicone grease on the O-rings when you reinstall them to temporarily hold them in place as you reassemble the components.

I left a little bit of the cover gasket adhesive visible on the side of the head cover to illustrate that the cover had been removed and the clearances had been checked.

 

[Groo]

What Bounce said does make some sense... in case mine ever turned into a ticker, it would be nice to have it documented that Yammy did a check near the required interval. That being said, I'm at 28K, and it hasn't shown any signs of anything other than the usual Yammy motor noises... And I'm a cheap bastidge, and hate to shell out hundreds of dollars for something I can do myself, and know it got done right.

Weekend, the difference between measuring the clearances and adjusting the clearances is a few steps. See the link to Torch's writeup. If they find an out of spec gap, it shouldn't take them much longer to correct the situation. A bit more labor and it's good to go.

Constant, I wish my shop was air conditioned... I'll either have to sweat it out, or wait till winter....

 

[stryg8r]

What Bounce said does make some sense... in case mine ever turned into a ticker, it would be nice to have it documented that Yammy did a check near the required interval. That being said, I'm at 28K, and it hasn't shown any signs of anything other than the usual Yammy motor noises... And I'm a cheap bastidge, and hate to shell out hundreds of dollars for something I can do myself, and know it got done right.
Weekend, the difference between measuring the clearances and adjusting the clearances is a few steps. See the link to Torch's writeup. If they find an out of spec gap, it shouldn't take them much longer to correct the situation. A bit more labor and it's good to go.

Constant, I wish my shop was air conditioned... I'll either have to sweat it out, or wait till winter....

You can do it Groo. I had the same trepidation as you when deciding to do my own valve check. And I’m also in the cheap bastard club. In the end I’m glad I did my own as the job wasn’t any more difficult that any other maintenance I’ve done.

Pro’s:

You’ll know the job is done right.

You’ll know your bike that much better.

It will build your confidence in your wrenching skills and provide a nice feeling of accomplishment.

You’ll save yourself some dough better spent on fuel and tires.

 

[staledonut]

I checked the valve clearance for the first time on my 05 with 28k over the weekend. I did it awl by mythelf teacher. Torch's write up was of IMENSE help (thank you, thank you, thank you) and I read it, and the procedure in the service manual, several times earlier to get a sense for the job. I purchased all parts (o-rings, coolant, and Iridium plugs) beforehand. The job is a bit tedious, the work area cramped, and there's lots of stuff to pull to get to the business site but overall not terribly difficult. I'd say a 6 on a scale of 1-10.

It's been some time since I performed this type of work (recent vehicles had hydraulic lifters) and was my first time on a shim-under-bucket arrangement so I made one pass, wrote the measurements down, hid them, performed a second pass, and compared the numbers - they matched. All were in the middle of the specs however the right #4 intake was at the lower end at .152mm which I read somewhere before on the forum that the valves near the cam sprockets have a tendency to run on the tighter side.

I did the job myself for the following reasons:

1. I have had poor luck with dealer shops over the years (mis-diagnoses, stripped fasters, free scratches, doubled charged for parts, told un-truths, quotes revised upward when I brought bikes in). I did initially consider bringing it in to my dealer for this work to have it on record so my performance of the valve check couldn't be used against me in case the bike developed "the tick". When I asked for a quote at my dealer, I purposely used "valve adjustment" instead of "valve check" to see if they would first clarify the distinction since actual adjustment is not often not required, but the dude at service counter who was more interested at eating his lunch than clarify this casually mentioned $250-300 without consulting any information. I just didn't get a warm fuzzy from this.

2. Got to know my mo-chine that much better and to help overcome my fear of intimacy. :blush:

3. Knowledge that the job was done right.

4. Saving of significant dough (paid for the set of Avon Storms installed Friday)

5. I derive some enjoyment by doing this type of work myself, as long as I have the right work conditions, sufficient time, a proper sense of the job, and tools which I fortunately did.

Issues experienced:

1. The coolant pipe was a challenge to remove and reinstall due to the throttle cables. I should have followed Constant Mesh's suggestion of disconnecting the throttle cables at the handlebar. This would have also made removal and re-installation of the valve cover a little easier. Lesson learned for next time.

2. I had all the right tools except for an M30 Torx bit for the coolant pipe bolts. OSH was out of Craftmen's M30 bits but the local auto parts store had a cheapie Torx set which sufficed.

3. The o-ring of the coolant pipe's right appendage that goes into the cylinder head somehow came unseated during installation and leaked when the cooling system was filled so, as mentioned in Torch's write-up, be sure to checks for leaks before buttoning things back up.

Got new tires, lubed the final drive splines, TBS, new plugs, new coolant, valve check, and a full detailing. Overall about 20 hours of work at an unhurried pace. Just need time for a decent LD ride now which ain't gonna happen anytime soon.

 

[FlyingLow]

What Bounce said does make some sense... in case mine ever turned into a ticker, it would be nice to have it documented that Yammy did a check near the required interval. That being said, I'm at 28K, and it hasn't shown any signs of anything other than the usual Yammy motor noises... And I'm a cheap bastidge, and hate to shell out hundreds of dollars for something I can do myself, and know it got done right.

I'm in the same boat. I hit 26K at WFO, at 28K now, just procrastinating a bit. Not guilty on the cheap bastage part, it's more to do with knowing it gets done right with your own self doing it. And saving a bundle for doing it.

At 28K I no longer worry about the tick cropping up. My bike is quiet as a mouse [good] and I figure it woulda started by now.

 

[dcarver]

Hey Groo get good at it then you can do my 06 for for room and board and whiskey and good rides and what not..

 

[FatNakedGuy]

I'm down with buying a bunch of steaks & beer and doing this with a few others... Does the new cruise control get in the way?

Sign me up!

 

[FJRMGM]

Groo - the only issue I have with checking the valves myself is this: what if I check the valves myself and one needs adjustment?

At that point, I'd have to button it back up and take it to the dealer to finish the job.

BTW - I'm at the 26k mark on my repaired ticker too but it's going to wait a couple more thousand before going to the dealer for checking.

 

[Groo]

Groo - the only issue I have with checking the valves myself is this: what if I check the valves myself and one needs adjustment?
At that point, I'd have to button it back up and take it to the dealer to finish the job.

Torch's writeup shows how to adjust them... it doesn't look all that bad, and there's a table you use to figure out what size to go to...

 

[v65]

Groo - the only issue I have with checking the valves myself is this: what if I check the valves myself and one needs adjustment?

Allow yourself plenty of time to do the job, preferably winter. This way if (when?) you get frustrated you won't rush the job.

 

[rangerray]

3. The o-ring of the coolant pipe's right appendage that goes into the cylinder head somehow came unseated during installation and leaked when the cooling system was filled so, as mentioned in Torch's write-up, be sure to checks for leaks before buttoning things back up.

If you bend this part at all during removal or reinstall, it will leak. 'Twould be best to use new o-rings because they are compressed somewhat while installed. When I had the '03, mine leaked right there, but it didn't show up until after it had been ridden a few miles. Come to find out, the dealer had bent the coolant part at some point while they were doing the ticker repair. Also, they had pinched one of the o-rings and it was nearly severed into. It was fairly obvious that they HAD NOT used new o-rings during the reinstall as the o-rings were clearly permenantly flattened from the previous 50,000 miles or so.

I would advise anyone having this maintenance done at a dealer to ride their bikes many miles to insure that all is well before setting out on a long distance journey.

I hate the dealer experience. If I were a rich man, any time my bike required a trip to the dealer I would simply trade it for a new one instead and always ride new. :angry2:

 

[Groo]

Groo - the only issue I have with checking the valves myself is this: what if I check the valves myself and one needs adjustment?

Allow yourself plenty of time to do the job, preferably winter. This way if (when?) you get frustrated you won't rush the job.

Heh... Winter in Houston means it gets into the 60's.... that's prime riding season.

 

[Randy]

Groo - the only issue I have with checking the valves myself is this: what if I check the valves myself and one needs adjustment?
At that point, I'd have to button it back up and take it to the dealer to finish the job.

BTW - I'm at the 26k mark on my repaired ticker too but it's going to wait a couple more thousand before going to the dealer for checking.

+1. Since I had 9600 miles on when they repaired my ticker, I'm thinking the clearance check should take place at 36,000 rather than 26,000.

And for those making reference to the tickers, remember, the clearance check alone will not uncover a valve guide issue (the source of the tick).