Valve shimming issues

[Archer 900RR]

Ok, So checking the clearance of your valves shouldnt be that big of an issue. well it is.

I have a couple sets of feeler guages. I am using between 0.005 and 0.002mm. now when you put the feeler guage under the cam lobe and above the bucket it should go under pretty easy, but not too rough right?

Well, 0.002 wont budge under the cam lobe, and its so paper thin, it bends like crazy! So how the hell am I suppose to check my clearances so I can re-shim them.

I wouldnt be doing this if my girl didnt get curious and tip my head over and dump out most of the buckets and shims.. then try to put them back and put them back in the wrong place.

Can anyone here give me some advise before I get pissed off and throw the damn head away and buy another one from ebay...

Archer

[sonik_fury]

One at a time. What size are your shims? The range in size shouldn't be too much. You'll just have to go through with the thinnest shims under each bucket and see how loose you are or maybe you could remove all shims and just install the buckets, then measure the gaps and see which ones are larger and which ones are smaller and then sort the shims accordingly. I don't envy the position you're in.......good luck let us know.....

[gixerkiller]

one cylinder at a time and get a full set of METRIC feelers down to at least .05.

make a chart and write em down. if you still have no clearance, remove the shim and SUBTRACT 5 from the number on the shim and try again.

welcome to the 270 dollar valve adjustment......

[Archer 900RR]

yeah I added a 0 in there. I was using .05 .04 and .02 and the damn feeler wouldnt go through. I know 1 cyl at a time, just cant get the measured valve clearance without getting a feeler through, I will look around and see what I can get in metric feelers, just thought I had a couple sets.. err..

$270 isnt bad.


This is the last thing I have to do before the base coat and clear go down. its driving me NUTS!

So can I take the shim out lower the shim number, then recheck it?

for my specified, I decided to roll with .16mm

Archer

[sonik_fury]

So can I take the shim out lower the shim number, then recheck it?Archer


Yep that's the way to do it......

[gixerkiller]

CORRECT if you have no clearance, remove the shim and place any number shim you want that is SMALLER than the one already installed. once you get some clearance it is much easier.

270 is a running bike valve adjustment........it can be as much as a grand when the motor is not running and us MECHANICS have to start from scratch.

[Archer 900RR]

yeah, Fawq that! lol I'll just play with it a little until I get the same depth as it was before. Then I will do the whole clearance thing. This is going to take FOREVER! lol well, wish me luck!

Archer

[Archer 900RR]

well I found out whats going on. I actually took the buckets out and noticed the shims are not settled in where the shims go. so that raised the bucket. Also noticed that 2 buckets (valve lifters) were missing shims. Also noticed 2 buckets had 2 shims in it! this is why you never let a woman in your garage! lol

Men, learn from my experiance. lol

So I put everything back to normal, and guess what! Feelers FIT! so now I have to find screws to my chain tension. yeah. they are missing.

Ya know, its one thing after another. I have to strain my oil, get antifreeze in it, and see if I can get it started this weekend. So until then, I guess I have to just get to painting my plastics. Ugh the pain...

Archer

[Archer 900RR]

Damn it, the exaust shims dont have numbers on them, looks like they have been worn off... Time to pull out the micrometer... ugh.. I tell ya guys, I hope this is a good learning tool... Because this is driving me fawqkin NUTS!

Archer

[Archer 900RR]

dennis.

I have Cyl 1 done. Here is the deal. shims go by .05 incriments, 1.80, 1.85 etc.

A=(0.13-0.16)+1.85
A=1.82

since shims dont come in 1.82 do I go to 1.80? I dont have a feeler that goes from .13, .14, .15 etc it goes from .10, .13, .15, .18 etc. its like it goes every 2.

now the specified clearance was this. .13-.19mm So the shim thats in there right now is 1.85 which should be fine. that is the highest limit I can go, I dont want to go any higher. and I deff dont want to go any lower than .19mm

So do I just keep it at 1.85 or do I decide to go with a specified clearance of .16mm since my feelers dont go there, should I shoot for .15 across the cam rack?

I know its alot of numbers, and I actually understand what I am doing, but I just need to know what specified I should go with. as of now, I cant just go out to get a feeler guage that has ALL the numbers from .13-.19mm My every other mm does fine I guess. Also, if I just keep the .13mm that means I have a while atleast before those really need changed. The intake rack consist of Cyl 1 to Cyl 4- 1.85 1.85(1) 1.85 1.90(2) 1.85 1.85(3) 1.80 1.85(4). thats what I am running right now. all the 1.85's come out great with the .13mm feeler. Do I leave them, or do I drop it to 1.80mm. and I hope not, because my kit of shims only came with 3 of each shim.

your input?

Archer

[Archer 900RR]

just got my exhaust done.. some shims arnt even in .05 increments..

There are a couple 2.07mm (approx)

There are a couple 2.02mm confirmed. (states right on the shim)

Now I looked at bikebandit.com and it says nothing about those measurments... So whats the deal? Do I just take it to the closest .05mm either up or down, so 2.02 would be 2.00 and 2.07 go to 2.05?

I know there are alot of questions here, but I just want to make sure I do it right, your the tech, you know your shit, people are stupid, and well, This is my first fix here. So I am learning, and I hope when people read this, they can interpret what I am doing, and tackle their own valve shim adjustments.

Ich Da Mann Dennis..

Archer

[gixerkiller]

just got my exhaust done.. some shims arnt even in .05 increments..

There are a couple 2.07mm (approx)

There are a couple 2.02mm confirmed. (states right on the shim)

Now I looked at bikebandit.com and it says nothing about those measurments... So whats the deal? Do I just take it to the closest .05mm either up or down, so 2.02 would be 2.00 and 2.07 go to 2.05?

I know there are alot of questions here, but I just want to make sure I do it right, your the tech, you know your shit, people are stupid, and well, This is my first fix here. So I am learning, and I hope when people read this, they can interpret what I am doing, and tackle their own valve shim adjustments.

Ich Da Mann Dennis..

Archer


the shims that say 2.07 and such are factory shims used to get the exact messurement for delivery to the public. we would use these if we were racing.

[Archer 900RR]

so do I just take 2.07 to 2.05 and 2.02 to 2.00?

This specified clearance is getting on my nerves.I guess I'll just see what #1cyl is and just follow that across the rack

[Archer 900RR]

alright...i just need to know, the specified clearance .13-.19mm is just the service limit. right?

If I want an actual clearance, then I need to pick a number between .13-.19mm and stick with that across the board. just need to know if thats what Im doing, because this taking the cams off and on, and rotating the motor is starting to get on my nerves. i plan on getting it running soon, and getting started on the paint (pics) and finish my how-to..


Archer

[Archer 900RR]

I know this is an on-going thred, but i called a dealer and started asking some questions.

So its better being loose than tight... my exhaust shims that are 2.02 get to go to 2.00mm and my shims that are 2.07 get to go 2.05mm. then I get to gauge them.

Just doesnt make sence. I was going off service limit .13mm and got great numbers. In fact, on some of the valves, I couldnt get .15mm to fit, just the .13mm. So those have to be reshimed. I hate this valve shimming crap. I really do! lol I'd rather be painting! but I cant even paint until my other paint gets here from alsa corp.

Archer

[Archer 900RR]

we should be allowed to edit these anytime in a 24 hours period..

Well, I got it. I had to leave 2 ex at 2.02 and not give it a 2.00 which is fine I guess. Because I ran out of 2.00mm.

When I turn the motor over from the pulse gen. bolt i get a slight clicking sound. I hope this is normal for a little while and it goes away... because it would be annoying riding and hearing that the whole time.

Now I just have to wait till my gaskets come in so I can fill'er up and start the bike up and see how it runs... My fingers are crossed and I am now a religious man! lol

Archer

[gixerkiller]

we should be allowed to edit these anytime in a 24 hours period..

Well, I got it. I had to leave 2 ex at 2.02 and not give it a 2.00 which is fine I guess. Because I ran out of 2.00mm.

When I turn the motor over from the pulse gen. bolt i get a slight clicking sound. I hope this is normal for a little while and it goes away... because it would be annoying riding and hearing that the whole time.

Now I just have to wait till my gaskets come in so I can fill'er up and start the bike up and see how it runs... My fingers are crossed and I am now a religious man! lol

Archer


is your chain tensioner in place? the things click a bit on first roll over because they are re-tensioning the chain. if it is on-going then something is amiss.

as far as your dealer telling you loose is better than tight....is an idiot.

a valve at the bottom of the clearance table has a longer duration and sooner opening time then one that is at the high end of the spec.

the reason to make them all loose is it extends the valve service interval.

if you went tighter you would need to check every couple thousand miles.

plus here is how you kill valve adjustments......run high rpm all the time..this will make the adjustment a must at like every third oil change or sooner.

[Archer 900RR]

well, your probably right. These are Yamaha guys. lol

But it couldn't be too bad. I actually went with .23mm on the exhaust. which is smack dead in the middle. well .22mm is. but my feeler was .23mm. I just took it to the closest .00mm or .05mm since thats all I have. Now there are 2 shims on the #4 exh. thats 2.02mm but I left those only because I didn't have anymore 2.00mm I rotated it a bit more and it doesn't pop anymore. I hope its right now, because I really don't want to go through that again. Course I will never bitch about how much a dealer charges, because I know damn it! I know... lol

Was going to paint, but damn it was 71 yesterday, and today its snow and Ice... high of 38. I'm really getting tired of this weather. cold, then warm, then cold again. The insanity!

[gixerkiller]

well, your probably right. These are Yamaha guys. lol

But it couldn't be too bad. I actually went with .23mm on the exhaust. which is smack dead in the middle. well .22mm is. but my feeler was .23mm. I just took it to the closest .00mm or .05mm since thats all I have. Now there are 2 shims on the #4 exh. thats 2.02mm but I left those only because I didn't have anymore 2.00mm I rotated it a bit more and it doesn't pop anymore. I hope its right now, because I really don't want to go through that again. Course I will never bitch about how much a dealer charges, because I know damn it! I know... lol

Was going to paint, but damn it was 71 yesterday, and today its snow and Ice... high of 38. I'm really getting tired of this weather. cold, then warm, then cold again. The insanity!


CHECK YOUR TIMMING if your cam is one tooth off it may cause problems.