Congratulations to youngy and dfh

[trix]

...for correctly identifying that my valve clearances were probably gone (based on the symptoms I described in a previous post).

Checked them yesterday. One of the exhausts is slightly low, all the intakes are nearly completely closed up. And this after only 25,000 miles (40k kms), 2,000kms before I'm supposed to be checking them. Maybe yam should have specified shorter inspection intervals?

I need seven pads but I can reuse two of them on other valves to give the required clearance. Should I buy the 5 new pads from yamaha or is there another source?

I also went ahead and ordered emulsion tubes from Factory Pro, so she better run like new when all this work is done. I might as well change my leaky fork seals while she's up on blocks and now that I think of it, I should probably pull the swingarm out and grease the bearings.

Discuss.

[phuk72]

Service intervals for valve clearances are 24,000 miles

[TonyDevil]

Service intervals for valve clearances are 24,000 miles

28,000miles

dapleb on the TDM site offers a shimm exchange service, he may be able to help you out

[trix]

tried signing up to the tdm site but cannot get on.

[trix]

Ordered the shims from Scamaha today. £4 per shim!! I suppose they're a precision made part

[LozLul]

Trix, sorry for being a bit late with this...

One way of steering clear Yamaha's tall order on prices of adjustment pads is to order them, for example, here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Valve-sh ... dZViewItem

[youngy]

I think I paid £3.odd for mine from the local Yam dealer. Cheaper than the £6 each he wanted on an exchange basis!

[youngy]

Service intervals for valve clearances are 24,000 miles

28,000miles

dapleb on the TDM site offers a shimm exchange service, he may be able to help you out

42000km, which is 26250 miles.

[honkdawillydahonk]

42000km, which is 26250 miles.

Maybe for the first one. Clearances are set deliberately loose to stretch out the servicing for new bikes..... I'd be tempeted to check them every 12-15000 miles regardless of what Yamaha recommend.

[dfh]

Glad to be of some use...

When I got my TRX one of the advertised selling points in Oz at least was the long service intervals on the valve clearances... my original owners manual states 42,000km or 42 months. However experience lends me to recommend halving that.

Still compared to previous experience with a certain Italian make , and some Kawasakis I have owned 21,000 km intervals is still quite good.

Compared to my GS500 that has done 96,000km and most of that WOT- including track days @ Eastern Creek, Oran Park, Wakefield and Phillip Island plus lotsa touring from FNQ to Tassie and only needed one shim in that time then the TRX ( shims needed every 20,000km = new valves @ 84,000) is crap.

My only question TRIX, is what year model your TRX is? Obviously you have been able to get new shims to do the inlets, but if your bike is a 96/97 build then eventually it will start drinking oil as the inlets stretch and the seals don't... By this stage you will not be able to find shims thin enough to get a good clearance but the prob is not the head just the valves. Fit the later valves and so far all is good

DFH

[trix]

My TRX is '97. I can get back to the min clearance with shims around the 1.6mm mark, so I'll probably get at least one more shim change in before it goes less than the thinnest available shims (1.2?).

dfh: its good to know the problem is the valves and not the seats recessing. Thanks for the info. I panicked a bit when I initially measured the clearance (or lack of clearance).

From what I've found with my bike, it seems the intakes have stretched more than the exhausts (assuming that's what's happened). Is that because the intake stems are thinner I wonder? Or maybe the intake cam is more agressive than the exhaust?

[trix]

Forgot to mention,
at the moment my oil consumption is very low. I'm aware that the consumption is generally high with the TRX but only because of all the posts and reviews I've read on here. I've never had a problem with oil consumption. MAybe that will change soon!

[youngy]

There is talk that the inlet valves were modified in some way for later bikes, but the part number stayed the same.

Mine was the same. Inlets down to about a 160 shim. Exhausts ok.

[dfh]

From what I've found with my bike, it seems the intakes have stretched more than the exhausts (assuming that's what's happened). Is that because the intake stems are thinner I wonder? Or maybe the intake cam is more agressive than the exhaust?

From memory when Yamaha turned the TDM donk into the TRX jobbie ( yes I know the TRX came out before the 270deg crank TDM) one of the few differences between the two was inlet cam profiles. My guess is that the valves were carried over from the 360 deg TDM and the TRX cam and the stronger valve springs ( or greater installed preload for the same springs) needed to match the cam was a little too much for them. I learnt about the later model inlets including the part numbers from one of our Swedish listers and when I had my head done by my local Adelaide Yamaha dealer he was well aware of the part numbers for the updated inlets. For some reason( something to do with consumer law or lack of it in the UK mebee?) Yamaha UK insists that there is only one part number for all TRX inlets, so if you live in the UK I think it was HansJ that can give you the part number for the valves that you will want to fit. If they match what Yamaha UK list then all is good, if not buy from Europe.

DFH

[trix]

Seems plausible. I suppose it would have to be the springs causing the problem as the opening and closing ramps on the cam lobe profile are probably standard on both TDM and TRX.

I'll bear that in mind. Thanks for the info again.