Valve clearances/ struggling badly.. :-(

[8ball]

Yep. Zip tie method. End of story.

[Steve]

Whichever method you use (I prefer the zip-tie, too), feel free to take advantage of the offer in my sig.

.

[jsandidge]

Some buckets are more square than others, the Motion Pro tool isn't nearly as good as the Suzuki, and rotating the engine with a valve held open sounds like a great way for a valve to contact a piston. Doing it right with proper tools is easy.

Isn't that what is done using the zip tie method also? Never heard of anyone having a valve contact a piston during a shim change regardless of the method used.

[Steve]

Isn't that what is done using the zip tie method also? ...

To some extent, ... yes. However, the valve is not being held open far enough to cause any contact.

I lost track LONG time ago how many valve adjustments I have done with the zip-tie method and have had no problems.

I do have a Motion Pro tool, but have never been shown how to properly use it, and have never managed to use it successfully on my own, so I continue to use the zip-ties. I really don't know what all the fuss is about with people thinking the zip-tie method is too "fiddly" or requiring too much time, with all that crank-turning, but you really only have to do all that crank turning ONE time, to do your shim inventory. After that, you only need to adjust one or two shims, so the difference in time will be very minimal.

And personally, I will continue to use the SECURITY of the zip-tie method to prevent this from happening again:





That happened on my Kawasaki Voyager 1300 when the tool slipped off the side of the bucket and the shim was not quite in place. After considerable time fishing through the oil pools with a magnet and more time re-assembling the shim to the state that you see here, I felt comfortable that the few missing pieces were not going to cause any problems.

There is simply no way that the zip-tie will be bumped out of place, allowing the valve to slam closed.

.