Valve Adjustment Question

[cjb600]

I am going to attempt to check my valve clearance this weekend. Just curious what I need to remove in order to have room to do the procedure. The Yamaha manual says all you need to remove is the faux tank, left and right scoops, electrical board on the left side, radiator bolts, rear air baffle plate, then the valve covers. Anything else need to be removed that would make the job easier? Thanks.

 

[Geek_Law]

I just removed and replaced the valve covers. My best advice is to get yourself a very good urban slang dictionary that has lots of creative curse words. I totally ran out of utterings before even getting the first valve cover off.

Beyond that, I had to remove the air box, the scoops, the tank cover, the radiator, the radiator hoses, the rear plug wires, and the electrical goodies on the left hand side under the left scoop.

A few scratches later, a couple of cuts, several hours of frustration ... and you are golden.

At least that was my experience:damn angry:

 

[one2dmax]

It's a hell of a lot easier to take the carbs off but still not talking a cake walk. I would rather pull the engine and then adjust then do it in the frame.

Sean

 

[Redbone]

If you had the engine out of a bike with say 25-30 k miles on it would it be advisable to check the valves? If so, I may want you do do mine when you have it for the transmission rebuild/ upgrade.
Still saving pennies and eating ramen noodles.....

 

[gamorg02]

If you had the engine out of a bike with say 25-30 k miles on it would it be advisable to check the valves? If so, I may want you do do mine when you have it for the transmission rebuild/ upgrade.
Still saving pennies and eating ramen noodles.....

yama manual says 26k miles so i'd say thats perfect bud

 

[naughtyG]

I am going to attempt to check my valve clearance this weekend. Just curious what I need to remove in order to have room to do the procedure. The Yamaha manual says all you need to remove is the faux tank, left and right scoops, electrical board on the left side, radiator bolts, rear air baffle plate, then the valve covers. Anything else need to be removed that would make the job easier? Thanks.

The manual lies. You don't need to take off the radiator, just its bolts to loosen it are fine, BUT

- you will need to pull the airbox off
- you will need to loosen the right side plastic panel (that holds the thermostat etc) in order to access the two big philips screw holding the Vboost servo (through the TCI bracket from the RH side)
- you will need to unscrew the Vboost servo and place it aside (no need to disconnect its cable) or it's actually impossible to remove the front valve cover.
- to refit both front and rear covers, I found it a helluva lot easier to drain the coolant and remove the coolant hoses on both front and rear cylinder heads.

I did document my valve adjustment but haven't yet found the time to write it up and post it :confused2:

 

[one2dmax]

I can check/adjust/set them while the engine is here. Won't take too long to do.

Sean

 

[yukonerdave]

Naughty - we NEED that write up on here. Kick Ass!

Redbone - LOVE the new avatar!

 

[ghostntheshell]

+1 for write up.

I have 45000kms - so I figure I'd be getting close for a check too.
What are the symptoms that you might need an adjustment?

 

[95spfldmax]

All the components listed above that are in the way is long and unfortunately accurate. Did mine last off-season and ran out of swear words as well.

Two things not mentioned yet are:

1. You'll need the tool to hold the valve down to release the shim. I used a small screwdriver or pointed one to pop the shim out with. This can be trickey (atleast for me). Vacuum presure from the oil?? Maybe someone here has a better tool of choice Plus don't forget to put the "number-side" facing down when/if swapping out a shim. Make sure it's seated "well" and rotate motor thru a few times afterwards to make sure everthing is seated nicely.

2. When putting the valve cover back on, there's barely enough clearance to the frame, trying to clear the cam chains and not chewing up the valve cover gasket can be trickey also. Plus it tends to want to keep falling off making the trip across the motor. I used a bit of moly grease to help hold it in place. And a second set of hands......

Hope this helps.....

 

[cjb600]

The manual lies. You don't need to take off the radiator, just its bolts to loosen it are fine, BUT

- you will need to pull the airbox off
- you will need to loosen the right side plastic panel (that holds the thermostat etc) in order to access the two big philips screw holding the Vboost servo (through the TCI bracket from the RH side)
- you will need to unscrew the Vboost servo and place it aside (no need to disconnect its cable) or it's actually impossible to remove the front valve cover.
- to refit both front and rear covers, I found it a helluva lot easier to drain the coolant and remove the coolant hoses on both front and rear cylinder heads.

I did document my valve adjustment but haven't yet found the time to write it up and post it :confused2:

Thanks for the info. I had my mechanic friend help me out and we got the job completed, but was not fun! Next time I will know what to expect. The Yamaha service manual was not much help at all.

If I would have had time, I would have video taped the whole process and put it on Youtube.

Anyways, we got it done in time for riding yesterday. It was 70 degrees in November in North Dakota. That doesn't happen very often!

 

[vmaxman99]

Hey all. My '99 has almost 50,000 miles on the clock and I want to check the valves this winter. Anybody got a line on purchasing the tool at a reasonable price? Cheapest I could find was about $50

Mike Costa

 

[gamorg02]

talk to morley about loaner kit