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1st Valve Adjust

L

Lammy1000

Well travelled
Location
Glenville, NY USA
Please excuse the double post.

At 300 miles/500km I discovered all valves were tight with a right cylinder intake valve did not allow the smallest feeler gage on hand, a 0.002"/0.050mm. Please let us know your experience.
 
Lammy1000 said:
Please excuse the double post.

At 300 miles/500km I discovered all valves were tight with a right cylinder intake valve did not allow the smallest feeler gage on hand, a 0.002"/0.050mm. Please let us know your experience.
Click to expand...
The dealership did mine at 500 miles. I remember them commenting the exhaust valves were a "little tight." I don't remember their being any concern such as you describe. 22 Interceptor.
 
I did my 1st valve check and adjustment today on my Super Meteor valves at 1606 miles (2586 km).

3 of the 4 intake valves were slightly tight - the 0.0025 in (0.064 mm) feeler gauge would slip in and was loose, but the 0.003 inch (0.076mm) would not. The RE spec is 0.08 mm.

All 4 exhaust valve were slightly tight - the 0.06 inch (0.152mm) feeler gauge would slip in and was loose, but the 0.007 inch (0.178 mm) would not. The RE spec is 0.18 mm.

I admit that I was surprised I did not have any very tight or very loose valves. Many other posts are seeing very tight valves at mileage much less than my 1600 miles,

The step that I struggled with the most was keeping the valve cover gasket in place. I tried leaving it on the head, but I could not get the gasket to stay in the right place. Then I tried putting the gasket on the valve cover in the grooves, but it kept falling out. I remember someone mentioning using small dabs of grease to hold the gasket in the grooves. i tried that and it stayed in place long enough to put the valve cover back on. If anyone has a better method I would like to hear it. I notice that factory had put many spots of sealant on the valve cover to hold the gasket in place. I did not have the right sealant on hand to use that method.

I want to acknowledge the following youtube sources for the useful information they provided:

This video told me that I needed to loosen and tighten the valve cover in a crisscross pattern - first the bolt closest to the right intake , then the bolt closest to the left exhaust, then the bolt closest to the left exhaust and finally the bolt closest to the left intake. I tighten the bolts in two steps, 1st to 5 Nm and then 10 Nm in the same pattern. The SM service manual says to loosen and tighten in this crisscross patern.

This video explained how the fuel pump & level sensor connector is removed under the tank. The tools used in this video used mostly from the RE SM tool kit. This showed me that SM tool kit had the 14 mm allen key that I needed to remove the crankshaft plug. This video showed removing the coils and coil bracket to get room to remove the valve cover.

This video showed just removing the coil bracket bolts but leaving the coils in place, you get enough room to remove the valve cover. (I forgot about this video and did not try this method.) I will try this method next valve adjustment.

In this fast motion video, the tank was left on but the coils and coil bracket was removed. Since the tank is easy to remove, I not sure the hassle of working under the tank is easier than removing the tank. The poster did not remove the crankshaft plug but instead, removed the spark plugs, put the transmission on 5th or 6th gear and spun the rear wheel to align the valve adjustment marks.

This short video gives a technique to get the correct gap on the first adjustment attempt.
 
All of mine were tight when I checked them at 300 miles.
Also, if using the SAE standards, a 3/8” bolt which has a 9/16” head, fits the crankshaft plug even better than the 14 mm allen. A 3/8” Coupling nut is very convenient. Saves having to dig out the tool kit.
 
@LNK The 3/8" coupling nut is a good option. I thought the RE 14 mm allen was a bit sloppy in the crankshaft plug.

Do you have any suggestions / tricks for keeping the valve cover gasket in place while fitting the valve cover back on the engine?
 
My gasket has stayed in the valve cover the three times I’ve had it off. Have never used any RTV when replacing the cover plus I never tighten the shoulder bolts more than 8 Nm. I first saw YouTuber Stuart Fillingham mention this and agree. Never had a leak.
 
Lammy1000 said:
Just performed the 3rd valve adjustment
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I just did mine today too. 13K miles, fresh oil and the valves all set. I took the Shotgun out for a ride and it felt great ;-) I got a service kit from Western Cycle Supply. I recommend replacing the cover bolt seals and not reusing the old ones (they were squished). The kit comes with a cover gasket, so I replace it too (why not).
 
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