[How To] Checking the valves

DirtFlier

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I've honestly never used this method to remove/reinstall the front cylinder head cover but I'm sure it works. With the cover on but not bolted in place, I always peer over the radiator and around the sides to verify that the formed gasket is not ajar. :)

ps. if you don't rev the engine much, the valve clearances seem to stay OK for a long, long time. I did a check on Debbie's bike @ 27k miles and they were all OK. Going by the appearance of everything, I'd say it was the first time anyone had been inside the engine.
 
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Hello fellow NT riders,

I'm going to dive into this task on my NT tomorrow. Lots of good info here on this thread.

Does anybody have a torque spec for the adjuster locknuts? Thanks for your help.

Brad
 

Phil Tarman

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Brad, I always just used "gud-n-tite" on my Concours. It always worked. :)
 

DirtFlier

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[...Apply engine oil to the threads and seating surface...]

I doubt if that's truly necessary since the rocker arms are usually covered with oil even if it's been days since the engine ran.
 
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Can this be done with flat feeler gages, or are the angled ones recommended?

I'm at 730 miles and need to do mine. Got the service manual. Have experience in checking valves on my old '73 Beetle, it'll just be the 'getting to the rockers' bit that'll be fun.
 
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Thanks, I'm a retentive engineer, and ideally wanted metric feelers so I could check exactly. :) Angled metric aren't easy to come by.
 
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Thanks, I'm a retentive engineer, and ideally wanted metric feelers so I could check exactly. :) Angled metric aren't easy to come by.
I bought a set of metric from the tool truck company that services the auto repair shops. Using SAE size gauges works just fine. Don't need to get too anal retentive. It is not rocket science. :wink:
 
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O.K., as for my previous comment about looking for metric feeler blades......I was going by memory and was thinking it was something like 0.06mm and 0.08mm, and I hadn't seen comparable English ones and am not keen on using stacked-up feelers to 'add up' to the correct thickness. I didn't realize what I needed was 0.006 inches and 0.008 inches, +/- 0.001 each. So my Craftsman 26-feeler set was perfect with 0.005/0.006/0.007/0.008/0.009 inches.

The job took me a leisurely 4-1/2 hours to do, including a brief trip in the house to look up some pointers online for how the blades should 'feel'. All intake valves were spot on -- 0.007in would not fit, 0.006in had a little friction, and 0.005in had no resistance at all. I adjusted (3) of the exhaust valves, though, as 0.009in would fit in (not force-fit, but moderately resistive fit.) So I adjusted them so 0.009in woudn't go at all, and 0.008in had some friction. (1) exhaust valve on the rear cylinder, and both on the front. This added a good half-hour at least to the job as I fiddled with adjusting them via trial-and-error. Hard to be precise on those front-most valves. Since looser is better than tighter for exhaust valves, those 3 were borderline, but obviously since I was in there I figured I'd better tweak them. I'd say they're at nominal 0.008in.

So here were the tools that I used for the job:
  • Egg container for putting fasteners in order, then going in reverse when putting things back together.
  • Honda service manual and a bunch of sticky-tabs to mark various places as you go on a scavenger hunt back and forth in the book.
  • 10mm 3/8"-drive socket for fuel tank side bolts, valve cover bolts, and torquing down the valve adjuster locknuts
  • 17mm socket and extension for rotating the engine to TDC.
  • 10mm hex bit for removing the engine side cover crank access port.
  • 6mm hex bit for removing the engine side cover TDC viewer port.
  • 5mm hex bit for removing fairing bin screws.
  • 8mm 1/4"-drive deep well socket and ratchet, for the 2 fairing bolts by the steering head, and also for the throttle body band clamps. This worked perfectly for me, and I see no reason to use a little offset-wratchet screwdriver or make the spacer extension with longer screw.
  • #2 JIS screwdriver.
  • 3/8" ratchet.
  • 8mm and 10mm open-end wrenches for the throttle cable locknuts.
  • 3/8" drive torque wrench. Good for the 17ft-lb. adjuster locknuts, but doesn't go small enough for 7ft-lb. of the valve cover bolts.
  • 10mm offset box end wrench for the valve adjuster lock nuts.
  • Stubby flat-blade screwdriver (not shown) for adjusting the valve screws. Really, I adjusted them mostly by fingers.
  • Craftsman 26-blade offset feeler kit.
  • The always-indespensible magnet for picking up dropped bits.



Based on comments here, I don't plan on checking them for at least 16,000 miles. I think the only thing I'd do differently would be to plan to replace the head cover gaskets at that time.
 
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And the Honda studio picture of my steed (ABS version), just 'cause I uploaded a few pix to my newish account. :D

 

DirtFlier

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They're not angled but I found some very nice feeler gauges in 0.15 mm and 0.20 mm at Bob's BMW website and bought a set. I had previously seen a set in person at a friend's house. What I love about these is they have plastic handles with grip serrations cast onto one end of the feeler gauge. No worries about oily fingers!

And I always had trouble getting the feeler gauge under the rocker arm for the front cylinder's left exhaust valve so I added a temporary extension (alum stock) onto the 0.20 mm gauge and it allows me to come in from the right side, without having to bend the gauge. It's a straight shot!

If you're interested, take a look at Bob's BMW website. They are located in Jessup, MD and have a nice BMW museum in-house.

feeler gauges + extension.jpg

ps. on a completely separate note, please mark your calendars for May 12-15, 2016 for our NT Gathering in Davis, WV. I'm trying to get Phil to put it on the events calendar for next year but he seems to off somewhere trying to wear the rubber off his NT's tires. :)
 
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Seeing this picture now is kind of amusing to me, because I no longer have 2 of the tools in this picture. Two Sundays ago I did my valve check, and that night I forgot to close my garage door. Monday when I came home from work I realized, "Huh.....where's my torque wrench?" Then as I looked around the garage, "Huh.....where's my air compressor?" And my new ratchet wrench in that picture is gone, too. Quick grab-and-dash, apparently, because there was plenty more that they could have taken.

Well. Hope they needed them and put them to good use.....
 

Phil Tarman

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I've forgotten to close my garage door more than once and, so far, I've been lucky. Sorry about your tools!
 
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I just read this entire thread. Here are a couple suggestions. I have JIS screw drivers, and yes, they are the cat's meow. The Bee's knees, and all that. But lacking a JIS driver, for a JIS-like grip on a regular Phillips driver, dip the tip into a valve lapping compound. The abrasive nature of the compound provides an incredible increase in grip.

A straight feeler gauge can easily be converted to angled. Place the feeler on a piece of relatively soft wood. Lay a screwdriver shank across the gauge where you want the bend to be. A smaller diameter shank will be more effective. Then hit the top of the shank with a hammer. Do it once, perhaps not very hard, then look at what your work hath wrought. Is the angle enough? Barely noticeable? Hit it again, maybe harder, maybe twice, until you achieve the angle you desire. I had to do this with my CBR250 feeler gauges, because it was critical that the tip of the feeler gauge taper to less than the width of the shim, but nobody made such a gauge in the angled variety.
 
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Coyote Chris

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I bought a set of metric from the tool truck company that services the auto repair shops. Using SAE size gauges works just fine. Don't need to get too anal retentive. It is not rocket science. :wink:
I agree. I am going to do mine in the next few weeks and I dont intend to spend hours trying to get everything within a 1/2 thou. A Kawasaki rep came to a National Concours ralley once and said that they reccommend you set them in spec but toward the loose side of the spec. AND to spend some time getting each valve on one rocker as close to its mate as possible. Everyone knows what happens to a bike with too tight clearances, but too loose isnt good. The cam is designed to take up the slack "gently" and then open the valve. Too loose and the cam to rocker wear increases a bit. But all in all, if its close, it will work. There are bigger things in life to worry about. BTW, my feel for torque has decreased over the years, so I do use a torque wrench on the nuts and recheck the clearances....
 

Coyote Chris

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I can confirm this works. I turned engine about 3/4 rotation past compression, guessing that would be the middle of the exhaust stroke, and the front cover came off without any struggle at all. After completing the adjustment, I reset the engine so the front exhaust valves were compressed, and again it was easy to replace the cover. I'd guess I had half an inch of clearance. Virtually eliminates the possibility of getting the gasket out of place.

When the exhaust valves are closed so the rocker/adjusters are "up", the adjusters interfere with the forward lip of the cover, making removal a "Chinese puzzle" as DirtFlier describes it.
Thanks for the tip! I put it in my notes....
 

Phil Tarman

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A Kawasaki rep came to a National Concours ralley once and said that they reccommend you set them in spec but toward the loose side of the spec.
Which COG National were you at, Chris? I've been at several of them, starting in 2000 when I went to Cedar Breaks and Mountain Home, but didn't make it to Natural Bridge. After that one I went to Klamath Falls, OR; Montrose, CO; Centralia, WA; Fortuna, NC; Hill City, SD; Frisco, CO; and Tomah, WI. if you were at those, we may have met before we met at Spearfish (in '12?).
 
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