Normal engine temp & valve clearences?

steve speed · Post by **steve speed** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:13 am

inept wrote:
youngy wrote:Checking clearances isn't too difficult, adjusting them is a pain.
Once I've checked the clearances, would you recommend getting a pro to adjust them or give it a go myself?

Is there any major damage I can cause if I get it wrong?

by all means have a go if your confident and you have the Manuel but you must be able to measure accurately and have a torque wrench that will be suitable,,and yes if you get it wrong you can feck the head up

youngy · Post by **youngy** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 11:25 am

IMO, and that is all, I would not trust a dealer to do it right. I have seen (and have one in my garage) 3 engines that have been serviced by dealers and incorrectly re-assembled.

It goes deeper than just the head being knackered.

If the cam caps are overtightened, or the cams are not sufficiently lubricated, or the oil not bled properly on re-assembly then what tends to happen is that the inlet cam siezes after the engine warms up. This stops the exhaust cam rotating, but the extra mass and inertia of the crank keeps the crank rotating. This strips the timing gear teeth from the crank and of course bends a few valves.

The valves are repairable. If you're lucky the damage to the cam journals is minor, but you've no crank left. The timing gear is machined into the billet of the crank, not shrunk on like all the other gears on it.

This is why you see alot of TRX's and TDM's in good shape being broken for parts - shite dealer servicing, for which you're paying Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£300 (?) plus.

If you have a dealer service the bike, make sure the grease monkey knows what he's doing. My bet is he won't. You'll pay out a shedload of cash, and you might not even make it home. Then you have to prove the dealer did it wrong........etc etc

Do it yourself. Take your time. Do it right. Make sure the cams can be rotated back and forth by hand when the caps are bolted down to 10Nm - no more. Use a good quality torque wrench. Put shitloads of oil on the cams, caps, buckets, shims - everywhere. Learn about how that motor goes together.

billy budge · Post by **billy budge** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 12:57 pm

Strewth!!! Ive always had my doubts about dealers but even more so hearing that.

Never done mine so do you fancy doing a tutorial for me mate???

youngy · Post by **youngy** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 12:59 pm

Well I always need guinea pigs to practice on..................................so when yours need checking bring it over billy!

Tarwetijger · Post by **Tarwetijger** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 4:11 pm

Well, since we are talking about valve clearance anyway, how often does the TRX needs to be checked?
Just did the valves of my YZF and ruined the thread of the last bolt I was fastening (yes, I used a torque wrench

), so I'm not looking forward to it.

youngy · Post by **youngy** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 5:05 pm

Yamaha say every 26k miles or 42k km.

Tarwetijger · Post by **Tarwetijger** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 8:55 pm

youngy wrote:Yamaha say every 26k miles or 42k km.

Hmm, looks like Yamaha says that with every 5-valve engine.
42k km is also the target for the YZF, but I've checked valves every winter (because I ride some trackdays with it) and every time I had to adjust a couple. And I'm not even close to 42k km/yr.

inept · Post by **inept** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 11:33 pm

youngy wrote:Do it yourself. Take your time. Do it right. Make sure the cams can be rotated back and forth by hand when the caps are bolted down to 10Nm - no more. Use a good quality torque wrench. Put shitloads of oil on the cams, caps, buckets, shims - everywhere. Learn about how that motor goes together.

Thanks for the info bud, I have the haynes liebook, decent torque wrench and plenty of beer so I'll give it a crack.

inept · Post by **inept** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 11:37 pm

Tarwetijger wrote:Just did the valves of my YZF and ruined the thread of the last bolt I was fastening (yes, I used a torque wrench ), so I'm not looking forward to it.

This is my single greatest fear. I've striped an oil filter cover bolt before (Virago 535) and even with a Heli-coil it never really sealed properly again. Hate it to happen to a head bolt

Tarwetijger · Post by **Tarwetijger** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:09 am

inept wrote: This is my single greatest fear. I've striped an oil filter cover bolt before (Virago 535) and even with a Heli-coil it never really sealed properly again. Hate it to happen to a head bolt

Not to scare you off, but only the fifth heli-coil was good in place.

youngy · Post by **youngy** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 9:21 am

inept wrote:
Tarwetijger wrote:Just did the valves of my YZF and ruined the thread of the last bolt I was fastening (yes, I used a torque wrench ), so I'm not looking forward to it.
This is my single greatest fear. I've striped an oil filter cover bolt before (Virago 535) and even with a Heli-coil it never really sealed properly again. Hate it to happen to a head bolt

Look in the downloads section of this site. There may be something there that's better than the Haynes.

inept · Post by **inept** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 9:34 pm

youngy wrote:Look in the downloads section of this site. There may be something there that's better than the Haynes.

Excellent, how the hell could I have missed that....

ekoja · Post by **ekoja** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 11:49 pm

kenmore wrote:Peice of piss compared to what?.I,ve owned the following bikes
1)Honda 50 step through
2)Kawasaki KX125
3)Honda CR125 Elsinore
4)Yamaha RD350(Had 2 of these )
5)Yamaha RD400
6)Honda 350 Twin
7)Triumph Daytona 500
8)Yamaha RD250LC
9)Suzuki PE250
10)SuzukiTM400
11)Yamaha XS650B
12)Suzuki GT750 Waterbottle
!3)Suzuki TS250EX
14)Kawasaki KLX250
15)Kawasaki Z1R MK11
16)Suzuki GSXR750K
17)Ducati Paso906
18)Ducati750SS
19)Yamaha FZR1000
20)Suzuki 750 Intruder(It was cheep at the time)
21)Yamaha WR450F
I,ve missed some bikes but as you can see I,ve owned a few and think that I changed the plugs on most of these bikes at some time whilst I owned them,and still say that to change the plugs on Trixie was not easy.
Maybe I did it the hard way,but I did follow the instuctions in the workshop manual.

Like watches and mobile phones, you can never have enough!.

billy budge · Post by **billy budge** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 12:34 pm

Just to go back onto the temp subject again, could using a different non specific trx sensor/sender and guage cause the bike to run hotter???

I played about with a guage usually made for kit cars and the like from etb instruments and it had to use its own sensor and i noticed it seemed to run alot hotter with it, only on the road 10 mins from cold start and it would be on the 80+ degree mark and the rad hoses etc did feel unusually hot. This bothers me as with the standard clocks and sensor and as most people say i never saw it move past the 65 degree mark, apart from traffic dodging in down town valencia and the like!!!

Would like to know if a different setup could cause overheating probs or not, apart from that the only other thing ive done engine wise was take the cases off to be polished...couldnt see owt going back on could cause this prob???

youngy · Post by **youngy** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 1:17 pm

In a word, no. It may appear hotter on the gauge, but actual temperature will not be affected by that.