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Valve adjust clearance confirmation

salty_monk

salty_monk

Forum Guru
Past Site Supporter
TGSR Superstar
I'm in the middle of adjusting valves, all is going well but I have a couple that are pretty borderline.

By this I mean my .025 feeler will go through (but my 0.038 will not) but when I change to the next one down (say 2.70 - 2.65) the 0.076 feeler gauge feels a little loose but the .102 will not even go anywhere near it. (The way I was taught to use a feeler gauge it should feel a little "sticky" when it's correct)

This leads me to believe that it's actually somewhere very close to bottom tolerance say but it could be anywhere between 0.025 & 0.038.

I do have some "x" shims but I don't think I have the right ones in every case.

My question is should I go for the smaller shim or leave alone.

I don't really want to have to check them again in the near future & 4,000 miles would seem a lot if they are so close to bottom tolerance... How many miles does it take to close up??

On an old car I would just go a little looser as it's going to close up anyhow but they don't rev to 9k... :D

Appreciate some insight from those who have done this many times...

Thanks

Dan :)
 
I'd leave them a little on the loose side. My guess is that you don't run it to redline very often anyway. (torque drops off at about 8500) IMHO...run it. :-D
 
Your figgerin' looks about right to me, especially without a metric feeler gauge set. In the case you mention, I'd go with the wider lash (smaller shim) since there's some uncertainty with the absolute minimum clearance. If it's an exhaust valve, there's no question; I'd want the wider clearance.

As for how long your adjustment can be expected to last -- you'll find that after the second shimming or so, things settle down. You might change 5 shims the first adjustment, 2 the next, and maybe one or none from there on. 4000 miles isn't excessive at all. My rule of thumb is, after the second adjustment, 4000 or whenever I'm good and ready to do the job, whichever comes later. You'll find a variety of opinions though.

(The Nighthawk I've had for the last few years has hydraulic followers, and never need attention! Works for me...)
 
I knew there was a reason I looked at Nighthawks.... :D

Thanks, I was almost convinced to go on the loose side, to be honest I very rarely go over about 7k rpm.

Feeler gauge set I have is double printed by Snap-on.. I should have got one brought over from the UK, metric is easier to get hold of over there... Oh well, next time!

These will have been changed before, bike has 72k miles looks like I caught it about right as they are all pretty much right on bottom tolerance using the Suzuki manual method (not clymer).

Dan :)
 
salty_monk said:
These will have been changed before, bike has 72k miles looks like I caught it about right as they are all pretty much right on bottom tolerance using the Suzuki manual method (not clymer).

Dan :)
Click to expand...

Oh yeah...that's right, Clymer wrote a book too, didnt they? :-D
 
You can get a metric feeler gauge set for about $5 at any auto parts store... should we pass the hat, maybe? :-D
 
salty_monk said:
I'm in the middle of adjusting valves, all is going well but I have a couple that are pretty borderline.

By this I mean my .025 feeler will go through (but my 0.038 will not) but when I change to the next one down (say 2.70 - 2.65) the 0.076 feeler gauge feels a little loose but the .102 will not even go anywhere near it. (The way I was taught to use a feeler gauge it should feel a little "sticky" when it's correct)

This leads me to believe that it's actually somewhere very close to bottom tolerance say but it could be anywhere between 0.025 & 0.038.

I do have some "x" shims but I don't think I have the right ones in every case.

My question is should I go for the smaller shim or leave alone.

I don't really want to have to check them again in the near future & 4,000 miles would seem a lot if they are so close to bottom tolerance... How many miles does it take to close up??

On an old car I would just go a little looser as it's going to close up anyhow but they don't rev to 9k... :D

Appreciate some insight from those who have done this many times...

Thanks

Dan :)
Click to expand...

Go for the looser settings. 4000 miles before re-checking clearances is probably about right.
I re-lapped my valves when I rebuilt the top end on my engine. After 2000 kms, I re-checked the valve clearances and found most had reduced by 0.02mm. If you're working your engine towards the redline often, you'll need to adjust more often.
Those X shims are good value. They mean you can get very close to the actual clearance that you desire. You do need to confirm their exact size with a vernier or micrometer though. For example, a 2.70X shim can range from 2.72mm - 2.74mm.
 
bwringer said:
You can get a metric feeler gauge set for about $5 at any auto parts store... should we pass the hat, maybe? :-D
Click to expand...

:lol: No need for that... I checked out Kragen, all they had was the double marked one similar to the Snap-on one. I also checked out the local "tru value" - same thing.

It would make it easier though if I had the 3 4 5 6 7 8!!

Dan :)
 
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