K3 engine fix - The valve clearances

[muzikill]

http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=160198

Following on from the above thread...

Reading the manuals it advises to check the clearances before stripping the engine so i gave it a go ... hear are some pics on how it all looks with the valves ready for inspection..

Front cams
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5297/5389943762_50b2fd9176_z.jpg

and cover
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5219/5389339483_11f7fe882b_z.jpg

Rear cams
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5096/5389944348_e3a7b0bdef_z.jpg

Rear cover
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5220/5389944138_e1a51bcd1c_z.jpg

[muzikill]

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5093/5389340099_2a5bef212c_z.jpg

Used the tool in the middle, around 6 quid from Screwfix and considering what it took to take the fuel tank, the airbox and the throttle bodies off it was more or less basic tools and mostly time - consider how much it would cost you to get this done at a 'official' garage!

Measurements?

Tolerances
IN .10 to .20
EX .20 to .30


My Measurements

Front IN
Left lobe .102
Right Lobe .127

Front EX
Left lobe .178
Right Lobe .178

Rear IN
Left lobe .127 - .152
Right Lobe .152

Rear EX
Left lobe .178
Right Lobe .178


As far as i can see with a mileage of around 14.5k it isnt that bad - put down some of the measurments to the fine point aligining up the F & R marks & the feeler gauge i have used as its incriments arent bang on for doing this kind of job. It suprised me just how small the cams are!

One thing that bothered me when checking the front cyclinder clearances is when i aligned the F mark the cam lobes werent pointing away from each other and the haynes manual said just turn it again to the F mark to make them do this ..... when i am rebuilding the engine im worried i will get it wrong (manual says make sure the cylinder is at TDC on the compression stroke 'not the exhaust stroke') by checking the camshaft lobes - eh - it's the camshafts i will be refitting so how can i use these as a guide.

The valve cover rubber gaskets dont look that bad either, do they need replaced?

comments?

[Biker Biggles]

I reused the gaskets about 10000 miles ago with no problems on a curvy.I think if you dont split them they are OK.

[mattb200]

all depends on gaskets condition - i reused on mine when checked clearances. (from what i remember they were not cheap to buy more!)

[muzikill]

gaskets look fine to me just a bit of liquid gasket residue around them.. should be ok.

[zadar]

when i am rebuilding the engine im worried i will get it wrong (manual says make sure the cylinder is at TDC on the compression stroke 'not the exhaust stroke') by checking the camshaft lobes - eh - it's the camshafts i will be refitting so how can i use these as a guide.


I answered in other thread but here is again. Throw that Haynes manual in garbage if that is what it say. That is wrong.
It only applies for front cylinder and only if you doing one cylinder at time. If you take out cams from front but not rear than you have to put them back in on compression stroke. However, that does not apply for rear cylinder since piston is not at TDC yet when you putting cams in. If you doing rear only you will put front piston at TDC on exhaust stroke and than remove/install cams on rear.
This can get confusing for people doing it once or twice so best way is to just make sure there is one crank revolution between front and rear when setting cams. Or do one cylinder at time without turning crank, complete that cylinder and than go to next one. Or take all cams out, change shims you need to change and than start at one cylinder, in which case all you need to worry is to turn crank once between setting front and rear cams. No worry what stroke is compression or exhaust since they don't exist until cams are in.

[Sid Squid]

Throw that Haynes manual in garbage if that is what it say. That is wrong.
If that's what it said it would be wrong, OP; read the whole section again it makes complete sense.

[squirrel_hunter]

It would appear that I've added a little confusion to the OP.

Cams are not designed to be removed at TDC for each cylinder.
They are designed to be removed on F mark, period. F mark has nothing to do with TDC for rear cylinder.


When I was doing my engine I did read that the F mark was not exactly TDC so I measured it and found yes it was slightly out but for the purpose of explanation I considered it TDC. However I didn't know that the full rotation of the engine back to F would then not be TDC for the rear as it would make since to be to me?

I also assumed that one cylinder would be worked on at a time and was trying to explain how when reinstalling the cams from a dissembled engine if you were to load them one side at a time using the F mark the timing would be correct. As this did get me thinking when I did it

Apologies if I've confused anyone on this.

[zadar]

F is exact TDC but for front piston. For rear R is TDC but R is not used for setting cams so rear piston TDC is irrelevant for cam install.
R and TDC just confuse people. If you ignore those two you can't do wrong, just use F mark and it does not matter where you start, front or rear.