First valve adjust questions

[one2dmax]

Sounds like it is so tight that it is riding the cam lobe all the time. Loosen the cams cap bolts a few turns each and try again. If you get it out put a thinner one in and tighten it all back up and do your adjustments like normal. If it's still tight and you can get a shim in there then there is probably a little galling on the bucket. Not sure what to recommend other then look it and the face of the lobe over well.

Sean

 

[coffee_brake]

Finally got it after lots of wailing and gnashing of teeth. The two notches were both where I couldn't get to them, not with the straight, 90-degree, hooked or off-set picks. Or the little screwdriver.

I finally bent the straight pick so it curved over about 15 degrees and caught the notch, then used the long drift pin I got to do the neck bearings stuck through the frame to contact the end of the pick and a 4-lb ball-pien to do a three-step "persuasion." It was booger-rigging at its best but it worked.

So I'm still not halfway done. Crap I'll never do this again without a lift....

 

[coffee_brake]

The socket wrench slipped and I dinged the living heck out of the hole in the stator cover (where the socket wrench was in it). As in, there's a little chunk out of it and it's not going to seal. Short term fix is to fill it with JB until I get a replacement.

Will a stator cover from a Venture fit? What years? The venture covers are a whole lot cheaper than the Vmax ones on Ebay, like over a hundred bucks difference.

One other question:
One of the intakes, for lack of better lingo to describe it, won't adjust. No matter what shim I put in there, I can fit a feeler gauge 4 times the limit under there. Is the valve not coming up on the rotations or something? I've gone to both extremes with the shims and it makes no difference at all. The best I could do was guess the best shim from the original measurement, since I can't check it now.

 

[one2dmax]

Try to set it lightly with your feeler then see if you can shove a big one in there. You might even see if you can even push the valve spring down hard with your fingers (you may not have the finger strength - many men don't have enough - the lord gave me plenty of strong hands but made my fingers thick which is a pain doing other things)

If you can put in a shim no matter how thick you may have a collapsed or broken spring. I've run into this once before. Look over the inner and outer springs well and see if you can see any problems with them (there are two springs in each stackup). The hardest part is seeing the problem with the cams and buckets in place.

Sean

Sean

 

[one2dmax]

And yes, other then paint and the center insert they are interchangeable.

Sean

 

[RagingMain]

Yo Coffe how is it coming. I might be next on the list for the kit. I think I got some valves hanging up and staying open all the time.
Hope all is going well with the job. This will be my first time doing a shim job on the Vmax.:bang head:
Cheers

 

[naughtyG]

And I'll be next at some point.. maybe we should start a valve adjustment seminar :eusa_dance::clapping:

 

[one2dmax]

I don't mind loaning the kit out at all. Just make sure it's not sitting on a table waiting for the job to get done. Please use the kit as soon as you can within reason. Keep in mind there are a lot of shims in the kit and they aren't cheap so take a bit of care with it.

Sean

 

[coffee_brake]

How's it going? Well it's buttoned up but there are no gaskets in this town and I have to get the stator cover back on. I'm just going to have to go the ugly booger-rigged gasket-in-a-tube, just to see if it's right. The JB is drying on the chipped stator cover right now. I'm moving as fast as I can Sean; but I'm not sure at all that I did it right. I can organize the shims into the new box today while gaskets and JB dry.

To add to the agony, I dropped the drop light (weird huh) and the bulb shattered, all over the top end while it was apart. Spent a long, long time looking and picking out little pieces of glass, but still every time I had to turn the engine I could hear glass grinding and couldn't do a thing about it. Except put it back together, run it a minute, and dump the glass-sharded oil. I hope to do that by tonight.

I'm afraid I didn't understand about how the spring may be broken. I have no idea what to look for and it's buttoned up now. What will it sound like if that's wrong?

I hoped to learn something by doing this, and I have, but the accidents and setbacks have made it a very stressful and expensive ordeal.

 

[one2dmax]

If you don't use a gasket on the stator cover the starter will bind up due to the cover will tighten up too tightly. If the spring is broken or weak and allowing you to insert any feeler you want then you may end up with a destroyed engine. The valve could drop from the keeper assembly coming loose or the valve get hung up and hit the piston. If you really can shove about any thickness shim in there and not get it to adjust then likely that's what you have. I've only ran into that once before on a set of heads I was using on a motor build. I had to remove that head and get a different set while I changed out the springs. You may be able to do it on the bike but the cams will for sure have to be removed to get to it.

Not a huge rush on the kit but I know Fargo needs it when you get done (and then on to the next person).

 

[naughtyG]

I hoped to learn something by doing this, and I have, but the accidents and setbacks have made it a very stressful and expensive ordeal.

I know this is prolly not what you want to hear, but by the sound of that one valve you can't adjust and what Sean is saying I know I'd be quite worried about running that engine..

As Sean said, if that one valve cannot be adjusted, I think you'd be better off taking that cylinder head off altogether and sending it to Sean for inspection or maybe even exchange - it'll cost you more time and head gasket set and whatever Sean will need, but all of that is still a helluva lot less than what a broken engine will cost to repair..

Just my 2 cents - better safe than sorry eh?

 

[coffee_brake]

OK thanks for the info on the gasket, I'll just send on the shims and order it. Fargo where are ya?

About this valve: nothing was wrong with the spring when I opened it up. The clearance was no more out of spec than any of the others. None of the valves was way off, including this one. The clearance should be .005" but it was originally .003". After trying several shims, I could consistently fit a gauge up to .012" under it.

Is there any way the spring would break just from the process of adjusting the valves?

 

[one2dmax]

Possibly but not likely. The tool will apply a bit of side load on the bucket but not enough to hurt anything 99.9% of the time. As noted there is an inner spring and outer spring on each valve. If one is broken the valve will still be held in the approx correct place but not have nearly as much tension. This will allow you to shove thick shims in where a good tension would not. I have strong enough fingers I can push in the valve if one spring is there but i've not got the iron fingers for both.

Before I yanked the head I would take the cams off and pull the bucket so you can really see what's going on. You can align the cams prior to starting so it's easier to get them back later. You can even remove the valve spring with the head on the engine. Use a little low compression air into the spark plug hole (a compression testing tool works well for this hooked to your compressor). This will hold the valve up while you compress the spring and remove the keepers and retainer. Then the spring can be taken out and a new or replacement installed.

This is provided that is what is wrong. Nothing is certain until you check.

Sean

Sean

 

[coffee_brake]

Gotcha. Here's hoping it's some kind of valve train newbie mistake.
Yanking the rear cover again....

 

[coffee_brake]

I think I fu***ed up in a good way, but I don't understand how.

At least I can't fit too large of a gauge in that valve now. In fact it's too tight, and I don't know how it went from so sloppy to too tight. I can accept if I f*ck up but not if I don't know what I did wrong.

I'm disgusted with myself and disgusted with the bike.

I must have not put the gauge in right, but really there it isn't complex enough to screw it up, is it? Must've found a way to do it wrong, that's about normal for me.

Hell I don't even want to start it up much less ride it now. Maybe tomorrow....

 

[naughtyG]

well that is better news than a broken/collapsed valve spring!

At least if it's just a f*kup, it can be worked out and undone..

Let's see how you go, and if you get really really stuck, I'm only just 401 miles away from you, and I need to learn about Vmax valves anyway :clapping:

 

[RagingMain]

Coffee hope you feel better, we all know what it is like to wrench on these bastards. Like Naughty said at least it was in the good way.

I am on the left coast, land of fruits and nuts, yep California. I am going to do a leak down check tomorrow and see if the produces any bad results. If it does than I will measure my valves and see where they are. I will PM you if I need the kit, wont be but a day or two before i find out.
Cheersunk:

 

[UnclePhilthy]

I've been closely watching this thread from day one.... With 8k and a few on mine, I know THAT day is coming down the road...and I'm not looking forward to it at all....

What I would ask, is that some very knowledgeable person (Sean), might maybe make a DIY instructional video of all the steps required to do a proper valve adjustment... keeping in mind that some of us are somewhat 'challenged' when it comes to some of the terms and techniques used in the process... I'd even pay a reasonable amount to have such a video available when THAT time comes...

Miss 'Break', you have my utmost earned respect in all you are trying to accomplish.... I can feel your 'pain' and frustration... I'm not a person known for being patient either when it comes to jobs like this... For me a lot of times, it's best to just walk away, and think about it some, before resuming the effort....

And weighing the possibility of my short barreled 12ga, and a couple loads of double-ought buck...and just put that mf'er out of it's misery!! Then common sense wins out... most of the time!...

Take care Special Lady, you've got some real good backup in your corner!

Uncle Philthy

 

[forestdaledave]

I had to buy a new shim tool. I adjusted mine two years ago. I'm doing another bike this weekend and also recheck mine. Can't find the tool. Checked all three toolboxes 4 times. So I bought another, now I know I'll find the first one.
Dave #3505

 

[lankeeyankee]

Working on a VMAX engine is one of the most difficult and challenging task you will face when it comes to motorcycle engines. I have done a few and to be honest I used to love wrenching on engines tilll I owned a VMAX. They are a major pain in the ass from pulling the engine to installing it back in.
A valve adjustment can be fusterating for the first timer. The key is to take your time, stay organized, have all the correct qaulity tools with plenty of lighting. When you feel yourself getting stressed, WALK AWAY, have a smoke if you do smoke, have a drink etc. let your mind relax a bit and then go back to work, time varies with an individuals paitences.
When the enjoyment has went away, walk away. Key to mechanical jobs and how well they are performed..
Valve adjustment is one area you dont want to fuck up!