Valve clearance

[Tally_R1]

Hi guys!!

Anybody got any idea what is valve clearance is all about.

[kurarensu]

if i not wrong it's to check whether your valve is sitting well in it's position.. ard everi 4000km u do your valve clearance once? i might be wrong..

[Tally_R1]

I see..

is it 4000km or 40000km...??

[Strong Eagle]

Hi guys!!

Anybody got any idea what is valve clearance is all about.

 

What I say here refers only to four cycle engines and it depends upon the type of valve train in the bike.

 

There must always be some free play in the valve train. If you have hydraulic lifters the valves never need to be adjusted. Otherwise, you must adjust valve clearances.

 

If the clearance is too tight, you risk not having a valve close all the way. This can allow hot gases to escape a not quite closed valve which will end up damaging the valve seat.

 

If the clearance is too loose, you risk deforming the end of the valve (or other parts of the valve train.

 

How much. Usually 0.007 to 0.009 inches of free play but it is engine specific.

 

How often? Probably about every 40,000 km but again dependent upon engine. My Valk manual says to do it every 20,000 km but it is a waste of time... the settings don't change much.

[Tally_R1]

alrite then, my manual stats 40000km.. But i'm riding a sports bike n a 2nd hand. Hope nothing bad will comes

[Strong Eagle]

alrite then, my manual stats 40000km.. But i'm riding a sports bike n a 2nd hand. Hope nothing bad will comes

 

What kind of bike?

[omnislash]

What kind of bike?

 

look at his nick

[Strong Eagle]

look at his nick

 

Duh!!!! Thanks.

[stwb1981]

SO ANY PLACES TO REC. TO DO VALVE CLEARANCE??

hOW MUCH ??

how long..?

Thanks i riding a zx12

[PUNK]

SO ANY PLACES TO REC. TO DO VALVE CLEARANCE??

hOW MUCH ??

how long..?

Thanks i riding a zx12

 

unity wld be near for u .... or u can go to ah tak @ ubi formerly frm pleasure. his kaki lang mostly zx-12

[Grave65]

Valve clearance is regulating the cams timing so that it spins evenly and allows piston to fire properly

must be done every 12000 km, or depends on how u ride the bike.

lots of track days = more valve clearance needed.

 

from what i noe, not all ppl in sg can do this properly.

its a costly job and need 1 wk to do.

[stwb1981]

unity wld be near for u .... or u can go to ah tak @ ubi formerly frm pleasure. his kaki lang mostly zx-12

 

Hmm unity is far for me leh...

thanks for the info ...

any more places than unity and pleasure...?

[stwb1981]

Valve clearance is regulating the cams timing so that it spins evenly and allows piston to fire properly

must be done every 12000 km, or depends on how u ride the bike.

lots of track days = more valve clearance needed.

 

from what i noe, not all ppl in sg can do this properly.

its a costly job and need 1 wk to do.

 

12000km ...!!!

tat kinda very often wo...

i tot every 40000 to 60000 km...?

Hmm ....

[chansk]

Just looked at my Suzuki Bandit 400P manual.

 

6000 km (six thousand kilometers). which is about the time for a regular "servicing". Bandit uses tappets, which means adjustment screws. You can normally hear "takka takka takka takka " noise from these engines.

 

I had done this before on my previous bikes (2-valve per cylinder).

 

On a 4-valve (4-valves per cylinder) bike like the Bandit, the process could take 1-2 hours because you will need to remove the cylinderhead cover. This means probably having to put in a new cylinder head gasket too, otherwise you may find oil seeping out of the seal between cylinderhead and engine block..

[Grave65]

12000km ...!!!

tat kinda very often wo...

i tot every 40000 to 60000 km...?

Hmm ....

 

only cars do every 40k ... motorcycle ... compression higher and rev higher ... so intervals is shorter.

depending on bikes, most is done btw 12k-18k

[boofeng]

for my bike, many owners report that the valves do need adjustment in the early stages (the 1st and 2nd scheduled valve checks), but afterwards they just stay in spec. the engine kindof "settles down".

 

it also seems valves need adjustment more frequently if you're keeping the engine in the high rpm range a lot (based on my reading up about thumper engines).

 

a friend of mine checked his cb400's valve clearance at 66k kms for the first time ever (after he learned what a valve clearance was). he only uses it to commute, so only one exhaust valve was off-spec by a little.

[stwb1981]

Well i tink reari depends on hw u ride bah...

hmm like tat mine quite ......

o well gt 2 save up 1st heard nt cheap ....

[Mussolini]

what's the cost for valve clearance?? i need to do mine soon, my bike is already 135000km...

[stwb1981]

what's the cost for valve clearance?? i need to do mine soon, my bike is already 135000km...

 

frankly speaking i nt reari sure lah...

hear hear alot...

1st MUST find a trustworthy shop with gd reputation, gd spare part support and of course u must know the shop well...

nxt ... price depend on wat are the spares tat nid to b replaced...

eg: shimes , timing chain and of course gasket ....

well i riding a kawa ...

my spare are very ex...

heard from a fellow kawa ...

he spend ard $680+ i tink...

shop i nt sure ...

correct mi if i wrong...

ani way ...

mi 2 planning to do valve clearance ...

of course saving $$$ and looking for shop oso....

[redbeacon]

from what i noe, not all ppl in sg can do this properly.

its a costly job and need 1 wk to do.

 

"1 week" might be a perfect way to hide the fact that a mech has a lot of bikes to fix up.

 

Anyways, valve clearance involves a few things, about 5~6 hours to disassemble the engine, measuring the gap with a feeler gauge, buying and then fitting on the correct-sized shims to compensate for any big gaps found, and then finally, assembling back the engine.

 

http://i15.tinypic.com/6bdb6yp.gif

[Naz]

What bike are you riding?

 

I am on a Kawasaki ZX9R.

 

Did it at Bikeworkz, together with a change of pistons, piston rings, valve seals and such. Time taken was 1 and a half wks.

 

It won't be cheap if you're on a Kawa or litre bikes definitely.

 

But if they can do it for my green, I'm sure yours should not be a problem.

[retro]

actually it's really up to you.... im not surprised that some bikes in singapore never did a valve clearance before...

[WildCard]

Did before for my old TL1000R.

Takes about nearly a full day (a pretty complicated job on a V-twin & the shop was a reputable shop specializing in V-twins with a very experienced mechanic).

Costs ard 200+ (relatively cheap coz it was the only thing needed done).

Most of the costs come from gasket replacements & labour.

But if you're gonna ask me which shop, I will not tell you coz I would no longer recommend them (those who know me well will remember my beef with them).

 

Which comes to my 2nd point.

Manual states for my bike to have its valves checked is every 240000 km.

But nearly all the mech (including those not busy) tell me I dun need to do one until about 80-100K kms.

So who's right?

 

When I did my TLR's valve check, the mech told me it was off insignificantly or not at all. And that is after close to 2 years worth of riding (about close to 40000+ km of daily West Coast to Sengkang riding).

 

My new bike has hit past 24000km but all I get from mechs is need not do one yet...

[stwb1981]

What bike are you riding?

 

I am on a Kawasaki ZX9R.

 

Did it at Bikeworkz, together with a change of pistons, piston rings, valve seals and such. Time taken was 1 and a half wks.

 

It won't be cheap if you're on a Kawa or litre bikes definitely.

 

But if they can do it for my green, I'm sure yours should not be a problem.

 

I riding a ZX12 ...

bike workz is at near shafu there ha...?

[stwb1981]

actually it's really up to you.... im not surprised that some bikes in singapore never did a valve clearance before...

 

haha ...

couldn't agree wif u more than tat

haha:faint: