Tips for 5th Gen Valve Clearance Inspection

Discussion in 'Mechanics Garage' started by Joey_Dude, Jul 3, 2008.

  1. e cabrera

    e cabrera New Member

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    Thanks Joey¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡

    My bike is 35000 miles and works fine but it's great to have your images and explanation for make a decent inspection, thanks again
     
  2. reg71

    reg71 Poser Staff Member

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    that wasn't true when you typed this... but it is now... well, it's been 50k since they were checked anyway so that means I am quite a bit overdue... Oh well... It still looks like a difficult job to me...
     
    Last edited: Nov 19, 2010
  3. rccaulfield

    rccaulfield New Member

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    I've 75k kms up and she still sings like a bird. Sum engines never need doing according to some mechanics. I've been told to wait till she sounds a bit tappy till getting it done-sounds brand new still! Anyone in the same boat?
     
  4. reg71

    reg71 Poser Staff Member

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    well, I'm still putting it off until later if that's what you are asking. I have had a couple offers of help checking them. I'm just too damned lazy I guess.
     
  5. intrcptr

    intrcptr New Member

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    I had mine checked when I bought it at 16,ooo miles. I now have 32,000 and had it checked last year and they said they did not need adjustment. I had them put that in writing from the dealer's service center, just to be sure....
     
  6. PAFirefighter11

    PAFirefighter11 New Member

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    Just wanted to throw a note in here. My buddy who is also a co-worker and motorcycle/race car mechanic said he has seen a couple VFR's come in with near 100,000 miles. Valves were checked at the proper intervals and were perfect through those 100,000 miles. Crazy!
     
  7. Deadsmiley

    Deadsmiley Insider

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    I did my valve check tonight. Seven intakes are tight. All of the exhausts are dead nuts. I was able to swap one shim so now I only need six for the intakes. I checked the cam lobe height while I was at it and all were well within tolerances. As a matter of fact, all of the intakes measured the same, as did the exhausts except for one which was .001" shorter than the others.

    My '98 has just shy of 29k miles on it. I bought it the spring of 2009 with 17k on it (if I remember correctly). To my knowledge the valves have never been checked or adjusted. It looks like the valve covers have never been removed.

    I am going to change the plugs while I am at it.
     
    Last edited: Mar 17, 2012
  8. tinkerinWstuff

    tinkerinWstuff Administrator Staff Member

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    guess I'll chime in too since I just did it as well.

    18,200 miles on the '98

    all four valves on the front intake camshaft were tight. One valve had only .002 clearance. All other valves were in spec.
     
  9. Deadsmiley

    Deadsmiley Insider

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    One intake was dead nuts. One was at .005 and the rest were at .004. Not too bad. I am going to get shims to make them all .006.

    I as happy to see that all the cam lobes were in excellent condition. Doing this really isn't that bad. I think the air box is the biggest irritant and even that isn't too bad.
     
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2013
  10. Deadsmiley

    Deadsmiley Insider

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    Hey Joey Dude, I found that only tightening the four bolts was not enough. When I checked my clearances they were larger than expected for the shims I installed. I installed and tightened all the bolts and it came out exactly as expected. It was only off by .001", but with valve tolerances at +/- .001" that is too much to gamble with in my opinion. Great write up still. Thanks for doing it, I just wanted to add what I experienced today.
     
  11. Deadsmiley

    Deadsmiley Insider

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    We did the check and adjustment on Tom's bike yesterday. He has right round 50,000 miles on his 2001. Four were actually out of spec, but we decided that since we went this far we would just make all of the valves dead nuts. So we ended up adjusting 11 valves.

    The bike sounds MUCH better and it runs smoother. :cool:
     
  12. Rubo

    Rubo New Member

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    What you mean by dead nuts
    Thanks
     
  13. Deadsmiley

    Deadsmiley Insider

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    Dead nuts = exact.

    The spec for the intake is .006" +/- .001" so to be in spec the gap could be .005" to .007". We adjusted shims to .006" and we did the same for the exhausts which are all now .012".
     
  14. ryebread5if

    ryebread5if New Member

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    Dumb question but how do I know if my bike NEEDS this valve clearance adjustment? I'm slowly loosing my green thumb when it comes to doing work myself (thanks to this forum) but this looks beyond anything I've done before.
     
  15. tinkerinWstuff

    tinkerinWstuff Administrator Staff Member

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    you will know it NEEDS the adjustment after performing the valve clearance INSPECTION.

    The inspection should be performed at regular intervals as specified in your owners manual.
     
  16. ryebread5if

    ryebread5if New Member

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    What happens if the valve clearance isn't at spec? Does damage occur? Does the engine run less efficiently? FYI: my gen 5 has 24k miles, I've only had it for a year and put a few thousand miles on it but I don't know if the previous owner did a valve clearance adjustment.
     
  17. reg71

    reg71 Poser Staff Member

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    If you do not know if you've had one, then I think the next scheduled one for you is 36,000 (or maybe it's 32000) I'm thinking maybe it goes every 16k miles but I don't have my book handy. You can probably get by without it, but who knows yours' might be the one that fails for something that was easily preventable by maintenance...
     
  18. tinkerinWstuff

    tinkerinWstuff Administrator Staff Member

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    The worst case is that the valve to cam lobe clearance becomes too tight. When it's tight and the engine heats up, the metal expands and the gap becomes zero.

    The valve is allowed to transfer heat to the head through the valve seats. If the valve isn't closing all the way, it will develop hot spots and burn up. The other thing that happens is that you get poor lubrication at the cam lobe because oil doesn't fit in zero clearance. Then you end up with a damaged cam.

    I recently purchased a 1998 with 18k miles on it. Did a valve inspection and found four valves were too tight. Who knows how long it would have had to run to create any damage.
     
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  19. tinkerinWstuff

    tinkerinWstuff Administrator Staff Member

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    must also say,

    of all the internet whoring around I've done, I have yet to hear of anyone burning up a valve or cam on the VFR (only the VF)

    But as Reg said, who wants to be the first because they skipped basic maintenance?
     
  20. Rubo

    Rubo New Member

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    I am missing pages from my manual specially on engine.
    Could someone post a link? 5th gen.

    Thank you

    Another question.Do I have to take the engine out of frame to do inspection and if needs adjustment then engine must come out of frame? or it can be done in frame.
    I have have never worked on engine before and the task seems overwhelming but in general I am competent following direction.I just don't have the experience nor the funds to pay someone to do .
    Is there anything to read and know in general for this job?My bike has 25k miles and no inspection done as far as I know.Previous owner was oblivious.
    Thank you
     
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