Valve Check When Garage is Cold?

[Ignacio]

My understanding is you do a valve check when the engine is cold (meaning not at running temperature) and appreciate the practicality, but I'm wondering if my nearly-across-the-board-borderline-tight measurements are due at all to to it being 43 degrees in the garage? Set up a heater and will test again, but any advice (or bets) on whether my borderline-tight ones loosen up a little?

Regardless, I'm thinking the two outboard exhaust valves are significantly out (E1A and E4B) and get to be adjusted since they're 0.13 and 2 feeler gauge increments (in my set) under the minimum of 0.18.

 

[SkooterG]

I don't think it will make a difference. But if it does, I think any expanding any metal bits do will actually make the clearances tighter.

Having fun? I have one coming up in the next week or two also.

When was the last check performed?

 

[Ignacio]

When was the last check performed?

Ahem...cough....ummmm......not since I've owned the bike. Ummm....I got it at 20K and they must have checked it 6K earlier than needed, right? I've added 40K since then...so that's more than 26K then isn't it? That's why I'm checking the valves twice! Yeah, that's the ticket! up.

<deflector shield>So, how how's your near-scary bearing change going?</deflector shield>

 

[SkooterG]

<deflector shield>So, how how's your near-scary bearing change going?</deflector shield>

 

[Ignacio]

Warmed things to 63 degrees and about 4 or 5 valves went to the next larger feeler gauge. I think temperature makes a bit of difference. My E1A and E4B are still way out and get to be changed. Exhaust cam coming off tomorrow night and see if the numbers are still on the shims or if I'm going to have to mic and adjust. Guess I'll be asking Mike nicely for some shims this weekend....

 

[Queensland Ken]

Did a check on my mates FJR a year ago.

We checked the valves after the bike was stripped down and the engine was very sightly warm.

In the morning we rechecked them and there was a difference of about .2 -.3 mm from the night before.

 

[SkooterG]

Did a check on my mates FJR a year ago.We checked the valves after the bike was stripped down and the engine was very sightly warm.

In the morning we rechecked them and there was a difference of about .2 -.3 mm from the night before.

Wow, surprised at that amount of difference.

 

[Fred W]

Warmed things to 63 degrees and about 4 or 5 valves went to the next larger feeler gauge. I think temperature makes a bit of difference. My E1A and E4B are still way out and get to be changed. Exhaust cam coming off tomorrow night and see if the numbers are still on the shims or if I'm going to have to mic and adjust. Guess I'll be asking Mike nicely for some shims this weekend....

Really? I am very surprised by this. The temp difference was only 20 degrees F (63-43), which I would have said would be completely inconsequential. Are you sure that you weren't just a bit more aggressive at jamming the feelers in once you were warmer? A warm engine would have the valves and head an order of magnitude higher in temperature, in which case one would still expect a lot less than the total clearances difference.

Also, sounds like you are using inch based feelers for your clearance checks. That's fine for the go/no-go check, but you will want to get a set of metric feelers if you'll be adjusting them as you get twice the accuracy from them, which will make selecting new shims (or sanding the old ones) easier.

Happy shimming!

 

[odot]

You guys never heated a housing up to remove a bearing? Or froze a bearing prior to install? Skooter....of all people.....

meh

 

[Fred W]

What? A lucid reply from the seal hunter? Maybe this really is the Zombi Apocalypse?

Those heating and coling techniques work because you are heating or cooling one part to change its dimensions compared to the other part which is not heated or cooled. In this case we are talking about the entire assembled engine being at different ambient temps, so the only difference in clearances would be as a result of their differences of thermal expansion. There will be some because some of the parts are steel and some are alloy, but the difference is only about half of the total expansion.

Most aluminum alloys expand at ~13 microinches per inch of total part dimension / degree F. and cast steel at ~7.

Oh, and a micro inch is 1x10-6 inches.

 

[odot]

Um, pie chart, please.

 

[Fred W]

Um, pie chart, please.

You must be an HR Manager?

Here you go...

 

[ionbeam]

FWIW, my brand H FSM says to only adjust the valves when ambient is between 55ºF and 85ºF with the spec of 0.004'' for intake and .006" for the exhaust.

Accompanying pie chart:

 

[Ignacio]

FWIW, my brand H FSM says to only adjust the valves when ambient is between 55ºF and 85ºF with the spec of 0.004'' for intake and .006" for the exhaust.

The temp observation from brand H is consistent with my experience. Adding 20 degrees of heat to that range seemed to loosen things up about 0.0005"...or 1/2 of my my gauge increments. I still have two that are significantly out of spec and will probably aim for adding .06mm and .10mm to get them to about 0.21mm

 

[Fred W]

The only problem with that is that the replacement shims only come in .05mm increments. Though with diligent searching some aftermarket ones can be found in .025mm increments. To get a more precise change requires sanding.

 

[Ignacio]

The only problem with that is that the replacement shims only come in .05mm increments. Though with diligent searching some aftermarket ones can be found in .025mm increments. To get a more precise change requires sanding.

Thanks for the reminder about increments! Adding 0.05 and 0.10 should be fine to get me between that 0.07 range, but will also mic them to confirm my math.

 

[RaYzerman19]

Alan's pie chart is far more useful than Fred's in real life.............. after the job is done, and with a nice hot coffee.

 

[Fred W]

Yeah well... eat that pie now, 'cause it's not gonna do you any good when the Apocalypse comes. Zombies don't eat pie. That's part of what makes them so screwed up.

 

[RossKean]

Yeah well... eat that pie now, 'cause it's not gonna do you any good when the Apocalypse comes. Zombies don't eat pie. That's part of what makes them so screwed up.

Zombies eat some kinds of pie!