Hi folks, hoping to take advantage of advice from anyone who's done the valve clearances, just as part of the regular servicing, with the engine is still in place.

Anything to look out for, be careful of, do while I'm there?

I never seem to get the clearances bob on, am I right in thinking I should err on the wide side, clearance wise?

(She does get pretty hot on a regular basis, on the tougher, more technical green lanes, when I get stuck!!


Thanks in advance - anyones twopenny's worth is most welcome!

well, It's normal for it to heat up... it's air cooled remember? xD

As for the valve clearance, I have no clue how to do it... If you get the workshop manual of the 1990 XT600E it should be exactly the same as your 2002

download the workshop manual from here: Smokin' Lizard

Vando

Yup, and when there's not much air moving past it, it gets pretty hot!

Thanks for the link, much appreciated.

The gauge should go through not too easily, not too stiffly, as we say in Dutch it should go through 'sucking'. This does not help you, I understand, so follow the rules as follows:
* Do not worry too much - being off 1/100th of a millimeter will not affect reliability
* The manual says inlet 0.08 - 0.10 (on mine, that is) - so there is margin! Personnally, I set the inlet 'stiff' on a 0.1 feeler gauge
* My manual says 0.10 - 0.15 for exhaust - margin again. So I set it with a 0.15 feeler g., stiff again.

Oh, and my engine has survived 120.000 km's.

Auke

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Auke
http://aukemarieke.blogspot.com

Exactly what I was after!

Thanks for the input.

I want to do this now too and i understand the manual except 1 thing. It says to turn it so you can see the T mark.

But it also says "be sure the piston is at the Top Dead Center on compression stroke".

Does this mean i have to turn it to the T mark and THEN also check that its on the compression stroke? How do you check that?put your finger in the sparkplug-hole?

Use a straw

If the valves semm way of, it might not be on the right spot either

First turn it to find compression(the most resistance), then turn it a bit further(about 1/4 turn) till you find the T mark. Saves having to take the spark plug out.

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Remember that Assumption is the mother of all f**k-ups.

That's a very good description! I was taught that it should be a 'firm sliding fit' - a bit like drawing a knife through butter. It's one of things that you just get the 'feel' with practice.

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Richard
Blog: http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/

The 1990 version 1 manual says 0.05-0.1 for inlet.

I have a question though, will the gap increase over time or get tighter?

Will the engine feel better/run better on the smallest gap possible 0.05 then a higher gap? So if the clearance increases over time the closer to 0.05 you can get when setting it the better?

valves are a bit of a weird one when it comes to wear some wear tight and some open up i always set mine to the bigger gap if it opens up its no problem i'd rather have a slack valve clearance than risk it going to tight and burning the vave seats

bergspre the engine runs fine at either end of the gap/clearances it wont make any difference in performance, these engines are not race motors where the the tollerences are so precise that valve timing is affected by a 0.05 increase in clearance.
in fact the xt motor would probably cope with a 1mm clearance, it would be noisey but would still start and run ok.
i set mine to a lot larger gap than it should be when i rebuilt the engine just to allow everything to bed in, once its been run a few times from a re build all engines should be inspected bolts re torqued and clearances reset so it was no extra work

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Usually lock nut & tappet engines tend to loosen up over time, but not always.
Bucket & shim engines always tighten up, as valve seat wear is faster than the cam/shims wear.
As Wolfy says, I'd aim for the higher tolerance (bigger gap) - then check again after a few 100 miles for peace of mind.

Sorry no, not the easiest of methods. Take the plug out and remove the valve covers, after you've removed the tank of course. If you leave the plug in then getting the engine to the exact place will be very difficult as it will tend to 'jump' past TDC. Remove the large screwed cap on the LH crankcase cover and also the screw above it. The small hole is for sighting the marks and the large one allows you to turn the engine via the large nut. Best to use a rigid bar with the 19mm socket to turn the engine anti clockwise, watch the inlet valves open and close. Now peer into the small hole as you turn the engine, watch for the two lines that denote the ignition timing mark and then the T will follow, although the T is more likely to look like an l. That's TDC.
I did mine this morning for the first time from new, after 6,000km. They weren't far out but the engine is definitely quieter now.
BTW, I also removed the coil and the throttle cables and horn, just to give me easier access.
Have fun,

Geoff

Also, don't use your best gold-plated feeler gauges. You will need to bend the feeler through 90deg to get it into the little holes they give you for the exhaust side. The result's the same, but putting a crease in a precision instrument never feels right.

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Richard
Blog: http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/