Hints & Tips: Valve Adjustment: Difference between revisions

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*Make sure you know which ones are the exhaust and intake valves and the specs for each. '''Hint''': The exhaust valves are the ones closest to the exhaust header; there are four of them. The intake valves are closest to the airbox; there four of these, too.

*Moving the radiator: Remove the mounting bolts and unfasten the filler neck so it can be pushed forward (no need to remove hoses), and remove the fan. Very easy to do, and it gives a lot more space.

*You have to unbolt and remove the left-hand coil, but it isn't necessary to drill the spot weld to remove the brackets. The cover is no harder to get out with the brackets left in place than with the brackets removed. Removing the bracket will make a tiny bit more room for your hands to get in and the valve cover to come out. Should you decide to remove it, one admin insists that a long screwdriver and a bit of rocking back and forth gets it done. No drilling required.

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*As far as how much force to use on the feeler gauges, not that much. Just set it so the right gauge slides in and the next size up does not.

*Don't drop your feeler gauge into the engine. You have two choices: Make a leash for it and tie it to your (wrist/belt/earring)

*Don't drop your feeler gauge into the engine. You have two choices: Make a leash for it and tie it to your wrist/belt/earring

:[[image:Feeler gauge.jpg|150px]]

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*Don't drop one of the spark plug gaskets in the engine, either. In the pictures those gaskets just sit there all nice and pretty. They have been known to stick to the valve cover then fall off, or find other ways of getting into the engine. Be careful.

*Finding the correct amount of gap with a feeler gauge is easier if you use a "go-no go", or "stepped" gauge. The old school technique was to feel a little drag on the feeler guage... it was described as about what you'd feel when pulling a sheet of paper out from under a magazine or two. Slight drag. New way of thought is that ANY adjustment, within spec, is good enough (and it is for street riders). So ~~you~~ just make sure the gauge for the middle spec goes in fine, but the next thicker one doesn't go at all. The stepped feeler gauges have the smaller clearance on the first inch of the blade, and the next higher clearance on the upper part. This makes it easy to see where you are with just one gauge instead of flipping back and forth between two different ones. Like this:

*Finding the correct amount of gap with a feeler gauge is easier if you use a "go-no go", or "stepped" gauge. The old school technique was to feel a little drag on the feeler guage... it was described as about what you'd feel when pulling a sheet of paper out from under a magazine or two. Slight drag. New way of thought is that ANY adjustment, within spec, is good enough (and it is for street riders). So, just make sure the gauge for the middle spec goes in fine, but the next thicker one doesn't go at all. The stepped feeler gauges have the smaller clearance on the first inch of the blade and the next higher clearance on the upper part. This makes it easy to see where you are with just one gauge instead of flipping back and forth between two different ones. Like this:

:[[Image:stepped gauge.jpg|250px]]

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*Sears also has another set that has more precision for metrics. This set has .102, .127, and .153mm feelers, which are more precise than the SAE feelers and work well for the Kawasaki tappet clearances. A little bit of confusion is created by the fact that on the back of the card the gauges come on the sizes are rounded to .10mm, .13, and .15, or something like that.

*Get a 9mm, ~~6pt~~, deep well socket. Use it to make the actual adjustment, without a ratchet, but with a screwdriver through the middle. That way you can turn the nut and use the screwdriver to hold the screw. At the beginning and end, when you're just breaking the nut loose or torquing it back down to spec, you can use your socket with a 1/4" ratchet. You might twist the screw a little, but at the beginning it doesn't matter at all, and at the end you should have enough leeway that the gap is still in spec. Double check afterwards though, just to make sure.

*Get a 9mm, 6-point, deep well socket. Use it to make the actual adjustment, without a ratchet, but with a screwdriver through the middle. That way you can turn the nut and use the screwdriver to hold the screw. At the beginning and end, when you're just breaking the nut loose or torquing it back down to spec, you can use your socket with a 1/4" ratchet. You might twist the screw a little, but at the beginning it doesn't matter at all, and at the end you should have enough leeway that the gap is still in spec. Double check afterwards though, just to make sure.

*After you've taken out the radiator bolts and the coil bolts, it's even better to also "back out" the large long bolt that goes through the front of the engine. It's the one that goes through the two brackets (one on each side) that the radiator bolts to. If you back out that long bolt (it's the last one really holding the bracket) then you can move the bracket and the right side of the radiator further from the head and get more room to work.

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 *Make sure you know which ones are the exhaust and intake valves and the specs for each. '''Hint''': The exhaust valves are the ones closest to the exhaust header; there are four of them. The intake valves are closest to the airbox; there four of these, too.
-*Moving the radiator: Remove the mounting bolts and unfasten the filler neck so it can be pushed forward (no need to remove hoses), and remove the fan. Very easy to do, and it gives a lot more space.
 *You have to unbolt and remove the left-hand coil, but it isn't necessary to drill the spot weld to remove the brackets. The cover is no harder to get out with the brackets left in place than with the brackets removed. Removing the bracket will make a tiny bit more room for your hands to get in and the valve cover to come out. Should you decide to remove it, one admin insists that a long screwdriver and a bit of rocking back and forth gets it done. No drilling required.
@@ Line 19: / Line 17: @@
 *As far as how much force to use on the feeler gauges, not that much. Just set it so the right gauge slides in and the next size up does not.
-*Don't drop your feeler gauge into the engine. You have two choices: Make a leash for it and tie it to your (wrist/belt/earring)
+*Don't drop your feeler gauge into the engine. You have two choices: Make a leash for it and tie it to your wrist/belt/earring
 :[[image:Feeler gauge.jpg|150px]]
@@ Line 27: / Line 25: @@
 *Don't drop one of the spark plug gaskets in the engine, either. In the pictures those gaskets just sit there all nice and pretty. They have been known to stick to the valve cover then fall off, or find other ways of getting into the engine. Be careful.
-*Finding the correct amount of gap with a feeler gauge is easier if you use a "go-no go", or "stepped" gauge. The old school technique was to feel a little drag on the feeler guage... it was described as about what you'd feel when pulling a sheet of paper out from under a magazine or two. Slight drag. New way of thought is that ANY adjustment, within spec, is good enough (and it is for street riders). So you just make sure the gauge for the middle spec goes in fine, but the next thicker one doesn't go at all. The stepped feeler gauges have the smaller clearance on the first inch of the blade, and the next higher clearance on the upper part. This makes it easy to see where you are with just one gauge instead of flipping back and forth between two different ones. Like this:
+*Finding the correct amount of gap with a feeler gauge is easier if you use a "go-no go", or "stepped" gauge. The old school technique was to feel a little drag on the feeler guage... it was described as about what you'd feel when pulling a sheet of paper out from under a magazine or two. Slight drag. New way of thought is that ANY adjustment, within spec, is good enough (and it is for street riders). So, just make sure the gauge for the middle spec goes in fine, but the next thicker one doesn't go at all. The stepped feeler gauges have the smaller clearance on the first inch of the blade and the next higher clearance on the upper part. This makes it easy to see where you are with just one gauge instead of flipping back and forth between two different ones. Like this:
 :[[Image:stepped gauge.jpg|250px]]
@@ Line 41: / Line 39: @@
 *Sears also has another set that has more precision for metrics. This set has .102, .127, and .153mm feelers, which are more precise than the SAE feelers and work well for the Kawasaki tappet clearances. A little bit of confusion is created by the fact that on the back of the card the gauges come on the sizes are rounded to .10mm, .13, and .15, or something like that.
-*Get a 9mm, 6pt, deep well socket. Use it to make the actual adjustment, without a ratchet, but with a screwdriver through the middle. That way you can turn the nut and use the screwdriver to hold the screw. At the beginning and end, when you're just breaking the nut loose or torquing it back down to spec, you can use your socket with a 1/4" ratchet. You might twist the screw a little, but at the beginning it doesn't matter at all, and at the end you should have enough leeway that the gap is still in spec. Double check afterwards though, just to make sure.
+*Get a 9mm, 6-point, deep well socket. Use it to make the actual adjustment, without a ratchet, but with a screwdriver through the middle. That way you can turn the nut and use the screwdriver to hold the screw. At the beginning and end, when you're just breaking the nut loose or torquing it back down to spec, you can use your socket with a 1/4" ratchet. You might twist the screw a little, but at the beginning it doesn't matter at all, and at the end you should have enough leeway that the gap is still in spec. Double check afterwards though, just to make sure.
 *After you've taken out the radiator bolts and the coil bolts, it's even better to also "back out" the large long bolt that goes through the front of the engine. It's the one that goes through the two brackets (one on each side) that the radiator bolts to. If you back out that long bolt (it's the last one really holding the bracket) then you can move the bracket and the right side of the radiator further from the head and get more room to work.