Valve trouble with KZ440.

I made an attempt to check and adjust the clearances on my valves and I think I screwed something up. Now, when the engine is running, I hear a clacking that didn't use to be there. I'm thinking that I may have adjusted the valves too loose.

I've adjusted valves on cage engines before, without any trouble. But those valves have been easy to get to. I had a lot of trouble getting the feeler gauge in to check the gaps on my '82 KZ440 without the gauge binding on the head cover. Does anyone have any suggestions or hints that might help me out?

I'm suppose to be leading a group ride tomorrow, so I'm really stressing about the state of the engine.

Thanks.

Ok what clearence did you set them to, and was the engine at the correct position? Was the engine cold or hot? There should be a drag on the feeler gauge when you have the right clearence. I reacall bending the end of the gauge so it was easier to slide it in flat between the tappet and valve stem.

Tyler wrote:

Ok what clearence did you set them to, and was the engine at the correct position? Was the engine cold or hot? There should be a drag on the feeler gauge when you have the right clearence. I reacall bending the end of the gauge so it was easier to slide it in flat between the tappet and valve stem.

I have a set ot tappet feeler gauges with a 45 degree angle in them. Checking clearance:

1) make sure the valve you are checking is directly pointed away from the shim. Use a wrench to rotate the crankshaft nut (take the spark plugs out first).

2) Turn the engine ONLY in the normal rotation direction (CCW viewed from the end) with the wrench and don't reverse it or it may shift the clearance a bit.

I used to have a KZ440, and I remember one time I checked and adjusted the clearances. Afterwards, I started it up and heard the loud clacking noise.

I opened it up again and my clearances were way to big. So I either measured them wrong the first time, or didn't tighen the locknut down well enough. After I readjusted them the second time, the noise went away.

bountyhunter wrote:

1) make sure the valve you are checking is directly pointed away from the shim.

FYI, KZ440s don't use shims. They have a locknut and screw to adjust the clearance.

Tyler wrote:

Ok what clearence did you set them to, and was the engine at the correct position? Was the engine cold or hot? There should be a drag on the feeler gauge when you have the right clearence. I reacall bending the end of the gauge so it was easier to slide it in flat between the tappet and valve stem.

I used the .20mm feeler for adjusting. I adjusted each cylinder with the piston at the top of the compression stroke (the timing mark was aligned right after the intake valve closed). The engine was cold. I turned the adjustment screw until I could barely move the gauge, then I backed off on the screw enough so that I could remove the feeler, then tightened the lock nut before removing the feeler. I have a set of feelers with an angled end, but even then, they were binding on the head cover. Perhaps I am going to need to sacrifice a feeler and put a custom bend in it so that it doesn't bind on the cover.

bountyhunter wrote:

Tyler wrote:

Ok what clearence did you set them to, and was the engine at the correct position? Was the engine cold or hot? There should be a drag on the feeler gauge when you have the right clearence. I reacall bending the end of the gauge so it was easier to slide it in flat between the tappet and valve stem.

I have a set ot tappet feeler gauges with a 45 degree angle in them. Checking clearance:

1) make sure the valve you are checking is directly pointed away from the shim. Use a wrench to rotate the crankshaft nut (take the spark plugs out first).

2) Turn the engine ONLY in the normal rotation direction (CCW viewed from the end) with the wrench and don't reverse it or it may shift the clearance a bit.

As mentioned earlier, the KZ440 doesn't have shims, but thanks for the other suggestions. When I redo the valves, I'll make sure that the plugs are removed and that I turn the crank the correct direction. (every little bits helps)

Skyman wrote:

I used to have a KZ440, and I remember one time I checked and adjusted the clearances. Afterwards, I started it up and heard the loud clacking noise.

I opened it up again and my clearances were way to big. So I either measured them wrong the first time, or didn't tighen the locknut down well enough. After I readjusted them the second time, the noise went away.

Sounds like my problem. I'm glad it had a happy ending

Looks like I'm going to be doing a midnight valve adjustment tonight. Wish me luck...

Skyman wrote:

bountyhunter wrote:

1) make sure the valve you are checking is directly pointed away from the shim.

FYI, KZ440s don't use shims. They have a locknut and screw to adjust the clearance.

Ahhhso....... lucky bugger.

KraZ440 wrote:

Tyler wrote:

Ok what clearence did you set them to, and was the engine at the correct position? Was the engine cold or hot? There should be a drag on the feeler gauge when you have the right clearence. I reacall bending the end of the gauge so it was easier to slide it in flat between the tappet and valve stem.

I used the .20mm feeler for adjusting. I adjusted each cylinder with the piston at the top of the compression stroke (the timing mark was aligned right after the intake valve closed). The engine was cold. I turned the adjustment screw until I could barely move the gauge, then I backed off on the screw enough so that I could remove the feeler, then tightened the lock nut before removing the feeler. I have a set of feelers with an angled end, but even then, they were binding on the head cover. Perhaps I am going to need to sacrifice a feeler and put a custom bend in it so that it doesn't bind on the cover.

Is .008" the right gap for the valves? The spec on mine is .002" - .004". Didn't know any bike valves set up that loose(?)

bountyhunter wrote:

Is .008" the right gap for the valves? The spec on mine is .002" - .004". Didn't know any bike valves set up that loose(?)

The service manual that I have says 0.17mm - 0.22mm for both the inlet and exhaust valves. Since I didn't have a metric feeler gauge, I chose .008".

BTW, I discovered the major problem with my first attempt at valve adjustment on this bike. Instead of setting the valves to 0.20mm, like I intended, I really set them to .020". :blush:

Now that I've gotten the valves closer to what they should be, the engine sounds a lot better. I still notice a slight ticking when the RPMs increase though. My gut tells me that the exhaust valves are still too loose. Those are a real pain to work with and the feeler gauge binds up on the head cover when trying to measure the gap, so they may still be a little loose.

KraZ440 wrote:

BTW, I discovered the major problem with my first attempt at valve adjustment on this bike. Instead of setting the valves to 0.20mm, like I intended, I really set them to .020". :blush:

Yep, that'll do it. :laugh:

I do remember that it was a bit of a pain to get the gauge in there to measure it. But it was still a lot easier to do that than to have to deal with shims--especially the under-bucket type.