Cam chain timing in general

[Anonymous]

Has anybody here put their camchain on their camshafts without a manual? I am going to give it a shot in the morning if I can find out what the following marks mean. They are found on the end of my crankshaft and align with the ignition pickups. I do not have a manual ignition advance on my bike so it should be pretty easy to figure out, I hope.

R۰TI IF
L۰TI

I think the ۰ means that the engine is at TDC when aligned with the pickups but I'm not sure, any ideas? I imaging that the R and L indicate that I am at TDCC when the L and R and aligned with the Left and Right cylinder pickups (Bike is a 2 cylinder)

I can't think of what the TI and IF indicate.

As for spacing between the cam shafts, I plan to go with 20 links. I am at 19 right now but the notches on the ends of the cams are not aligned.

Any and all input is much appreciated.

Steve

[deano]

Hi
T usualy indicates TDC I is the actual mark. F is ignition Timing point (Fire) I being the acutal mark again. Put a straw down the sparkplug hole to feel it going up and down you will be able to feel the piston going up and down when its at TDC you should see the T mark line up. there is probably some marks on your camshaft sprockets as well. If you still have the old camchain on I would rotate the motor till the T mark and marks on the camshaft sprockets line up. Let your camchain tensioner go before putting in new chain. Turn the motor over by hand after replacing to make shure vales dont hit pistons. Some bikes use notches in the end of the camshafts as marks, some have marks on the sprockets others you face the camshaft lobes down and put the sprocket bolts level with the rocker cover gasket surface. Sorry i dont have any model specific info. Hope the helps
Deano

[saaz]

Good luck!

I agree.

The I is the actual mark to line up, the T and F indicate what the mark is.

I am taking all the following directly from a 78 GS 1000 factory manual, so hope it helps.

T is the timing mark used to set the cams up (F is firing with no advance , that is static timing, and there will be a full advance mark to check advance against whhen it is going).

On the 4 cylinder the 1&4 cylinder T mark is used to set the cam timing. Line up the 1&4 T mark to the timing mark. The exhaust cam has an arrow mark 1 that should be pointing flush with the joint surface of the cylinder head. The timing chain should be taunt when placed on the exhaust sprocket and this arrow is lined up.

The other exhaust cam arrow 2 should point straight up. Count the chain roller pins towrard the intake camshaft, starting from the pin above the 2 arrow, ending with the 20th pin. The 20th pin should be above the arrow mark 3 on the intake cam.

It sounds like this may be right if you were on the 19th pin, but it depends how you counted the 19 pins. The above procedure is the correct way.

Have fun!!

I would check with a staw that the T is the TDC mark..never can be too careful! Also gently turn it all over once the cam tensioner is in the make sure no nasty clunks or valves hitting.

[Anonymous]

I'm going to give it a shot tonight. I can only find the marks on the end of the crankshaft so I will align them with the centres magnetic pickups. Does this make sense? I think it is the correct way to go as my exaust cam is in the correct position when I do this. Things are very different under the timing cover of my 400 when compared to the manual I have for my 1100E due to the lack of ignition advance... :?

Steve