Valve Clearances HELP

When I had my bike on the first valve check at 24000km (14913M) they
hade made the following measurments. (milimeters).

Front Rear
Exhaust Intake Exhaust Intake
0,20 0,10 0,20 0,10
0,20 0,10 0,20 0,10

They did not change any of them

The recomended clearance is:
Exhaust clearance 0,20 - 0,30 mm
Inlet clearance 0,10 - 0,20 mm


/Mats


Waiting for the summer

[jambo]

I did the valve clearances on the Kwak at 12,000 miles and they wear all tending towards being tight, but they were fairly all over the place. Trouble is there's no way you can really tell till you get in there, Ricardo, what incriments do you have on your feeler gauges, I had to double them up to get the right measurements i.e. 0.08 + 0.04 to get 0.12. If you only have 0.05 incriments it can be a bit tricky to tell exactly what measurement you have.

Tight clearances are not a good thing and should be taken seriosuly

[TSM]

Originally Posted by jambo

I did the valve clearances on the Kwak at 12,000 miles and they wear all tending towards being tight, but they were fairly all over the place. Trouble is there's no way you can really tell till you get in there, Ricardo, what incriments do you have on your feeler gauges, I had to double them up to get the right measurements i.e. 0.08 + 0.04 to get 0.12. If you only have 0.05 incriments it can be a bit tricky to tell exactly what measurement you have.

Tight clearances are not a good thing and should be taken seriosuly

Yep, i only have 0.05,0.10,0.15,0.20 then up in 0.10. On the valves that gave a 0.10 a 0.15 would only fit if you wiggled it about a tad and it would be very tight but the 0.10 was fairly loose with a tad of resistance. The same was of the 0.15 and 0.20 fealer guage.

I seems i have to get the shims out, but i dont have a micrometer only calipers.

This is an ar$e. Now comes the more complicated bit.

well, i think you'd better get a set of feelers with a broader range (hein gericke do them for about 5 bucks i think).

i don't know enough about engines to tell exactly what is going on, but here's what my respected buddies told me on TLplanet:
"As stated above, they generally tighten up as the valve is driven into the seat repeatedly. In the old days, the tappet adjusters could loosen up and they would rattle."

Too tight specs could cause a burnt out valve.

if for the esvee the specs are Exhaust clearance 0,20 - 0,30 mm and Inlet clearance 0,10 - 0,20 mm, then you should set your clearance as close as possible to respectively 0.30 and 0.20 mm.

That way, you can ride a lot longer without having to swap shims all the time. Simple checkups are easier and cheaper than shim-swapping (it's about 5 bucks per shim by the way).


ALSO

be sure to get a micrometer and check the shims you take out! They don't always tend to be exactly as thick as the number says! they wear too. So measure them, calculate the needed offset, and then buy a new shim that has the correct value.

[TSM]

Ok, got a thiner set of guages and here are the new readings.

<table border="1"><tr><td></td><td colspan="2" align="center">Front</td><td colspan="2" align="center">Rear</td></tr><tr align="center"><td></td><td>Exhaust</td><td>Intake</td><td>Intake</td><td>Exhaust</td></tr><tr align="center"><td>Right</td><td>0.152-0.178</td><td>0.076</td><td>0.127</td><td>0.152-0.178</td></tr><tr align="center"><td>Left</td><td>0.152-0.178</td><td>0.102</td><td>0.076</td><td>0.152-0.178</td></tr></table>
The intake figues are realy weird though. Now i have better reading (hopefully) i have to start changing things.

Any tips to get the chain adjusters out?
Where do i get new shims from and how much?

as far as i can remember the esvee engine, it was simply a matter of undoing the four bolts that hold the cams in place, and take the cams out. (you can take out the cams one by one, rotate the engine untill there's no pressure on the valve buckets, and pop 'em out.)

I marked the teeth on the gears the first time i took 'em out, but later i found out that there is some markings on them from the factory, so they're quite simple to reassemble again. (Be sure to put the cams back in the way they were, one tooth difference will let your engine run like crap, if not worse)

then i used a magnet to get the shim buckets out, and usually, the shims will stick on the bottom of these. Be very careful not to drop anything in the engine or you'll be kicking yourself (don't ask me how it feels )

i'd put 0,1 thinner shims in all of them, except for those two intake readings (0.102 and 0.127 where i'd put 0.075 and 0.05 thinner shims in respectively)

if you have a good relation with your dealer you probably could swap out the shims for next to nothing (they should have lots of shims in stock); otherwise you just buy new shims (in my case i paid around 5 EUR/shim ), and you keep the old shims for future valve jobs.

i also heard of guys simply milling their shims to the correct thickness. Cheap, but you gotta have the tools and the skill

good luck mate
cheers, jan

[TSM]

Bike has never been to a dealer except for when i got the bike and the restrictors.

I found a place that sells shims at £3.84each.

Should i get new gaskets, mine seem to be all intact without braking and not dried out?

Tonight, will leave office early and try to get the cams out if i can get the blasted cam chain tentioners out, then mesure up the existing shims. Hopfully will get the figures to order the bits on friday.

[northwind]

New cam chain tensioner gaskets would be wise... they're metal gaskets (or at least, not rubber) and also pretty brittle. They're about a fiver each if memory serves. But the top ones should be fine unless they're damaged. The Haynes manual calls for sealant, I think, but it seems most people don't bother.

the 'rubber' gaskets for the cylinder heads are reusable, if they're not cracked or ripped. If you're careful, they will last 5 valve jobs or more

i put a little bit of sealant on there as well, but i don't think it is necessary.

good luck!

[TSM]

Got all the shims and measured them ready for tommorow and get some.

<table border="1"><tr><td></td><td colspan="2" align="center">Front</td><td colspan="2" align="center">Rear</td></tr><tr align="center"><td></td><td>Exhaust</td><td>Intake</td><td>Intake</td><td>Exhaust</td></tr><tr align="center"><td>Right</td><td>1.75</td><td>1.78</td><td>1.85</td><td>1.75</td></tr><tr align="center"><td>Left</td><td>1.70</td><td>1.72</td><td>1.90</td><td>1.75</td></tr></table>
They are all confirmed with the micrometer. Now i will calculate all the needed shims as per recomendation by wreckah and service table.

These are what i calculated & rounded things to the nearest 0.02.
<table border="1"><tr><td></td><td colspan="2" align="center">Front</td><td colspan="2" align="center">Rear</td></tr><tr align="center"><td></td><td>Exhaust</td><td>Intake</td><td>Intake</td><td>Exhaust</td></tr><tr align="center"><td>Right</td><td>1.66</td><td>1.70</td><td>1.82</td><td>1.66</td></tr><tr align="center"><td>Left</td><td>1.62</td><td>1.68</td><td>1.82</td><td>1.66</td></tr></table>

I have created a shim calculator in excel with a few features. Is it possable for one of the boffs to check it and possably release it for public. PM me for it.