View Full Version : Shims / genuine or...?
Adam Ef
01-11-20, 10:34 AM
Has anybody used or got opinions on aftermarket valve shims? Looking at genuine ones from Fowlers and they're £9.50 each. Aftermarket from Wemoto are £5.50 each.
I've seen loads of suggestions to go with genuine, mainly from the manufacturer. What sort of issues would there be with aftermarket? I'd imagine Wemoto were selling something decent.
If Fowlers had them all in stock I'd just bite the bullet and visit this afternoon to get them and pay extra for convenience of having them quickly, but they have to order a couple of sizes anyway, so wait time is similar if I get them from Wemoto and save about £50 for the amount I need.
I don't want to be doing this again any time soon though, so if aftermarket cause problems then I'll just pay the extra.
Craig380
01-11-20, 10:42 AM
I would think Wemoto stuff is fine, their aftermarket stuff is decent quality. It's not like getting them from an unknown eBay seller.
depending on how decent your local stealer is they might have a trade/swap scheme.
lets face it, genuine ones will be £160 if you need to do all 16? so a bloody bargain considering how long they will be in the engine for. most bikes never need a second valve shim replacement.
buy genuine.
punyXpress
01-11-20, 02:52 PM
Just a ( probably silly ) thought, but are any of the ones being discarded usable in other positions?
Adam Ef
01-11-20, 05:53 PM
Just a ( probably silly ) thought, but are any of the ones being discarded usable in other positions?
Funny you should mention that. I've just spent an hour working out what can be shuffled around where. I can reuse 7. Just ordered 9 new ones and a couple of cam chain tensioner bolts from Fowlers. Annoying they only have 3 in stock of one that I ordered 4 of, so there will be a delay until they get that one in stock on back order.
Without knowing the 'exact' metals used in oem or aftermarket it will be impossible to tell if there would be any difference in the wear rate even before fitting, only time and mileage would tell if you went for the after market jobbies. Having said that ... Fowler's do have a good reputation for their after market parts so I shouldn't think they would use a company that supplies substandard materials.
And at half the price of oem ... tempting indeed but tbh I will be going the oem route when the time comes, i certainly don't mind buying after market parts for use in certain areas but when it comes to engine internals i prefer the oem peace of mind they give me.
Adam Ef
01-11-20, 07:52 PM
I've ordered OEM via Fowlers. Double the price, but as I workd out I can re-use 7 it brings the price down a bit.
I've ordered OEM via Fowlers. Double the price, but as I workd out I can re-use 7 it brings the price down a bit.
Makes sense especially as you can reuse a few of the originals.
Adam Ef
08-11-20, 08:13 PM
I've ordered OEM via Fowlers. Double the price...
Still waiting on the shims. Hadn't heard a thing since ordering so called them yesterday. Customer service got really arsey with me saying "you only ordered them six days ago!". I pointed out I had no communication from them since the order and she said "well we do say to expect it to be ten to fourteen days". ! I had to ask who they say that to as no one had said anything to me and there's nothing on the website or when you order that states that. She got more and more ****y with me. They won't know anything until sometime next week.. maybe.
Wish I'd ordered from Wemoto now.
Customer service at it's very best eh!
Still waiting on the shims. Hadn't heard a thing since ordering so called them yesterday. Customer service got really arsey with me saying "you only ordered them six days ago!". I pointed out I had no communication from them since the order and she said "well we do say to expect it to be ten to fourteen days". ! I had to ask who they say that to as no one had said anything to me and there's nothing on the website or when you order that states that. She got more and more ****y with me. They won't know anything until sometime next week.. maybe.
Wish I'd ordered from Wemoto now.
...that's not good to hear. I've bought a couple of things from Fowlers (Suzuki) and their customer service has always been great.
Adam Ef
10-11-20, 07:29 PM
That's got to be one of the least impressive £90 spend deliveries ever. At least they've arrived. Now just to try and remember how the bike goes back together.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50587121973_23c3108b34_c.jpg
Adam Ef
11-11-20, 04:57 PM
So.. shims fitted, cams and cam cover and cam chain tensioner all fitted today. Check spec again and the good news is I got 13 measurement and shim sizes right. Not so good news is that 2 are in spec but could be better an 1 is just out of spec still so I need to order another shim for it. The other two that are just within but could be better I can swap around shims for. So... another delay while I wait for delivery of a single shim.
Although frustrating I'm fairly pleased with that for my first ever attempt. Most things I've read about it say that most people will go through the process at least twice first time to get it right and to allow 30 hours to do it if you've never done it before. I didn't believe that but I'm at least half way through that and the bike is still in bits.
Craig380
11-11-20, 05:24 PM
Although frustrating I'm fairly pleased with that for my first ever attempt. Most things I've read about it say that most people will go through the process at least twice first time to get it right and to allow 30 hours to do it if you've never done it before. I didn't believe that but I'm at least half way through that and the bike is still in bits.
I can believe it on a 4-cyl bike. First time I checked the clearances on an SV it took me at least 3 hours, luckily no adjustments were needed.
Adam Ef
15-11-20, 10:39 AM
Amazingly I managed to get the ZX6r back together this morning. A few very late evenings and 4 times removing the cams and cover but I've finally got all the valves where they need to be.
Everything connected up. Not find out why the fuel pump isn't priming. All electrics are on and connectors done up. I spent about 2 hours making sure. Tacho goes through start up, but not fuel pump sound. Is there anything I've missed refitting a fuel tank? I had to reconnect the fuel lines so ossibly air in them. Would that cause that to happen? I'd assume I'd hear the pump prime.
EDIT: Pulled error code 35 in diagnostic mode, which is immobilizer amplifier issue.. electrical connector. I did pull apart a connector under the air box that I had to clean up a lot and might have over flooded it with ACF50 when reconnecting. Time to pull off the air box again...
Adam Ef
15-11-20, 03:00 PM
Damn. Cleaned connectors up and still no priming. Stumped.
You didn't swap keys by any chance?
https://www.zx6r.com/threads/2006-zx6r-fi-code-35-immobilizer-amplifier-malfunction.108529/
Adam Ef
15-11-20, 06:04 PM
Beauty!
I had the fairing off still and exactly like in that thread, I thought the big block connector was to the indicator. But it's to the immobiliser aerial box.
Sorted. Bike fires up nicely.
It only took me two weeks (off and on) to do the valve clearances. Now on to the bar conversion, brake lines etc etc.
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