Pulling valve cover today

Got all the loot i need for the xj650j valve check and gonna start today methinks.

ive read most (or all) of the valve clearance check threads and pretty sure i know what needs doing.... will be making a photolog of the big event and pasting it here when im done..

Anyone have any last minute tips or me before i get started?

Any perticular photos anyone would like to see? since ill have the valve cover off and the camera handy.

 

Disconnect your battery. Good luck it's really not that hard once you get the tool down if that's what your using.

 

A hardwood stick helps a lot to pull the cover once all bolts are loose. It doesn' thave to be a hammer handle, anything roughly 3/4 inch square section and one foot long will do the trick.

 

Also, i'd say that two small foam blocks would be helpful when comes the time to apply liquid gasket to the lip inside the cover. If you lay the cover upside down on the foam blocks (one block at each end), it will not rock when you work on it.

 

so yea so far pretty good.. few hiccups.. chiefly, grime. 2nd rate valve cover re-paint job plus 2nd rate valve cover gasket job = lots of sticky grimy goo from cheap paint and leaky gasket.. looks like ill be repainting the cover at some point

I'm having a hard time getting the shims out -- only got 1 so far... the bucket retainer tool seems to work but as the shim starts to lift out it wedges and gets stuck.. any perticular trick? dont want to lever too hard against the casting!

the old gasket was dried and cracked and in a few places the gasket tore away and stuck in the groove... x-acto time i guess.. unless someone has another idea?

 

Just a cautionary note, don't try to rotate the cams with the shims out. Check the shim number and reinstall before proceeding to the new one!

Zip-tie method works better for me to get the shims out and eliminate the pressure on the block...

 

I would assume you've seen fitz's write-up. If not here it is.

I bought a hemostat as fitz recommend and it works awesome. I use a tiny screwdriver to lift the edge of the shim and then grab it with the hemostat. Comes right out.

Also you'll want to cover the opening the cam chain runs through with a rag. In the unlikely event you drop a shim and it falls in that opening your day will have just gone far south. And as mention before, disconnect your battery or your day could go even further south.

 

have not seen the zip-tie method, but i did try getting a ziptie under the shim, which proved fruitless since the ziptie was too flexible to apply any lifting pressure on the shim... can you offer more guidance here? .. .thanks

I did read fitz's writeup, but dont have a hemostat.. i have a long needlenose plires but cant get enough purchase on the shim to pull it up and out.

noted all my clearance values, but still need to pull each shim.. the one shim did get out was not labeled, so i just measured its thickness with a caliper.. any better method here?

Didnt want it to sit exposed overnight so i cleaned up the valve cover and
reinstalled with new gasket and bolt donuts.. about to fire her up soon to check for leaks.

thanks all

 

Zip tie method is more of a way to hold down the valve without the tool, not used specifically for getting the shims out.

Check this out: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=2 ... tment.html

 

So if I understand correctly you could only get one shim out. Now your going to replace the valve cover and check for leaks? Are you finished? The remaining seven valves were in spec and you only need to replace one shim? Am I missing something here or are you giving up? :?

 

HI All

Sorry to butt in but the post caused me to read the Fitz write -up (excellent BTW) and I now have a question. He says that wear in the valve train will always cause the tolerances to tighten. Probably a stupid question but how does this happen?

BR

JS

 

a100man

Bigfitz wrote this very good asnwer to this question a few days ago:

"Simply put, the valves pound themselves into their seats, decreasing the clearances.

The rate at which they do this will slow; if you check your clearances every 5000 miles as recommended you'll find that after three or four "checks" you're not re-shimming very often. They tend to "bed in" and not change as much as the miles accumulate. The most important check was the initial one that was to have been done at 3K miles, and a lot of these bikes have never had them looked at. It's not uncommon to find an "unmolested" bike with ALL the clearances way tight."

 

Thanks - got it. I take it the shims themselves and cam lobes are super hard and don't wear (significantly).

JS

 

That's right!

 

by the time i got the valve cover off, cleaned up, gasket glued on, fixing bolt donuts replaced and one shim pulled it was like 3am, so i reinstalled that same shim and buttoned everything back up.

I still need to pull the cover back off and finish collecting the shim values -- simply ran out of time the other day and didnt want to leave the cover off and risk rusty cams.

here are clearances as measured. still need to pull remainder of shims to check values

cyclinder 1
intake clearance: 0.07mm
intake shim: not labeled, caliper reads 2.563
exhaust clearance: 0.13mm
exhaust shim: ?


cyclinder 2
intake clearance: 0.09mm
intake shim: ?
exhaust clearance: 0.13mm
exhaust shim:?


cyclinder 3
intake clearance: 0.09mm
intake shim: ?
exhaust clearance: 0.18mm
exhaust shim: ?


cyclinder 4
intake clearance: 0.07mm
intake shim: ?
exhaust clearance: 0.13mm
exhaust shim: ?


edit: looking at the chart, looks like im replacing all my intake shims and all but 1 exhaust shim. sweet!

 

Here are the clearance specs. Taken from the inside of my side cover. Looks like your #3 exhaust is good.

 

Screwdriver i was using had a blade too wide for the bucket slot. got a properly narrow flat head the shims popped right out. below are my final readings.

cylinder 1
intake clearance: 0.07mm
intake shim: 275
--replace with: 270
exhaust clearance: 0.13mm
exhaust shim: 265
--replace with:260

cylinder 2
intake clearance: 0.09mm
intake shim: 275
--replace with: 270
exhaust clearance: 0.13mm
exhaust shim: 265
--replace with: 260

cylinder 3
intake clearance: 0.09mm
intake shim: 275
--replace with: 270
exhaust clearance: 0.18mm
exhaust shim: 275
--replace with: do not replace

cylinder 4
intake clearance: 0.07mm
intake shim: 275
--replace with: 270
exhaust clearance: 0.13mm
exhaust shim: 265
--replace with: 260

** need to order 4x 270 & 3x 260

gonna order parts tonight or tomorrow...
what manometer are you guys using to sync after reshimming? DIY? something fancy? prly just gonna order the one chacal has on his price list... else local shop has the motion-pro for $104, or i could finish this beer bottle manometer i have half built too