Couple questions before I do my first Valve check

[donimo]

Yes I have read everything on here, trust me.

1) I have a set of the foling thickness guages, but they are out of a cheap chines tool set that I got in my stocking 12+ years ago at xmas, is this ok? Anyone ever heard of them being incorrect? Just nervous as I have never used them before...

2) I am STILL unsure about how it should "feel" when i put the gueage in there, kinda conflicting views, book says "light sliding fit" but how light is too light? Also do I leave the guage in when tighnening or take it out?

Sorry for this total newb-fest, just never done this before and I only have a few hours free this weekend

[BassCliff]

Hi Mr. domino,

For example, if you can slide a .07mm gauge easily (all the way under to the other side), but the .08mm gauge does not fit all the way under, the gap is very close to .07mm (maybe slightly larger, but close enough). Make sure the gauge has oil on it when you try to slide it under. The trick is to find the largest blade that fits, then adjust from there if necessary. It could be a tight fit, but will still go all the way under with a little wiggling. It could be a loose fit. But if the next size larger doesn't fit, then the gap is closer to the previous measurement. I hope that's a little clearer than mud.

I'm pretty sure the feeler gauge set you have is close enough. If you're nervous about it, pick one up the next time you get a chance. They can be had cheaply enough at your local auto parts stores or online.

Have fun wrenching!

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[donimo]

the one I have only has 0.05, 0.10 and 0.15, so I guess the 0.1 gives me a decent margin of error...

I may just go buy one, depends how well my memory holds up after work.

[bwringer]

If I were you, I'd go out and spend $9 on a metric feeler gauge set. Many cycle shops sell a Bikemaster brand set that has the correct feelers in 1/100mm increments from .03mm up. Most auto parts stores have a metric set as well.

Farting around with inches is a great way to get confused and make a potentially expensive mistake.

Also, during every valve check, I end up with two feeler blades that stick together at some point and make me go "huh?" The feeler blades in the correct range are pretty thin, so watch out for this.

[donimo]

well i went a got a set.

I got the standard one because the metric one went 0.05, 0.08, 0.10, 0.15mm and only had 8 blades and was $8. The one I got has 25 blades, was $9 and has both inches and mm marked on each blade, even though it is an "inches" one, it has 0.051, 0.076, 0.102 and 0.152mm. To me it seemed to be essentially the same plus a bunch of extra blades if I need them for something else one day. I thought I would just adjust so the 0.102 one fits each tappet.

was that correct thinking?

[BassCliff]

Hi Mr. domino,

If your motor is like the inline 4 (16 valve) motors then your valve clearance range is .003 - .008 inches, or .08mm - .13mm for both intake and exhaust. Note that you are working in thousandths of inches, or hundredths of millimeters.

Personally, I like dialing in my clearances right at the outer range of spec. I have a feeler gauge set that starts at .04mm and goes up incrementally by .01mm (.04mm, .05mm, .06mm, .07mm, etc). If I want .13mm, I simply use the .8mm and .05mm together.

What you have will work (at 0.102mm) but you won't be able to "fine tune" your clearances. It shouldn't be a big deal as long as you check your clearances regularly. If you use the .051mm and .076mm together it will add up to .127mm, which is closer to the maximum clearance without going over.

With the 4 valve per cylinder motors a lot of riders will use two gauges at once so that they can set both clearances (both exhaust valves in a cylinder, or both intakes) at the same time, as one affects the other.

Be methodical, take your time and take lots of measurements. You'll be fine.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff