Valve adjust

[fudge12]

So I took advantage of the awesome deal Randy offers for the shim kit and adjusted the valves on the FJ. I figured this was probably documented to death but I went ahead and took a bunch of pics anyway. Bike and work area ready. I use the stainless tray for carb work, and planned to pull them off for related maintenance.

[fudge12]

Shim kit, as delivered. 95 shims, tool, magnets, instructions. The caliper is mine.  Ended up ignoring it and using a micrometer.  A starett or mitutoyo the harbor freight caliper is not.

[fudge12]

Torn down and cleaned up. I used compressed air to ensure no crap fell into the openings.  Carbs were pulled to verify cleanliness and make sure the boots were still ok. I replaced the o-rings between them and the head when I rebuilt the carbs, but was still having an occasional high idle when hot.

[fudge12]

Valve cover pulled off, all valves checked.  Couple tight, couple loose. Shown is the #1 intake, which were at .003 and .004. Tool installed, and bucket held down. Note on the tool it has to be pushed in firmly when tightening to make sure it engages the buckets.

[fudge12]

The buckets have a slot to stick a prybar/screwdriver into to pop the shim out. The slot isn't always in the correct spot, so don't  be afraid to use a pick to rotate the bucket to a more advantageous position. I ended up using a combination of a very small scwdriver and a dental pick to pop the shims out.
There are also dire warnings about not crapping up the tool.  To that end I was extraordinarily careful to watch the cam lobes while I turned the motor over. Enough so that I managed to mash my finger in the rotor pretty badly. Nothing to do but pick up the wrench and turn the motor backwards to free my finger. So given the choice, I recommend you don't do that.

[fudge12]

So here's where (other than the finger) I ran into my only snag. Sheet called for a .255 shim, but the only one available had some obvious pitting. I mic'd it at .1004", so it was still in spec, so I went ahead and used it anyway. I just put the pitted side down towards the bucket.
Side note, after I swapped shims I rechecked each valve.  However, rather than just immediately recheck I hooked a drill up to the 14mm timing bolt and spun the engine in the correct direction for about 30 seconds to make sure the shims had seated properly.

[fudge12]

So this shows the measurements. Top line I measured clearance, next is installed shim, next is new shim, last is new measured clearance. I generally went to the looser side of specs as valves usually get tighter as they wear. Final is shim kit, inventoried, ready for return. It was at this point that my wife anden'd me, so no more pictures. Since then I've antisiezed the plugs and reinstalled them to 12lb/ft, pulled the float bowls off the carbs and blown them out, antisiezed the stainless shcs I got from Randy, and reinstalled the carbs. Still to be done is final reassembly and test, tomorrow.

[FJ1100mjk]

Still to be done is final reassembly and test, tomorrow.

Maybe synch the carbs too? Good time to do that.

[fudge12]

Yeah, probably do that too. I did it a thousand miles ago, but with the twinmax it takes almost no time.

[fudge12]

Almost back together

[fudge12]

All done. Took it for a nice 20ish mile test drive, runs very smooth. Has a slight tick from the #1 intake valve area, so tomorrow I'll yank the cover off and recheck those. I'm wondering if the lack of clearance on those was due to/exacerbated by schmutz in the valve seat which got knocked loose by opening up the clearances again.  Oh well, find out tomorrow.

[PaulG]

Has a slight tick from the #1 intake valve area, so tomorrow I'll yank the cover off and recheck those.

Don't be surprised if you find nothing wrong.  The ticking from #1 is a characteristic of these engines, amongst other inbuilt acoustic accoutrement's.   

[aviationfred]

Has a slight tick from the #1 intake valve area, so tomorrow I'll yank the cover off and recheck those.

Something else to consider looking at. Check the torque of the nuts on the exhaust studs. The torque is very low and has been seen to loosen a bit. It cant hurt to re-torque them. You may end up with an even quieter engine.


Fred

[fudge12]

I pulled the cover and swapped the original 260 shims back in in place of the 255s I had installed. Tick all gone. I was using a mechanics stethoscope, so I had the noise pretty well pinned to the intake valve area. I will run the torque wrench across the exhaust studs anyway, thanks for the heads up.

[fudge12]

Side note:  trust but verify. According to my spark plugs I was running a bit rich. I grabbed the dynojet kit to see what other jets I had available, and pulled this out of one of the alternate main jets.