Shop Manual Valve Procedure?

Been steadily working on my non-running 77' KZ1000A. Pulled valve cover. Visually Inspected Cams and Cam Chain. Appear to be good. Rotated crank on point side. Aligned sprocket line up with cylinder head surface. For 2 valves ( 1 and 3, or 2 and 4 ) measure clearance between cam and shim???


I don't understand :huh: :huh: :huh:

Turn crankshaft another 1 turn until marks line up again. Measure the rest 2 valve clearances???

TOTALLY CONFUSED

What I did which I thought was right. Looked at the cam lobe of each Intake and Exhaust Valve and made sure the cam was on the bottom and not compressing ( opening ) the valve. Took all the measurements. All the Intakes and exhaust read .003. Only 1 intake #2 read .002.


Don't know if it was right, But I don't know how and what the Manual is saying?

Sorry, But Any HELP Would Be "Greatly" Appreciated!!!

I can't claim any great library of personal expertise here, but I will offer this.

Larry Cavanaugh told me to measure with the lobes pointed away from the valve. I have read that this is wrong, and inaccurate, but it has given me no troubles. To be clear, I measures them as outlined in the FSM, and with the lobes pointed away, the numbers were the same either way.

If you follow the FSM procedure, just do one step at a time, and write down EVERYTHING. this info could be useful later. Easy to spot if one valve in particular is wearing down before the others.

Tomolu5 wrote: I can't claim any great library of personal expertise here, but I will offer this.

Larry Cavanaugh told me to measure with the lobes pointed away from the valve. I have read that this is wrong, and inaccurate, but it has given me no troubles. To be clear, I measures them as outlined in the FSM, and with the lobes pointed away, the numbers were the same either way.

If you follow the FSM procedure, just do one step at a time, and write down EVERYTHING. this info could be useful later. Easy to spot if one valve in particular is wearing down before the others.

Ever since 1973 I have checked valve clearance on Z1/KZ900/KZ1000's with the lobes pointed away from the shim bucket too. I was fortunate enough to be the mechanic chosen to go to the very first factory service school for the then new Z1 900. And thats how the factory techs taught us how to check the valve clearance. Even after the 1979/1980 KZ1000 factory shop manual showed other way of checking valve clearance the techs at service school still liked the original way of checking valve clearance over the newer method. All the aftermarket cam manufacturers want you to check valve clearance with the lobes pointed away from the shim bucket too!!! Over the years, I must have adjusted hundreds of motors that way and NEVER had any problems, or a motor that was noisy.

I just finished checking mine that way, all good

Those are some tight measurements kzdcw , , if it has been sitting a long time with old oil it might be a good idea to get the motor running for a while with fresh oil and recheck.

JD

As the saying goes, This bike was rode hard and put away wet? The oil was BLACK when I drained it. Compression #'s 90 lbs. except #2 cylinder 60 lbs. A lot of Metal shavings in oil. So it will need a rebuild I'm sure.

I'm pretty sure I had the Top of the cam lobe pointed the furthest away from the shim. I don't think rotating the lobe minutely in either direction would make very much difference in clearance measurement. From the looks of the shim/bucket it appeared to be at the top or valve closed.

Maybe, when I get to the point of attempting to fire up the motor and adjusting those valves, the compression may come up some?

Those are some low compression #'s for sure. Not sure if you had run it at all? If completely cold that will lower the reading, also the Throttle Must be held open when cranking and if using the electric starter the battery must be good.
The difference in readings per each cylinder doesn't look good.
Do you know how to do a Leak Down Test? You could back off the cam cap bolts about 1 turn each to gain some valve clearance and do a leak down test. Dry then wet, adding a small amount of engine oil to the cylinder tested.

The Bike hasn't ran in over 20 years! When I purchased it, the carbs. were off. I'm in process of rebuilding them right now. When I did the compression check it was with the kick starter since there was no battery and nothing electrically was hooked up.

I don't know when I get to the point of attempting to start it if the compression #'s will increase or the valve clearance measurements will increase? I really didn't want to invest in 8 shims right now. According to FSM when having valve clearances of .002 and .003, it says to use shim thickness of 2.00 and 2.05?

So, at this point of attempting to get everything back together, What do you think I should do?

I don't know how to do a leak down test. I do know when I turn over the motor, it starts to leak oil underneath pretty good. As I said, this bike was probably on the brink of being hauled off to the salvage yard. But I like the Challenge of trying to bring it back.

All of the Forum members have been wonderful in helping and again MUCH APPRECIATION !!!

Valve clearances are simple on a KZ1000. There are many ways to do checks, but for sure don't fit 200 or 205 shim unless necessary. Necessary comes from simple measurement, and it is simple. My simple procedure I learned from Keith Pestotnik, who was a high school friend of mine and a factory Kawasaki mechanic, not a dealer mechanic, he worked for Kawasaki. His advice has worked for me, and I'd wager I've ridden more kz miles than a few guys at 300,000 miles or so. Anyway, he said: start on a valve, turn the engine over slowly with your 17mm ratchet, while constantly trying to insert a feeler. Most guys shot for .004" or .10mm clearance in metric terms. Turn the engine over slowly while trying to insert a .10mm feeler. If it goes in smoothly at any point in the rotation of the cam, try a .15mm. If it doesn't go in, then call your dlearance .10 and good to go. Repeat all 8 valves. Takes all of 5 minutes to determine the guage that fits and one that doesn't in .05mm increments. Measuring precisely in one spot to the .001" is a waste of time and effort as shims are only available in .05mm .002". Of course measure no clearance, and you have to take a shot at shim replacement. Take out the shim, size is scribed on, and subtract 2 or 3 shim sizes generally to start with.

Appreciate your input and will try that. But I think as others suggested the best is to have the cam lobe or lift pointing furthest away from the face of the valve shim. I'll recheck my measurements tomorrow and even try your method as well. Curious to see if the clearances will be different. Would be nice.Thanks again.

kzdcw wrote: Appreciate your input and will try that. But I think as others suggested the best is to have the cam lobe or lift pointing furthest away from the face of the valve shim.

That's what my manual says.

Here is the figure from my kawi manual.

I agree, I still say this is the "Best" way. I just wish these initial valve measurements weren't so tight. Didn't want to buy such "thin" shims?