Valve adjustment - more lessons learned

MGB

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So I did my 1st valve adjustment at 22K since some folks are finding tight exhaust valves and I'm heading off on a trip next month.

1) cam chain tensioner reset. I had to do it twice and it only took a few minutes each time using a bench vise, piece of tin, and piece of heavy duty rubber. Tin between vise and main body of tensioner on one side, rubber between vise and piston on the other side. This let me slowly close vise with one hand while I spun the tensioner body with the other to let the piston compress. The rubber kept the piston from spinning and protected it from damage. Use a small screwdriver to hold the spring in place while you start to loosen the vise. You can see the spring catch the groove on the piston and loosen the vise ever so slightly more (not enough for the whole tensioner to fall on the floor).



2) follow the service manual to loosen three hydraulic lines near left corner of valve cover. This involves three mount points (one bolt at each location) all at the head stem of the bike. A fourth (allen head screw) is near the key for the seat lock. A fifth 'holder' for the three lines is near the left corner of the valve cover, the lines just pop out of the holder. Zip tied them back as much as possible when I was ready to remove the cover. The cover then came out relatively easy and went back in without much fuss.

3) right side of valve cover, zip tie the large wire loom up and out as much as possible. Between this and getting the hydraulic lines out of the way it helps a lot in getting the valve cover in and out.

4) Valve cover gasket, what a pain. I think someone else recommended setting it with some gasket maker or something to hold it in place. My method was to put it on the cylinder head with the four round sections holding it in place. The long sections didn't stay in place well, so I used a small point awl with a short 90degree tip to juggle it in place while hold the valve cover. I did put the 4 round spark plug hole gaskets on the cover and they stayed in place ok (I did verify by using a flashlight and mirror on a stick to get a good look down the spark plug holes once the cover was tightened down).

Be sure to get a good visual all the way around once it's mounted, I found a hidden pinch in the hardest to see place behind the electrical tray. Loosening the four bolts on the tray allows it to move out really well and you can see all the valve cover gasket with a good flashlight. I quadrupled checked to ensure that thing was in properly.

5) DON'T do the shim math late at night when you are tired and sweaty!! I blew this and ended up with so much gap I'm sure it would not have run. I'm not even sure the valves were opening when I hand rotated the engine! Good news is I removed/reinstalled the cam's and corrected my math in about 30 minutes. I'm now at between .26-.27 so I'm good to go for a while. Maybe I won't need an adjustment at the next check.

6) cam bucket removal. The engine oil film makes these guys want to stay in place, I noticed this since the second time I pulled them they came out easily. I used a large forceps with a good bend at the jaws to grab them. I think a small forceps or needle nose pliers with a 90 degree bend at the jaws would be great and I plan to get one next time.

7) per the service manual, you need to loosen the intake cam to get the exhaust cam back into place. I did not need to adjust the intake shims, so I zip tied the timing chain to the intake cam gear in two places before removing the cam holders. To install the exhaust cam, I tilted the intake cam slightly to give the chain enough slack to get it onto the exhaust cam gear (using two paint marks on cam gear/chain to line everything back up). Then tighten the exhaust cam holder first, tighten intake cam caps last. I think the service manual indicates this is the proper procedure.

I'm confident I could do an adjustment in 8 hours now that I've done it once. It takes me a little longer as I like to clean up things as I go.

I'll post up pictures of my tensioner re-set this evening.
 

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RED CAT

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Good write up. Item 6. If I remember correctly I used a magnet for the shim buckets. Yes the valve cover gasket and the tensioner are the worst part of the whole project. Don't know if you realized but there are several other pages on this procedure done by S10 owners here on this site.
 

MGB

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I couldn't decide if I should ad on to one of the other posts or not?! ::)

I'm down to the valve cover gasket being the only complete pain, of course it was once again late, hot garage, and sweaty.... :D

If the mods would like me to add this to another thread, I can (and delete this thread)......
 

~TABASCO~

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I don't think you should delete it... I think we should add this to a 'sticky' folder so we don't have to go dig though one long ass thread.... I'm about to perform this service on several customer bikes and I need to start reading the do's and don't from folks..
 

Mellow

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~TABASCO~ said:
I don't think you should delete it... I think we should add this to a 'sticky' folder so we don't have to go dig though one long ass thread.... I'm about to perform this service on several customer bikes and I need to start reading the do's and don't from folks..
A big +1 there..
 

MGB

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As a note, I thought I'd add MY few lessons learned since I'd picked up so much from others here. Tons of great information made this easier for me, but I know folks are always coming up with better ways.

I did 'help' a fellow owner do part of his adjustment and that was a huge help to me! But I remember the struggle two of us had resetting the darn tensioner and my vise trick worked out better than I'd ever hoped. It made the challenges of resetting the thing a non-issue for me! :)
 

~TABASCO~

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MGB-

ANYTHING you can post or add will help someone here on the forum... Post up any info or suggestion you want... ::008::
 

AVGeek

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No need to put it in the other thread or threads, and I agree with Tabasco on the usefulness of these tips, so I made it a sticky...
 

mattc

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Just curious, how tight was the one exhaust valve?

Thanks for the tips.
 

MGB

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Only one out of range was at .200. I had two others that were closing in on the .22 end of the range. I was able to shuffle a shim and use other shims to get all at .26 to .27.

mattc said:
Just curious, how tight was the one exhaust valve?

Thanks for the tips.
 

dcstrom

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Another tip - from the tech at Alf England Motorcycles - the guys who did the complete strip and rebuild of Nick Sanders Tenere...

Once you've re-seated the cam cover, blow down one of the vent hoses. If the gasket is not seated properly there will be an air leak.

Haven't done this myself, just what the tech says he does.
 

becoyote

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dcstrom said:
Another tip - from the tech at Alf England Motorcycles - the guys who did the complete strip and rebuild of Nick Sanders Tenere...

Once you've re-seated the cam cover, blow down one of the vent hoses. If the gasket is not seated properly there will be an air leak.

Haven't done this myself, just what the tech says he does.
Does the valve cover need to be air tight or just oil tight?
 

F16Viper68

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Thanks to everyone on this board who have posted up their experiences. The weather supposed to cool off this weekend so I'm going to check the valves, adjust if necessary, and replace the CCT with the updated version. I'm just about to start the process of taking the throttle bodies off. After reviewing the steps in the service manual, I have a few questions.

1) Once you get to the point where you can check the valve clearances, you check the intake and exhaust for piston one, rotate and check the intake and exhaust for piston two? I guess I'm used to working with v-twins because I don't remember the rotation sequence being this simple.

2) I see some posts mentioning taking the front motor mount off to gain clearance. Necessary? I'm assuming if you go this route, the motor needs to be supported.

Dave...
 

scott123007

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Not sure about question 2 Dave, but yes, the valve check is one complete cylinder at a time. Just make sure the pickup rotor marks are where they are supposed to be for each cylinder, and pay no attention to the relationship of the cam lobes to the buckets except for being on the compression stroke.
 

jaeger22

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I'm assuming if you go this route, the motor needs to be supported.
No not at all. There are 7 other bolts holding the motor in so it will not move at all. ( I have had them all out. . .twice ::) ) The front mount is quick and easy to remove unless like me you have crash bars that mount to it. If so, you will need to at least loosen those. Still not a big deal. Just 4 big bolts that are easy to get to.
 

F16Viper68

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I just finished up checking my valves, replacing the 2012 cam chain tensioner with the 2014 model, swapping out the spark plugs, and performing a throttle body sync. Luckily my valves were within specifications with the exhaust averaging around .23. The bike has 26k miles on it so I decided against trying to move the valves more into the middle of the spec. I’ll see how they look in another 24k miles.

I have a few thing to add for those about to embark on this procedure but I just want to warn everyone this process is not for the faint of heart. Please just bring your bike to the dealer if you’re not completely comfortable cracking open an engine. There’s just so many ways to screw this one up.

1) Write everything down as you dissemble the bike. Even if you are familiar with engines, I highly suggest you take notes are you take the bike apart. The manual is pretty good but it’s all over the place. You’ll find yourself switching page to page to page. I suggest you just highlight the major parts. Example:
  • Removed plastics
    Removed gas tank
    Removed airbox (one electrical connector, one hose)
    Remove throttle bodies (x amount of connectors, throttle cables)
2) Label your electrical connections and cables with blue painters tape and sharpie.

3) Take a ton of pictures as you disassemble to assist you with the reassembly process. I can’t stress this enough.

4) It was suggested earlier in the thread you blow into the valve cover to see if there’s an air leak after reinstalling the valve cover. I suggest you try this before you take the valve cover or clutch cover off. You’ll notice it’s like blowing up a balloon. You blow, it fills up with air, and then when you take your mouth off the air rushes back out at you.

5) Remove the front engine mount plate (four 17mm bolts) to gain better access to the front of the engine. It’s not necessary to support the engine since there so many other bolts holding the beast in the frame. Again, support if you don’t feel comfortable but note I moved the bike without the mount (engine not running) with no issues.

6) Many folks mention unbolting the electrical tray on the right side. I can’t agree more since it allows you pull a bunch of the wiring through the frame and out of the valve cover area. It also allows you see the right side of the valve cover which is critical when reinstalling the cover. Please note it is not necessary to remove the bolt that comes in from the inside of the fairing which can be a bitch to reinstall. Only the four 10mm, easily accessible bolts on the right side. They are different sizes/types so write down where they go.

I removed the battery to reduce the amount of force pulling on the electrical assembly. I also left the top right bolt in unless I need access to the valve cover area. It helps take the weight off the wiring.

7) When I was reviewing the process for checking the valve clearances two things came up I think is worth mentioning:
* The service manual tells you to put the engine in TDC, then rotate 71 degrees. This is the point where you check all the valves in cylinder one (left one while sitting on the bike), and then rotate 270 degrees and check all the valves on cylinder two. I bring this up because I started checking my valves at the TDC position. Whoops. The manual is just getting you the TDC position to ensure you are at the correct starting position.
* Yes, you check the intake and exhaust valves for cylinder one after rotating 71 degrees and the intake and exhaust valves for cylinder two after rotating 270 degrees. This might throw folks coming from the V-Strom. That rotation process wasn't so simple.

8) I used a new valve cover gasket and found it near impossible to get it stay on the cover one you tip it upside down. I used some Permatex Ultra Grey Gasket Maker to hold the gasket in place while I wrestled the POS valve cover into position. I know using this does not jibe with the manual but I didn't have access to a Honda or Yamaha dealership. Use at your own risk.

9) Various things:
* When removing the plastics, there’s four plastic pins (under headlights, two each side). To remove the pins you push the center of the pin, the center piece will push down and then you simply remove the pin. To reset you pull the center pin out a bit, install the pin, and push the center in till it’s flush. Makes a lot more sense once you see the little buggers. Busted a few of these on my V-Strom till I figured them out.
* When tilting the gas tank if you feel tension, it’s probably the two breather tubes that run down the left side of the bike. Feed them up to create slack.
* When removing the airbox cover, there’s a hidden screw under the rubber plug. The rubber plug just pulls out with needle noses pliers.
* If you have never done a throttle body sync take a close look at the throttle body when you get the airbox assembly off. You’ll get a great view.
* Once you get everything off, I suggest you check your steering stem bearings since you’ll have great access if it needs to be tightened.
* I had never removed ignition coils (sit on top of spark plugs) before. Dead simple. Remove 10mm bolt and pull straight up with a twisting motion. Note the bolts are not easy to get out because of the Loctite material left on the bolts.
* My sparkplugs looked awesome after 26k miles. I had new ones so I put them in but if not, I would have had no issues putting the old plugs back in.

Material list for valve check and possible adjustment:
• New valve cover gasket
• New clutch cover gasket
• Spark plugs, if due.
• Air filter, if due
• Oil and filter (you have to drain oil to remove clutch cover)
• Loctite (blue)
• Yamaha bond 1215 (for the valve cover gasket)
• Zip ties (hold wiring and brake lines out of the way)
• 2014 cam chain tensioner, gasket and bolts (optional of course but if you’re already there…)
• Valve shims if adjustment is necessary

Links I found useful besides this one:
• Valve Adjustment Nightmare (lesson things to check when swapping out CCT). http://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?topic=9344.0
• 2014 Cam Chain Tensioner http://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?topic=12650.0
• Check your shims! http://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?topic=10371.0
• Another Way to Retract the CCT. http://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?topic=10578.0
• Greg’s Valve Adjustment write up. http://thetenerist.wordpress.com/2013/10/29/tenere-valve-check-and-adjustment/
• Boogered the valve inspection (crushed dowel pins). http://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?topic=13370.0

Dear Lord what have I done.


If you're wondering where the CCT lives look just to the right of the 2nd red rag. It's the silver bit with two bolts.


CCT removed


Ignition coils


This is why you remove the front motor mount and disconnect the electrical panel.


Motor at TDC position


Notice the zip ties? You'll need them to pull everything to the sides to make room for the Son of Satan (aka Valve Cover)


Sparkplugs after 26k miles.
 
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