TOPIC:

hardrockminer wrote: I don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet, so forgive me if they have. Do not try to estimate torque. Get good in-lb and ft-lb torque wrenches and be sure not to over torque your cam cap or your valve cover bolts. They strip very easily.

For your info...I have a 1980 B4, so almost the identical machine.. Great fun to ride!

Thank you Hardrockminer. I do have the proper torque wrenches in both in and ft-pounds. I do most of my service work on my harley. I love my Harley but my first bike was a Honda. Always liked the Japanese bikes and the one I aspired to was the KZ1000. The Mad Max movie with Goose's MFP police bike and the toe cutter bike probably have something to do with that

Thanks Scirocco for the info about the worm gear. Came out this morning.

hardrockminer wrote: Well you're into it now, and if it were me I would remove the head and check the valves and springs. You would need a spring compressor for that task. You can also look at the top of your pistons and clean them up if they show carbon deposits.

I'm not a mechanic either, but I've done that job a few times and it's not all that difficult if you have a manual. Plus you also have this site to ask questions.

I found a local mechanic experienced with old Kawasaki. Good to know if I end up over my head (probably already am) . He had a ton of shims which I got for $5 each, not bad. I changed them, reinstalled the camshafts, cleaned and oiled everything and re-installed the caps, binder , being really careful to follow the instructions and counting the 28 pins according to the manuals. Once completed I checked for timing and everything looks ok and I went ahead and re-measured all of the gaps between the shims. All of the measurements are now within limits except for the exhaust valve on cylinder #3.

I will change it and also I might fine tune the shims so I can be on the higher end of the specs closer to .150 for all of the valves.

I also did a dry and wet compression test to see if changing the shims helped any. I now have compression in all 4 cylinders and the values have increased between 28 and 48 PSI, still far from being standard as the manual says between 126 and 156 PSI (Clymer says 130-155) and service ceiling is 100 PSI.

I have decided to follow your advise and remove the head so I can inspect further and fix any issues with the valves, springs change the seals etc. It's also going to allow me to clean the engine bit more. Going to remove the oil pan too and clean that up.

I am seeing I need a special tool - Cylinder Head Nut Wrench. Is that a must or is a good rachet / Torque wrench set enough ?

I am also seeing several special tools for the valves - Valve Spring Compressor, Valve guide Arbor, Reamer etc. I guess I will know if I need all of those once the head is open.

I am too far in to back out.

I'd ride it for a while and see if they come up. If oil fouling is indicated take the head off and install new valve guide seals. Normal tools are all you need.
Steve


kzrider.com/forum/2-engine/605981-valve-...1000?start=20#784779
kzrider.com/forum/13-bike-related/597654...crank-bossie-the-kaw

You don't need a special wrench to take the head nuts off. But you will need your torque wrench to install them when that time comes. You will need a valve spring compressor to take the valves out of the head, and it can be made from a large C clamp. That's about all, unless you need to grind the valve seats. If that's required you might want to find a good machinist.

Thanks guys !

So I ordered a valve compressor kit on E-bay and some Viton seals. I also watched SWest's video and a bunch of others on Youtube about removing the head, removing the valves, cleaning and lapping. Feel a lot more confident now. Read the manuals some more too.

I took of the camshaft cover, binder, camshafts, shims, buckets and exhaust and will be removing the head and the pan this week-end.

Also have two broken bolts I will try to extract, will be coating them with magic juice and I bought the reverse bits to extract them.

Curious to see what is going on but but by the general appearance of the bike when I got it, it was under maintained. Hopefully nothing bad really happened and its fixable.

Will post some pics when they are off.

OK, the head is off. Followed instructions and everything went OK.

I found a rubber damper that belonged to the intake side sprocket on the left side in cylinder #3. Its in good shape. I am not sure if it was there or if I am the one who dislodged it while pulling the head and tying the chain.

Started cleaning this morning using Gunk Engine cleaner and some foamy stuff and brass wire brushes. I cleaned both #1 and #4 pistons on the surface and around. They seem to looks good. I expected their surface to be smoother but they look like they were casted that way. The #2 and #3 cylinder are dirtier #2 being the nastiest. I can feel what I think is carbon deposit when I run my finger along the top of the cylinders.

I also cleaned the head a bit. Lots of thick deposits there. I sat the head on the exhaust side and sprayed engine cleaner in each of the intakes. No leakage. Did the same for the exhaust and no leakage either.

I need to wait for my compressor, until then I will continue to clean everything up and I am to go ahead and remove the oil pan and clean that too.

I also realize I will need new copper washers for when I re-assemble. I already have the gasket and O-rings.

What is a good product to get rid of that carbon ? I saw a few videos where they use a drill with a wire brush the buff everything out. Isn't there a risk of damaging the surfaces ?

You MUST get all the carbon out of the cylinders. If even a tiny bit will score the walls.
Steve

shrap66 wrote: OK, the head is off. Followed instructions and everything went OK.

I found a rubber damper that belonged to the intake side sprocket on the left side in cylinder #3. Its in good shape. I am not sure if it was there or if I am the one who dislodged it while pulling the head and tying the chain.

There are two of those rubber dampners on the cam chain idler sprocket. I didn't hear you mention the second one. If you don't see it, it is in the pan and you need to drop the pan and get it out. Two on the front idler, two on the rear idler. Item #7 on the partzilla exploded view.

www.partzilla.com/catalog/kawasaki/motor...ensioner-79-80-b3-b4

Only that single damper was out the others are all there. Nevertheless I am still pulling the oil pan.

SWest wrote: You MUST get all the carbon out of the cylinders. If even a tiny bit will score the walls.
Steve

Thanks Steve,

Are you saying I need to go ahead and pull the bottom ?

No but get as much out as you with a vac then rotate the engine where two of the pistons are at the top and vac again. Would be a good idea to pour diesel or tranny fluid on the pistons and vac them pulling the fine particles with it. Don't rotate the engine until most of the crap is gone.
Steve

SWest wrote: No but get as much out as you with a vac then rotate the engine where two of the pistons are at the top and vac again. Would be a good idea to pour diesel or tranny fluid on the pistons and vac them pulling the fine particles with it. Don't rotate the engine until most of the crap is gone.
Steve

I cleaned all of the deposits I could using some oil. There was a few bits of loose particles but most of it was stuck to the piston faces. Then I rotated the engine so I could clean the middle pistons. I taped over cylinder 1 and 4 and the middle to avoid letting loose particles in there. So now all of the top of the pistons are clean. I inspected the walls....

Cylinder #1 (pics 2932 and 2933) has some black deposits on the wall and I can feel it on the exhaust side with my fingers although it looks worse than it feels.
Cylinder #2 is perfectly smooth to the touch (pic 2936)
Cylinder #3 looks good too but I can feel two fine lines (pics 2938 and 2939)
Cylinder #4 has the worse of the deposits and i can feel deposits all around the cylinder wall. (pics 2934 and 2935)

Also cleaned up the head until I get my compression tool to remove the valves.

Will attack the oil pan tonight but I am concerned about cylinders #1 and 4. Will read and research about it some more.

Is my engine shot ?