Valve adjustment

[rollin thunder]

Hi guys I was wondering how much it might cost to have the valves adjusted on my Vmax .I think they may be making a little noise.Thanks.:ummm:

 

[scuff]

Talk to Sean Morley he has a kit he will ship to you for the cost of shipping and NaughtyG has a write up on here on how to do it, get some valve cover gaskets from Boats.net , less than 50 bucks for both, you can do it !!!!

 

[Traumahawk]

The last time I had talked to my mechanic about doing it, it was gonna be a minimum of 5 hrs shop time.

 

[dannymax]

Hi guys I was wondering how much it might cost to have the valves adjusted on my Vmax .I think they may be making a little noise.Thanks.:ummm:

Valve wear decreases valve lash instead of increasing it so the old adage..."adjust the valves when you start hearing them" doesn't apply with the VMax.

Not saying you shouldn't check your valve lash anyway (that's never a bad idea) but the noise you're hearing is not going to be from normal valve wear.

 

[eggohead]

I asked a stealership, that has a good mech. They quoted me at $300... My only issue is not having a garage to work out of... Just doing the carbs in my shed sucks......

 

[sdt354]

I asked a stealership, that has a good mech. They quoted me at $300... My only issue is not having a garage to work out of... Just doing the carbs in my shed sucks......

$300 is reasonable with today's labor rates. It was $120 an hour at the last Yamaha marine dealer I worked at.
I think you should check the clearances yourself. we'll walk you through. Then, if your not comfortable doing the job, bring it to the mechanic. Oh, and do ask him what the clearances were, when he's done. A question you'll know the answer to.

 

[rollin thunder]

Ok I talked to A guy who owns LCR performance in Rochester N.Y. People say he knows the Vmax well.The ba news is he thinks it could be upper rodbearing wear and I am looking at 1800.00 to fix it,Anybody got a tissue?.A valve adjustment is 350.00 .He said I could bring it on by for a listen to get abetter idea.I just knew this was going to be bad.The bike runs grea t but thereis a little ticking on the top end and you can feel it with a screwdriver.I paid 2500.00 for this bike and I would hate to dump another 1800.00 into her.

 

[liptoss]

Don't panic.
The VMAX motor is pretty bullet proof and can take some abuse. NOT THAT WE WANT TO UNDULY DOLE IT OUT right? . Yamaha beefed up rods and other components at one or two points of the production years. Others ring in here please...
A couple of things I have noted.
On my brothers '87 the manual states valve checks every 9000 or 12,000 km's or something like that. My '06 manual states something more in line with the Gen2 Max which is something like 25,000 km's. What?
Had Yamaha figured out that the Vmax engine over the years with the shim and bucket set up was more resilient than first thought? With adjustments not warranted as frequently? Or did they develop better material and machining of the valve train? Who knows. I don't that's for sure.
I do know this though. The Max Gen 1 motor spawned from the Venture touring bike which was meant to gobble up mileage. My mechanic buddy of the day in the '80s told me that this Venture motor was rock solid in many ways including the valve train. I've also noted that my '84 inline 4 XJ750RL with 2 valves per & shim and bucket and 76,000 on it, is reliable and solid for retaining valve clearances.
Lastly, I once did a couple gear burnout to put a few GSXR riders in their place. I noticed the valve train was slightly noisier for some reason after that for a short period. I don't know if it was my imagination though and the sensitivity of my ringing ears of the Hindle bark. Any others noticed that?

 

[rollin thunder]

Wel I have a little over 40,000 miles on my Maxine and I got her with about 38,000 a few years ago and I dont remember if I had the ticking then or not.The bike runs great though.I guess I thought that as a camshaft wears the clearance gets bigger.

 

[one2dmax]

Larry at LCR is a good guy. He's probably correct that it's a wrist pin issue and you can verify that easily enough by taking the load off that cylinder (remove the coil wire and ground it with an old plug to a head somewhere).

We've seen that a number of times for sure and it will run fine and even last quite some time without an issue. Just make sure that it's warm before running it hard.

You didn't mention how many miles? It's common for them to need adjustment pretty soon after getting it going and maybe the first 15-20k miles. Then after that they tend to settle in and 25k is plenty often to check them.

 

[dannymax]

Wel I have a little over 40,000 miles on my Maxine and I got her with about 38,000 a few years ago and I dont remember if I had the ticking then or not.The bike runs great though.I guess I thought that as a camshaft wears the clearance gets bigger.

The camshaft is not the wear component, the valves burrow into the softer cast heads shrinking valve clearance.

 

[dannymax]

I've also noted that my '84 inline 4 XJ750RL with 2 valves per & shim and bucket and 76,000 on it, is reliable and solid for retaining valve clearances.

Not always the case tho....my '85 XJ700X 5 valve (which I bought new in '85) needed new shims on every single valve.....ALL 20!....at 15K miles....and the bike was always well maintained and never abused!.............:confused2:

 

[sdt354]

Not always the case tho....my '85 XJ700X 5 valve (which I bought new in '85) needed new shims on every single valve.....ALL 20!....at 15K miles....and the bike was always well maintained and never abused!.............:confused2:

Dano, you are so neat you make me ashamed. That's the way to work. Maybe I'm just a result of being rushed through every job at work I ever did? Or, I'm just untidy? BRC is always clean as a whistle and organized.

 

[dannymax]

Dano, you are so neat you make me ashamed. That's the way to work. Maybe I'm just a result of being rushed through every job at work I ever did? Or, I'm just untidy? BRC is always clean as a whistle and organized.

Haha....thanks Steve-o! The truth is, I have to stay organized....I get confused easily! This job was particularly difficult cause the shims are about the same size as the eraser on a pencil and with a light coat of oil they'll pop out of your fingers like pumpkin seeds! Plus, the cams need removed and all that goes along with that....the VMax is much easier....not easy....but easier! :biglaugh:

 

[one2dmax]

The Fazer/FZX/Maxim X shim cups are expensive boogers! And as you noted a lot more suck.

Sean

 

[rollin thunder]

I am running rotella 15-40 for oil .Should I run any additives for better lubrication or just let her warm up a little longer before I run her up to speed.Nice pics btw Danny.Very well organized.I do notice when warm my oil pressure gage goes way down but runs about 65 when cold at idle.

 

[dannymax]

Thanks. 65# is normal at start-up as that's when the by pass kicks in. It's best not to look at the gauge after it's hot and at idle....quite a few of them don't hardly show any oil pressure at all....all pretty normal. Unsettling...but normal.

You might want to verify the dreaded o-ring in the base is in place tho to get the oil to the top end that it needs. There's tons of threads and photos of that but I don't know offhand where any are....maybe someone else does?

The only additive I would suggest is an ounce or so of Marvel Mystery oil with every oil change....it's pretty good stuff.

 

[scuff]

Sean Morley sells an HD oiling kit seems like it was 60-80 bucks if your in there checking the o ring wouldn't hurt to install the kit heck he'll even send you a new o ring too !!

 

[rollin thunder]

I also use Sea foam in the fuel when I store it and every few tankfulls ,It says it lubricates the upper cylanders.

 

[liptoss]

SeaFoam rocks!
That MaximX was awesome when it came out. Nice bike buddy!