Adjusting cam timing on GS550E

Yeah, the engine is hard to turn when the chain bunches up, so lifting the cam chain to lightly pull out the slack will allow you to line up the timing mark.

Maybe the valves are hitting the piston. Might be best to remove the cams now, hold up the cam chain, and then carefully turn the crank where it needs to be then.

Ok - I removed the exhaust cam caps and pulled out the whole exhaust cam assembly. I put the cam slipper block back in. I tried rotating the camshaft and holding the chain up (note - the intake cam caps and assembly is still in) but it just seems to tighten the chain.

Can I turn the crankshaft counter-clockwise to loosen it?

Also, what the heck is in the cam caps? I noticed an odor as soon as the bolts broke loose but when I got them out and smelled them (bad idea), it was rancid - I actually had to get a drink of water.

[Nessism]

Maybe the valves are hitting the piston. Might be best to remove the cams now, hold up the cam chain, and then carefully turn the crank where it needs to be then.

What does it mean if I can't turn the crankshaft? I was planning to set it to the 1-4 T mark but it stopped turning for some reason.

EDIT: I don't have the vice grips on .

[Nessism]

Ray's point is you don't need the vice grips, and he's right strictly speaking. They are useful to seat the cam in the head journals and lock the cam in place thus my suggestion to use them. I've read lots of threads over the years here where people struggle and get the cam one tooth off after they crank down the cam cap bolts, thus sucking the cam down against the valve spring pressure. This is particularly true for the exhaust cam since it's sometimes difficult to tell if the 1 is going to point in the proper direction after the cam is seated.

I recommend using the vice grips for the exhaust cam but you don't have to for the intake since it's easy to time that cam by counting chain pins.

What the HELL do you have the Vise Grips on there for?!!!

Well that woke me up!

Remember mark orientation of cap covers before removal (front,exhaust,right, etc ).

Looks like Suzuki (or whoever made these caps) took care of that. They are marked A (Ex 1-2), B (Ex 3-4), C (In 1-2), D (In 3-4) with a triangle pointing forward. This is the Exhaust cap on the right side.

[tom203]

Just a quick update. I removed the carbs and the cam chain tensioner. I removed the chain slipper block, in case that is important. I picked up a pair of the largest Craftsmen vice grips they had (10R). There actually seems to be room with the engine in the frame. I haven't removed the cam cap bolts yet but I do have the exhaust cam clamped down (I think in the right spot). I had to unscrew the bolt on the vice grips "a lot".

Next step, removing those bolts.

Unless I'm doing it wrong, there does seem to be enough room on a 550ET with the engine in the frame to get a pair of 10R vice grips on the middle of the camshaft (in case someone with those exact parameters is wondering ... and someone doesn't chime in with a "NO you're doing it wrong!" ).

Well, rapidray chimed in, but didn't clarify his concern! Looks good to me- except for those UGLY chinese made "vicegrips". Remember mark orientation of cap covers before removal (front,exhaust,right, etc ). You obviously have a knack for this line of work!

[rapidray]

What the HELL do you have the Vise Grips on there for?!!! Ray.

Just a quick update. I removed the carbs and the cam chain tensioner. I removed the chain slipper block, in case that is important. I picked up a pair of the largest Craftsmen vice grips they had (10R). There actually seems to be room with the engine in the frame. I haven't removed the cam cap bolts yet but I do have the exhaust cam clamped down (I think in the right spot). I had to unscrew the bolt on the vice grips "a lot".

This is taken from the left side of the bike:


Next step, removing those bolts.

Unless I'm doing it wrong, there does seem to be enough room on a 550ET with the engine in the frame to get a pair of 10R vice grips on the middle of the camshaft (in case someone with those exact parameters is wondering ... and someone doesn't chime in with a "NO you're doing it wrong!" ).

You have to remove the cam chain tensioner to get slack on the cam chain. Then the cam caps must be removed before you can adjust the cams. The cam cap bolts will be under tension because some of the valve springs will be pushing up. The idea with the vice grips is to hold the cam tight in the head so the threads on the caps don't strip out when you tighten/loosen the bolts.

You don't actually need the vice grips, it just makes the work easier. When you clamp down on the cam you don't touch the lobes, just the portion of the camshaft that is in the middle, next to the sprocket.

Oh okay, I didn't realize I had to take those caps off. I was thinking I would just ... rotate the sprocket once the chain was off. It seems I should be somewhat following the Camshaft Removal / Installation part of the Clymer manual but instead of fully removing / sliding out the camshafts, I will rotate them to the correct position. That middle part of the camshaft seems tough to reach with the frame there but I'll see what I can do. I have some clamps that I may be able to fit in there more easily. Most people aren't doing this with the engine OUT are they?

I still can't imagine what someone was doing to this bike to get both of these out of whack. With 7K miles, I was envisioning the bike spending most of its time in a shed. For all I know, she has been ridden around the world and this is a rebuilt engine or something.

No, the valve springs are pushing up on camshaft- the tensioner just takes up chain slack. The cam cap bolts ( high grade steel) are tapped in soft aluminum head. As you loosen cap bolts (just before they come out of tapped hole) , valve spring pressure will strip out the last couple threads in the soft aluminum- you have to make sure this doesn't happen! You need a method of holding down camshaft ( but not on lobes) until you get the cam cap bolts completely out and then you can orient the camshaft correctly. Then you also have use your holding/clamping method to reinstall the cam cover bolts fully into aluminum head . Note that caps might be marked and oriented precisely- note/mark left/right facing forward, etc.

Yeah, it seems like I was really misunderstanding. I think I would have messed up my cam lobes pretty badly! I thought the "cams" were the lobes.

I'm going to try this very slowly and hopefully won't do any damage. The Clymer manual also says to remove the chain slipper block and to tie a piece of wire to the chain to prevent if it from slipping into the engine. Since I'm not actually pulling out the camshafts, I guess the wire part isn't necessary. Not sure about the chain slipper block but I can't imagine that's too important.

[Nessism]

The exhaust cam is most likely one tooth off, and the intake cam is three off since there are 23 pins between the 2 and 3 marks, and there should be 20.

[tom203]

Scott quote..."So if I'm understanding correctly, the removal of the cam chain tensioner is creating extra pressure on the cam cap bolts. As long as I don't need to rotate either camshaft, vice grips should be used to alleviate this pressure. So I shouldn't just take off the cam chain tensioner and leave the bike in that state for days without vice grips on both intake / exhaust camshafts"



No, the valve springs are pushing up on camshaft- the tensioner just takes up chain slack. The cam cap bolts ( high grade steel) are tapped in soft aluminum head. As you loosen cap bolts (just before they come out of tapped hole) , valve spring pressure will strip out the last couple threads in the soft aluminum- you have to make sure this doesn't happen! You need a method of holding down camshaft ( but not on lobes) until you get the cam cap bolts completely out and then you can orient the camshaft correctly. Then you also have use your holding/clamping method to reinstall the cam cover bolts fully into aluminum head . Note that caps might be marked and oriented precisely- note/mark left/right facing forward, etc.
Relooking at that pic with mark #1 facing forward and mark#2 vertical, I think Nessism is right and your exhaust cam is off 1 tooth.

[Nessism]

You have to remove the cam chain tensioner to get slack on the cam chain. Then the cam caps must be removed before you can adjust the cams. The cam cap bolts will be under tension because some of the valve springs will be pushing up. The idea with the vice grips is to hold the cam tight in the head so the threads on the caps don't strip out when you tighten/loosen the bolts.

You don't actually need the vice grips, it just makes the work easier. When you clamp down on the cam you don't touch the lobes, just the portion of the camshaft that is in the middle, next to the sprocket.

BTW, the exhaust cam is not 180 degrees out of alignment, more like one tooth on the chain. You might want to put a paint mark on the cams and sprockets so you can count how far to move them when you adjust.

So if I'm understanding correctly, the removal of the cam chain tensioner is creating extra pressure on the cam cap bolts. As long as I don't need to rotate either camshaft, vice grips should be used to alleviate this pressure. So I shouldn't just take off the cam chain tensioner and leave the bike in that state for days without vice grips on both intake / exhaust camshafts.

3) Exhaust cam 1- mark must align with the gasket surface. Remove cam chain and reposition as necessary until you achieve this. After you do, use the vice grips to clamp down on the cam. After you do this, double check your 1-4 T mark to make sure it didn't move.

The pic says "vice grips are used for each camshaft to hold down the tappet interfering with a cam". In this position, the Ex Cam #2 lobe is "pointing down". I don't see any way to get vice grips on the Ex Cam #2 lobe with the frame in the way. Only #1 and #4 seem accessible so I guess I just pick one. I take it this won't marr the lobe surface. And I keep this vice grip here until step 5 is completed.

4) Set the intake cam position as needed until you get 20 pins between 2 and 3. A vice grip is good to press down the cam into the cam journals so you are not stressing the cam cap bolt threads too much.

So after I have the intake sprocket positioned with 20 pins, I put another vice grip on the intake side to keep pressure off while I'm doing step 5.

Get the crank "T" mark and exhaust mark "1" as Nessism stated- is your exhaust camshaft timed correctly to crank already?

Unfortunately no - it seems like the exhaust cams are timed to the "1-4 F" mark instead of the "T" mark. I assume that means it is 180 degrees out. It sounds like I need to adjust both the exhaust and the intake.

Apparently, there is not enough slack in chain to "just lift it and reposition it" on intake cam gear after you remove the cam chain tensioner- or is there??? I'd spend some time trying! Otherwise you are going to have to remove the bearing caps on the intake camshaft ( two caps -4 bolts each). But these caps are fighting valve spring pressure and that's where the vicegrip clamping stuff comes in. Unlike pic, your engine is still in frame . I would first see if just removing the tensioner MAYBE gives you enough slack to reposition intake camshaft gear into correct spot. It's worth finding out- maybe your 30 year old chain has stretched enough- I will light candles !

I hope I can just move the chain but we'll see. I haven't read that I need to remove bearing caps ... yet.

I ordered the o-rings/seals/etc. for the cam chain tensioner but I guess I don't need those until Step 5.

[tom203]

Scott quote.. " I'm not clear on the vice grips part. Does pushing in a cam with the vice grips create the slack that allows me to remove the chain and rotate the sprockets? Or is this after the chain is off and just allows rotating the sprocket? Which cam do I push in? "
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Get the crank "T" mark and exhaust mark "1" as Nessism stated- is your exhaust camshaft timed correctly to crank already? If it is, you don't want it to move as you attempt to relocate chain on intake camshaft- it (the #1 mark to the "T" crank mark ) must be held fixed as you fiddle with intake camshaft. Me, I would wedge a piece of wood between the exhaust camshaft gear and the head to hold chain and exhaust camshaft fixed.
Apparently, there is not enough slack in chain to "just lift it and reposition it" on intake cam gear after you remove the cam chain tensioner- or is there??? I'd spend some time trying! Otherwise you are going to have to remove the bearing caps on the intake camshaft ( two caps -4 bolts each). But these caps are fighting valve spring pressure and that's where the vicegrip clamping stuff comes in. Unlike pic, your engine is still in frame . I would first see if just removing the tensioner MAYBE gives you enough slack to reposition intake camshaft gear into correct spot. It's worth finding out- maybe your 30 year old chain has stretched enough- I will light candles !