Did I bend a val

I was checking the valve clearances today on my Z1 and while installing a new shim it slipped out of the pocket and got jammed between the cam lobe and the bucket. I had to rotate the motor to get the shim out but when I went to check the clearance it had gone from .006 to 0.023" Did I somehow bend a valve?
Thanks,

God I hope not. Did you rotate it around again? Which valve? If the valve is bent the compression will be low on that cylinder.
Steve

Increased clearance like that could well be a bent valve. Hope not though.

If you had a bent valve you would be hearing a popping sound from the intake or exhaust and it would be running like crap. The smoke you describe after the engine idling for a while is typical of either worn valve guides or valve seals. I don't know if you tried to crank the engine over excessively after it quit on you, but that can dilute the oil with gasoline and make your oil thinner. Two things you could try. Do a compression test and make sure all cylinders are equal. If one is considerably lower or doesn't hold pressure you may still have a valve issue. Simply changing your oil might improve the condition also.

I'm not sure that trying to start the engine at this point is a good idea. A leak down test will give you a pretty good indication of the overall condition of the rings and valves. There are several threads on the topic that should be fairly easy to find. If you don't have or want to buy the tools for thatjob, an auto parts store near you may loan or rent them.
A compression test cannot differentiate between leaky valves and worn rings, though in this case if the compression is near zero in one cylinder, it's probably going to be a bent valve.

with it on compression for that cylinder.
you can blow air through the spark plug hole and listen for air coming out of the exhaust or intake.

leon

I didn't read anywhere on this thread about smoke or ill running. A poor mans test will be to take all the plugs out, hold you thumb over each hole and see if it is forces off the hole. With good compression, you can't That way you can tell if one cylinder is bad. How did you turn it, with a wrench, kick starter, electric?
Steve

Gents - thanks for all the replies. I did not start the engine as I knew that there was something up with the excessive clearance. I turned the motor over with a wrench on the end of the crank. I think that the valve must have kissed the top of the piston due to the excessive lift I gave the cam lobe by having the shim sit on top of the bucket. I will conduct a compression test and see what the readings are. Anyone know what pressure I should see?
Thanks,

Per FSM (free download in KZr FILEBASE), standard is 145 psi, with service limit being 100 psi and less than 14 psi difference between any two cylinders.

What's not in the manual is that the engine may perform surprisingly well with less than 100 psi and/or more deviation in compression between cylinders.

Good Fortune!

Including information about bike year and model is helpful to viewers and usually elicits better responses.

It's easy to put the information in your signature where it shows in all posted messages, past and future.

And the signature may be changed whenever and as often as desired.

If wanting a signature showing information about the bike in posted messages, it's easy to do.

Here's how:




Good Fortune!

Unfortunately, it sounds like that is exactly what happened. Good luck though.