Valve shim change and still out of spec?

[stoy75]

So I changed my valve shims and all 8 were so tight the .004 feeler I had wouldn't go in. After swapping them out for the .005 smaller size I rechecked them after rotating the motor several times. Much to my dismay only two of them are checking out at .005 and the rest I still cannot get the .004 in. Is this even possible?

[chuck hahn]

We would loike to know your process as to how you checked each one and recorded the measurements. Also you posted as in SAEW measurement ( .005 ) If you were checking them with metric guages you would be posting a number like a .04 MM guage or a .05 MM guage. So I will ask this..did you use SAE or metric feeler guages??

In the tips and tricks section theres a thread called Chucks simplified spreadsheet and my tutorial as to how my system works. maybe review that and others threads to see if you did the right things in the right order.

[chuck hahn]

Any questions or need help..send me a numcer by PM and I will call you.

[stoy75]

Thank you sir. I got crazy with the decimals.

.04mm and .05 mm were the intended. I followed basscliffs tutorial.

[chuck hahn]

If you want to chat..I can call...saves time typing too.

[mike_of_bbg]

If it has been a long time since the last valve change, you can indeed require two drops in size. Did you grab Steve's spreadsheet? I hope you're measuring your shims and doing some swaps while you're at it.

[stoy75]

I took the covers off. Set the cams in the correct position and measured two at a time. Only had a .04mm feeler gauge as my smallest and ALL cylinders were gapped smaller than this. So I recorded all shim sizes, verified them with a caliper since they were to small to check for."wear in", and on a new column wrote down the next .05 smaller shim needed. Swapped them around, bought the 4 I needed and installed. Hit the start button for 10 seconds and rechecked. Only two cylinders were now at .05 and the rest still feeler gauge out smaller than .04

[Steve]

Did you grab Steve's spreadsheet?

Not yet.


Yes, it's possible for valves to need to drop two (or more) shim sizes, especially if this is the first time you are checking them.
Just shows how much these bikes were ignored by the people from whom we rescued them.

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[chuck hahn]

Just got off the phone with him guys and I was telling him this exact thing. He has no idea as to what the PO did or didnt do.

So as I explained to him, if the bike hadnt had the adjustments checked in say 20,000 miles, then it may require a very drastic change in shim sizes..but he will have to establish a baseline and record the findings once he has them all within specs.

I also told him that once HE is positive where they are, to expact that when he does them again he may only need a shim thats .02 less on a cylinder. Its all relevant to checking interval, valve and seat wear, cam wear etc etc.

I also told him to get ahold of Ray at the shim club..I cant remeber his screen name though..Ghostgs1 i think.

[Maddevill]

I guess it's obvious that most of the valves had LESS than .004 clearance. What it really was you don't know because you didn't have a thinner gauge.So, keep going down on the shim sizes until you can get that .004 feeler in.

[chuck hahn]

Maddevil..he onlyn has 1 problem. he doesnt have a supply of shims to swap out. He will have to recheck the tight ones gain and find out what he needs for each one. I told him to get ahold of Ray (Ghsotgs1) at the shim club once he has a good read on them.

[Steve]

Order up ONE shim that is several sizes smaller than the smallest one you have right now. If you have 2.65, 2.70, etc., get a 2.40. Put that in place of a shim, measure all the excess clearance. If you are using metric feelers, subtract the excess clearance in groups of .05mm. If you are using inch feelers, subtract in groups of .002". That will tell you how many shim sizes larger than your "checking shim" you will need for that valve. Put the original shim back in, move your checking shim to the next position and continue. Be sure that there is a shim in EVERY position before rotating the engine. Using this method, you will be able to tell exactly what shims you will need to order from the shim club or a retailer.

Yes, my spreadsheet will help you do this.

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