Valve clearance check and shim swap discussion thread

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stug
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Re: Valve clearance check and shim swap discussion thread

Post by stug »

masterofinsanity wrote:£5 each? from cradley? wemoto are cheaper mate :smt002
Not from Cradley, their from the local Kawa shop in Renfrew near Glasgow.
Although Wemoto are cheaper for the shims after adding the postage its about the same cause I was only looking for 2.
I also needed a few o-rings so Kawa dealer it was.
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Mori Man
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Re: Valve clearance check and shim swap discussion thread

Post by Mori Man »

Original thread updated :smt001
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Re: Valve clearance check and shim swap discussion thread

Post by Mori Man »

stug wrote: Not from Cradley, their from the local Kawa shop in Renfrew near Glasgow.
.
Rattling my brain trying to remember his name but can't :smt012 but in the parts dep' is there a wee guy with Gregory pec's who used to work at Scotbike still there?

I'm sure I used to finance his salary when he was at Scotbike with the amount of parts I used to buy - I know Ian (sales) is now at Victor Divine's.
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Re: Valve clearance check and shim swap discussion thread

Post by stug »

I know the guy you are talking about but cannot remember his name.
I think I saw him working somewhere in Ayr.
I remember passing my Part 1 on the same day he was there, he was working at Scotbike at the time.
He got a loan of a bike from the shop which was a Suzuki TS125R.
Being quite a short guy he seemed to struggle a bit with the height of the TS and inevitably he dropped it while training for the Part 1 test.
I don't know if he passed it that day as I was up first and left right after.
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Re: Valve clearance check and shim swap discussion thread

Post by Mori Man »

Can't believe I couldn't remember:

Andy , doh! :smt011

Good lad, knows what's what with kwak parts.

I would travel out to Renfrew still to get my parts from there knowing he wouldn't screw them up :smt004

Sold a bundle of cable hack boxes there too :smt005
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Re: Valve clearance check and shim swap discussion thread

Post by diesel »

shame it cant be done with the head off ;) mine is off, im gonna quicky grind the valves in as the head is off. any other tips while half the engine is in bits ;)
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Re: Valve clearance check and shim swap discussion thread

Post by Mori Man »

diesel wrote:shame it cant be done with the head off ;) mine is off, im gonna quicky grind the valves in as the head is off. any other tips while half the engine is in bits ;)
viewtopic.php?f=50&t=7979

:smt023
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Re: Valve clearance check and shim swap discussion thread

Post by masterofinsanity »

gonna have a go at this on my old zxr750 engine hopefully next weekend, am i going to need new ignition cover & cam cover gaskets, did you find you needed to replace anything else?
Don't forget people there is more to the zxr400 than this forum... check out www.zxrworld.co.uk also.
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markkaren96
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Re: Valve clearance check and shim swap discussion thread

Post by markkaren96 »

Great thread! I'm about to do this myself for the first time, so your post will definitely help.
however i have a couple questions? Is there any big difference between H and an L for this task? My ride is an L, secondly any tips for Cam chain? that is the other projects I'm taking on.

Did my measurements this weekend and looks like H and L models are the same, I pulled coils to make a little move room. next week is the Cam Chian, so any tips would be great!
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Re: Valve clearance check and shim swap discussion thread

Post by markkaren96 »

Cam Chain can not be done in frame if you replace guides at the same time :( The pin for the aft gaurd is blocked by the frame so motor has to be rotated forward.
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Re: Valve clearance check and shim swap discussion thread

Post by lilmike »

:smt001 Hi all,
Great thread and im doing my best to follow all the text and pics whilst doing my L1 today in the garden LOL
I have got 4 cyl to TDC useing the pulsar markings and a long thin screw driver in the 4th cyl..
I started to check the clearences on the inlet and exhuast on 4, but no gaps ??

After going off the picture of the cam timing mark pointing outwards on the inlet side, and looking at the pic to where the cam lobes should be, mine are pointing in a differant direction to the pic on this forum.. Are the H2 and L1 the same config or differant.. on mine, if the cam timing mark is pointing towards the front ( inlet side ) Then i have TDC on the 4th cyl

In the end i used the thin screwdriver to find TDC on the 4th piston and not use the timing mark on the cam/chain end ? and found no gap inbetween rocker and lobe ? but other gaps on other inlets and exhuast rockers, all within tolerences unless im doing this all wrong ??

Im stumped ( new at all this ) and the manauals are not very much help, apart from a breif description on how to check for clearences.. confuddled
Completeley baffled now...
Can anyone help please :smt001
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Re: Valve clearance check and shim swap discussion thread

Post by banner001 »

your piston goes to TDC twice remember, first time its at TDC it has compressed the fuel and will spark, the second time it has hit TDC it has just exhausted all your combusted petrol.

first time #4 at TDC, #4 inlet cam and exhaust cam point away from each other.
second time #4 at TDC they point towards each other.
you want them to be in the "first time", with ex and in cam lobes pointing away from each other, this how you want them to look to do your valve clearance and timing, when #4 piston is at TDC and the in and ex cam lobes are pointing towards from each other, you can measure the valve clearances for:-
inlet of #2 and #4, exhaust for #3 and #4

then you spin the crank 360 degrees to put #1 piston back to TDC on its compression stroke, now you can measure:-
inlet of #1 and #3, exhaust for #1 and #2

if you then spin the crank 360 degrees again, you will put #4 at TDC on its compression stroke, now you can look for the timing marks to make sure that they face away from each other, and that there are 30 links between the two timing marks.
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Re: Valve clearance check and shim swap discussion thread

Post by banner001 »

so in a nutshel, what you have done is put #1 and #4 at TDC, but you are thinking that #4 is on its compression stroke and its not...so when you thought #4 was correct it wasnt, #1 was, and i bet that as a result you were able to measure all your valve gaps correctly, but you will have been scratching your head about it :D
Last edited by banner001 on Wed Mar 06, 2013 9:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
UK ZXR400 L3 (1993) - Fully restored and on the roads, my green beast!
JPN ZXR250 A2 (1990) - Revs to 19,200rpm... 'nuff said :smt003
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Re: Valve clearance check and shim swap discussion thread

Post by lilmike »

Hi banner
Yes i had #4 at tdc but in the wrong part of the stroke lol
And yes i was scratching my head till a bald patch showed.
Thanks a lot for explaining it all in english and makeing more simple to understand, much appreciated, after my power nap ( working lastnight ) and the frost has cleared i will attempt to do the valve check now.
I have my chart n pen ready for the readings.

Thanks again..
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Re: Valve clearance check and shim swap discussion thread

Post by banner001 »

no probs dude!
UK ZXR400 L3 (1993) - Fully restored and on the roads, my green beast!
JPN ZXR250 A2 (1990) - Revs to 19,200rpm... 'nuff said :smt003
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