kz750 twin pistons/rings

There are a lot of different Valve keeper removers online. How do I know which one will fit my kz750 twin? Ive been looking on ebay. Each one has a part number so yeah

You said you have the Kawasaki Service Manual. I don't mean to offend, but you really need to go through it and read about the procedures you plan to perform and the necessary tools. You will find it has a wealth of valuable information and describes everything you want to do in a step-by-step manner and it provides the references to the tools and shows how they are used. If you read it and gain an understanding of how things are done it will be much easier for you to do the work, and any answers you receive on this forum to your questions will make more sense. Again, I'm not trying to insult, but personally I wouldn't even contemplate picking up a wrench without first reading the manual to learn about the task I'm planning to perform. Ed

I will read it again but i think im going to just replace the valve seals .I know how to do that im just curious what size valve keeper remover I would use . My valve tip is roughly 8mm and Ive seen a couple different keeper removers and installers . For now im jut replacing the seals and then going to recheck clearances again with my new feeler gauge.

Is it feasible to replace the valve stem seals on a KZ750 twin without removing the cylinder head?
Maybe using rope or air pressure inside the cylinder to keep the valves closed during the process?

Good Fortune!

Replacing the valve seals with the head still on is so complicated I would never attempt it. Just my opinion.

Patton wrote: Is it feasible -- or even possible -- to replace the valve stem seals on a KZ750 twin without removing the cylinder head?

Good Fortune!

Theoretically possible: I read you have to stuff some kind of twine (thin rope) in through the spark plug hole to provide something inside so the valves are supported physically when the piston is at TDC.

I don't know if they make a compressor for the valve spring that can be used only from the top side for the 750 twin. I haven't seen one.

Well I would love to get this head off but it is stuck. Is there something that I am missing? I have taken out the 4 big chrome bolts near spark plug holes ,the two underside bolts on the back and the one underside bolt in the front that I had to take the timing bolt out to get to . From what I can see that is it. It must be molded together by the gasket or something.

So upon reading again I found that I need to remove the cam plugs. Not sure if that holds the head on but Any suggestions for getting these out? I can get them to turn but not come out

So there are 8 more bolts I have to get out that were in holes in the head. I thought the manual was referring to the head cover until I really looked at the pictures. Anyone know what style heads these are? Theres some oil in the holes so I cant really see it. I don't want to just go at it if I cant see what style head it is.

Nevermind bout the bolts . Going to try the string trick to change out my valves seals.

Schmeck wrote: Nevermind bout the bolts . Going to try the string trick to change out my valves seals.

Not to be a downer, but if your engine needs seals, it's almost guaranteed the valves need to at least be lapped to get them to seal again. I think replacing seals alone is a waste of time and money that will have to be repeated when you pull the head to fix the real problem: low compression.

Unless the engine has 60k miles on it or suffered severe abuse, I doubt the compression loss is the rings. It's the valve seats. As I pointed out before, when you have leaking seals, the oil runs down and bakes onto the valve faces and valve seats. Over time, they don't close properly and you gradually lose compression.

If you want to fix the bike, I would:

1) Measur valve clearances and record shim sizes. If necessary, swap the thinnest shim around to get a clearance reading so you can calculate the shim needed.

2) Pull the head and have it fixed at a machine shop. It's only four valves. They charged me only $200 complete to do mine and I live in the bay Area.

3) Understand shims are not available: the shop will need to machine the valve ends to the proper height.

IMHO, changing the valve seals alone is not going to fix your bike.

bountyhunter wrote:

Schmeck wrote: Nevermind bout the bolts . Going to try the string trick to change out my valves seals.

Not to be a downer, but if your engine needs seals, it's almost guaranteed the valves need to at least be lapped to get them to seal again. I think replacing seals alone is a waste of time and money that will have to be repeated when you pull the head to fix the real problem: low compression.

Unless the engine has 60k miles on it or suffered severe abuse, I doubt the compression loss is the rings. It's the valve seats. As I pointed out before, when you have leaking seals, the oil runs down and bakes onto the valve faces and valve seats. Over time, they don't close properly and you gradually lose compression.

If you want to fix the bike, I would:

1) Measur valve clearances and record shim sizes. If necessary, swap the thinnest shim around to get a clearance reading so you can calculate the shim needed.

2) Pull the head and have it fixed at a machine shop. It's only four valves. They charged me only $200 complete to do mine and I live in the bay Area.

3) Understand shims are not available: the shop will need to machine the valve ends to the proper height.

IMHO, changing the valve seals alone is not going to fix your bike.

+1