KZ1000 valve chatter

Hey guys, My 81' KZ1000 LTD is making quite a bit of racket at idle. It all started when the petcock on my gastank decided not to do its job after a long ride and the carbs overflowed into the cylinders and contaminated my oil.
The next day i had no idea what happened and fired my bike up to go for a little spin around the neighborhood. I think it sounded normal when i first started it, i dont really remember but all i know is i noticed a noise after i took off and jumped down on the throttle. I hit about 7000 RPM and started hearing a loud noise coming from the head of my bike.
I know my bike needs valve adjustments done because the valves above cylinders 3 and 4 have chattered since i installed my Kerker 4-1 but not this bad. When i realized that the crank case was contaminated with gasoline it was making the noise no matter what RPM. Idle or heavy acceleration so i took my bike straight home and changed the oil. (I noticed the noise the day after the oil got contaminated and didnt ride it again until it got changed). The noise almost sounds like air is coming out every time a cylinder fires so i looked for an exhaust leak. I shined a flash light at the headers in the dark and looked for smoked coming out around the ports when i revved the motor. I saw nothing. I also held a lighter up to the the headers and the flame didnt change around any of them when i revved the motor. Since i have changed the oil the bike has been making this noise only at idle. It goes away if i even touch the throttle. It runs like a damn space ship still but every time i come up to a stop sign the noise just takes the fun out of everything because i think im destroying my engine slowly. Has anyone else had anything happen like this? Did i have a valve shim slip out like half way? If this bike made it from 1981 without any problems than i would hate to have it die on me after only owning it for 3 years

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks guys,
KT

Did you forget to shut your petcock off? I try to always shut it off. It actallly became a habit now i do it without even thinking. How long did you run it with gas in the cases?

if you know it needs the valves adjusted, :whistle: prolly be a good idea to pull the valve cover and see about adjusting the valves.

a shim won't come halfway out.

it will either stay where it is at,or spit out through the side of the valve cover and head surface.

i have a had that happen,pretty scary crap right there.i was damn glad my knee wasn't in front of it.

leon

I know i probably should have re-shimmed them last summer. Its just another job that i havent ever done before so im kinda spooked about it. I do have a shop manual and the money for the parts and tool. The petcock on this bike has "Reserve", "prime", and "on" settings. On is basically off when the bike isnt runnning. The vacuum from the motor pulls open the diaphragm and is spills out fuel. I did put a rebuild kit in it a few weeks ago because it always leaked a little bit. Im thinking the spring in there needs stretched out. Anybody know the stock valve shim size for my bike? Im going to buy the shims and tool tomorrow to do the job. You cant let fear stop you from doing something. If i do that, theres gonna be a hole in the head of my bike pretty quick here. I have heard of that happening too. I guess the shim can float at high RPM and then it goes crooked and shoots out of the side of the motor... No good

I dont believe there is a stock size for valve shims. You will have to pull the cover measure your gap and then pull each shim out at one at a time measure and record. Then order the appropiate shim. Or i just bought a assortment but theyre kinda salty. If theres any shops around your area, you might be able to get them to switch out shims with you. If you look under filebase someone has posted a sheet you can print thats all made up to record vlave shim sizes. using that will give you a good idea what sizes you will need next time.
i bought one of those shim tools for $20, well worth the money in my opinion.

If you had a significant amount of fuel in the oil, you may have done permanent damage to your engine. Petrol is a oil/grease remover (whereas diesel lubricates) and will wash the oil right off cylinder walls and camshaft lobes etc. However, it can also be that it has simply cleaned off internal gunk that has now increased some clearances. Or said gunk can have clogged an oil orifice, starving the crank, for instance, of oil supply.

You should start by doing a major service; spark plugs, ignition timing, valve clearances, check that the cam chain adjuster works properly. Check compression also. If it still sounds horrible, chances are you'll have to open it up to find the source of the racket.

z1 Has the stuff. But you need to get in there and measure your clearances and the shim sizes. You can get the shims out without the tool, but the purpose made tools make it easier. The little bar, part of the Motion Pro Tool, is a wedge that holds the bucket down. It fits between the camshaft and the edge of the bucket, so the shim is free to be removed. It wouldn't take much to make a similar piece to hold the bucket down. The lever, can be another prying tool, but make sure there are no sharp edges/ burrs on it that can mark the cam or shims.
www.z1enterprises.com/catalog.aspx?pid=KZ1000-K2-1982-EN1
www.z1enterprises.com/Valve-Cover-Gasket...olice-model-459.aspx
www.z1enterprises.com/Oil-Filter--Emgo-1...a-Kawasaki-1647.aspx

At least one overflow circuit was mal-functioning, which allowed gasoline to rise up into the carb throat.

If not already done, would clean the overflow circuits, and assure that they are functioning properly.

And also correct whatever condition is allowing excess fuel to get past the float valves.

The low oil pressure needle bearing cranks on the large Kaw fours may sometimes escape injury from being run with gasoline diluted oil, depending on how long and hard the engine is run and the extent of gasoline/oil dilution involved.

Good Fortune!

Weeeelll shit hahha this all sounds terrible. I only took the bike up the street like 4 blocks when i noticed something was wrong. The sound came from the engine at all times. not just at idle. When i first left my driveway i brought it up to about 7000 RPM and then shifted gears. Thats when i noticed the noise. I took the bike straight back home and pulled off the oil fill cap and it smelled like gas pretty bad. I let my bike sit till the next day and changed the oil along with a petcock rebuild kit. As you all probably know, our bikes are not 100%. they tend to do stupid stuff at unexpected times. but then again, what machine doesn't? after changing the oil i found that the noise only shows up at idle. When i release the clutch and start driving it goes away. Its just like my Ford LTD. It gets collapsed lifters sometimes due to low oil pressure and they chatter like crazy. But I dont think a Kawasaki motor has hydraulic lifters im thinking ill just Re-shim and go from there. How do i know what shims to get based on the clearances i currently have? Also, is the manual gonna show me where to rotate the cams to do the clearance check?

Thanks guys,
KT

Also i have been riding my bike since the noise started. Like i said, runs like a damn space ship. Which is good very fast, lots of get up and go. Almost no warmup time. Next to the noise (mechanically speaking) Must be at least as good as when it came off of the showroom floor except for the fuel delivery. The petcock still leaks a little bit but the carbs havent overflowed since then. Im running about 135 PSI compression on all cylinders. My bike does run a bit lean. Last year it sounded like firecrackers going off behind me whenever i downshifted. This year for some reason it sounds normal. Just a good healthy rumble when i brake with the engine. Im running a Kerker 4-1 and i still plan on re-jetting as i do still get a few cracks and pops every once in a while when i let off the gas.

If it's only at idle, it may be as simple as carbs a little out of synch, rattling everything a bit. I doubt valve clearances have changed from 4 block of riding with bad oil, especially if the engine sounds good now everywhere but during idling. 7000 rpm with an engine that isn't fully warm is abuse, though. I generally try to use no more than about 2/5 of the rpm (4000 if redline is 10000 rpm) with very light throttle for the first km and no more than 50% for the next 3 km or so. Won't use full rpm until I've ridden at least 6 km. But that's just me. I dislike mechanical abuse

adjust the timing chain