What the heck is this clicking noise?

Also, in the book it says to line up the "TR" timing mark with the index mark.

And then it shows a picture like this: |TR |F

And it has the "F" mark just to the right of TR lined up with the index mark. So which mark should be lined up?

 

I did a little searching around and found a few interesting articles on this topic, if anyone else is following this

http://www.dansmc.com/valveclearence.htm
http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/tech/easy_valve_adjustment/
http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/features/checking_valve_clearance/

 

Ok I messed around a little more, and I think I got a good reading on the two exhaust valves, but the two intake valves seem to have no clearance at all!

Could it be that they are that tight, or do you think I'm doing something wrong? Any ideas?

 

You insert the feeler guages here:

You insert them in pairs - as shown by the colored arrows.

You don't have to be that exact when rotating the engine. There is a significant part of the cam that is "flat" (no lobe) on that rocker. When this area is touching the rocker is where/when you adjust the valves. In fact, you can see this when rotating the engine. As long as the valves don't move, you are good to go.

Here is a good tutorial: http://boston.g4.net/~cdc/magna/tech section and issues/cams/dave dodge valve procedure.htm

 

My manual says there should be "free play" in both rocker arms when you take the measurement. However, I only have free play in the exhaust rocker arm. I'm definitely in the compression stroke, not the exhaust stroke, so I don't know what I could be doing wrong!

 

Aha, thanks for the picture mason, that confirms what I was thinking. The manual is pretty unclear about that.

 

That tutorial had some good info as well, but I'm still a little confused as to why I can't get any feeler gauges in to measure the intake valves...

I need to go get some lunch! I'll be back at it in a half hour or so.

 

OK check this out!



-I measured what I could, but the intake valves on #1 and #4 were so tight I couldn't even get a feeler gauge in.

-The '<' symbols indicate that I got that size feeler gauge to fit, but it was pretty tight, so maybe the actual measurement should be slightly less. By the way, how tight should the feeler gauge actually feel in there?

-Look how loose the intakes on #2 are though. Could that be enough slack to cause the noise?

-The Clymer manual specifies 0.004 in for intake and 0.005 in for exhaust valves. How close to that do I need to be? Should it be exact, or should I give it an extra thousandth or so of space?


P.S. I apologize for the huge size of my pictures... I'm at school and there's nothing installed on this computer to resize images!

 

Damn you're doing a great job. Yes valves get tight as well as lose and yes thats enough slop to hear. so go back through em all once more. As tight goes when using a feeler gauge you want it to be a firm push, if it don't slide in then its one the feeler is to big or the gap to small go either way to find out whats what . on the smaller feeler gages you need to be sorta careful as not to bend them when using em they'll slide in if there's room. More of a trial and error thing till you get the hang of it, but so far it's looking like you have it down. I my case I alway go through em twice if not 3 time just to make sure And I do that after a couple of rotations of the crank.

 

Awesome, I'm going through and adjusting all of them now...

Do you guys think I should tighten/loosen them exactly to the manual's specs, or should I give a little extra room? When I was reading around online, I kind of saw opinions in favor of both.

Anyway, I agree RVFR, once I get them all adjusted I'll definitely check everything multiple times... I don't want to do this all again tomorrow!

 

I called the Honda shop, and the guy said to just go exactly to the specs in the manual. But what do you guys think?

 

I'd go by the factory specs. As for me, my intake spec is .007 +-.001 so one could go .006 to .008 lucky me, on it's 32k service they were all on the mark :biggrin:

 

Adjust to specs, it's water cooled so they should stay pretty quiet. Looks like you're doing good! Did you check the oil in the crankcase to see if there was any water in it?

Doug

 

Not yet, but I gave it new oil like a month ago (only maybe 300 miles of actual riding ago), and the stuff that came out looked pretty normal. When the oil is kind of milky, is that when there's water/coolant in it?

When I took off the timing inspection hole cover, there was a little milky oily stuff on it, and I also found a little tiny bit in a corner under the valve cover by the #1 cylinder.

 

If you do a lot of short trips, it maybe condensation. The oil does not get hot enough to boil off the moisture that naturally occurs in the crankcase.
As for the clearances, use the factory specs. This is a normal maintenance item, so you will not have a setting that will reduce the service window. Having tight valves is more damaging than loose ones as well.

 

OK....

Man, I'm still adjusting the valves; this is about the most frustrating thing ever! Every time I torque those stupid locknuts, the clearance gets just a little bit too tight! Next time I do this, I'm definitely gonna get that special tool.

 

Hmmm, I think I figured out why one of the valves kept getting much tighter as I torqued it... the locknut and adjusting screw were stuck together pretty well.

I managed to get them apart, but I'll have to see if I can get them to thread together nicely!

 

A small open end or cresent wrench to hold the square part and a 10mm for the nut. It will take a couple of trys to see how much change there is when tightening them down. You're almost done!

 

Dammit!
After screwing around with that one tappet, I realized that the threads are pretty well stripped, so I was turning the nut, and it never gets tight!

I think I'm pretty much SOL for this weekend now, since the Honda dealer will be closed tomorrow, and I don't know where else I could find that little adjusting screw.

It's always the frickin $2 part that you have to wait for, isn't it? And of course this was the very last valve I adjusted; if I'd found it 24 hours ago it wouldn't have been a big deal!

So now the plan is this: I'm going to make sure I get the front two cylinders adjusted properly, and that way I can close them up, and reinstall the radiator and fairing. The rear cylinders will have to wait until next week some time

 

Keep your head up. Is there a boneyard that you can go to?