VALVE adjustment

[Oldcow]

Originally Posted by Nick

Piston at top dead center .12 in .15 ex metric measurement.

I need to get my valves checked because of my starting issue I am still having. The dealer does not have the specs . Is this all I need to tell him or anyone else that will do them for me? When they say they need the valve specs, is that it? I have an '06 fse450 as well.
Oldcow

[Nick]

Yes, if he cant do it from that take it somewhere else.

[tallboy350]

I have an '03 fse450. Anyone know what the valve clearance is for this bike?

Also are my valves shimmed as well? I've done the standard valves but never used shims, but i'm willing to give it a try since my bike has became hard to start and developed a slight knocking noise.

[nitroman]

Are the shims the same for my '02 fse400 as the honda cr? With the shim kit do you get an assortment of shims so you can get the clearance right?

[McGuiver]

It would be really AWESOME if someone did a detailed write-up on an FSE valve adjustment (with pictures) in the "Tech article" section of this website!........I mean there must be someone out there that would like to share their wisdom with us less fortunate ones.......seeing as how GG doesn't believe showing us in their manual! Anyone????????

[nitroman]

Today i did my valve clearance adjustment and replaced my timing chain. I've been meaning to do the tappets scince about 2004 when i checked the valve clearances and noticed they were all loose. It's only scince i discovered on this forum that the shims are the same as any old boring jap bike that it indeed wasn't all that difficult a task.
i started by ordering a timing chain ($260 ouch) because I noticed it was getting extra rattly after a particularly fast and lengthy ride one day. i checked the tensioner and found it was nearly fully extended. it was time for a chain.
I started the job by removing all the plastics, seat, fuel tank, rear exhaust section, plug lead, plug, tappet cover. i then had to remove the kick start, oil filter housing, rear brake lever and then the right hand side cover.

i then turned the engine over by hand so that each cam was on the base circle and measured the valve clearances with a feeler guage and noted them down making sure I couldn't mix them up.

i then removed the clutch plates and then the clutch basket using a battery impact gun
.
After that i checked to see where the cam timing was supposed to be on the online manual I had downloaded and then rotated the engine to the correct position and then marked the crankshaft gear to the crankcase with a white marker, and marked the cam gears with a white marker also.

I undid the cam tensioner and the timing chain guide, the bolt in the middle of the head and unbolted the cam cradles.
i lifted out the cams.

I then got four snap lock sandwich bags and wrote 1, 2, 3, 4 on each of them to keep the shim from each valve in them so i couldn't mix them up.

The shims come out easy with a magnet and went in their particular bag.
I then had to do the math. The intake is .15mm and the exhaust is .25mm so in my case i had to subtract say the intake .15 from .30 clearance i had measured earlier so i had to add .15 to that valve's shim that i measured using a digital vernier caliper.
Then I went down to the whyhaventyagotayamahalikeeveryoneelse shop and surprised the heck out of them because they had the shims in stock!

i reassembled the engine (no tricks really just reverse sequence) to the point that the engine is sealed up again and checked the valve clearances on the way (perfectumundo!)
I should get it started tomorrow, Ill keep you all posted.

[McGuiver]

Thanks nitroman! That was a good write up.......let us know how she runs!

[cal_tony]

For pictures and everything else you want to know go to the ThumperTalk.com website. Go to the Suzuki DRZ 400 sub category and search for valves. That's what I did the first time I went to check my DRZ valves. There was lots of info and photos for me to download on the subject. When you look at the photos and the GG head you'll see the sameness of the 2 heads. You might also notice when your doing the valves how tight the valve chain is so also do do a search for MCT(manual chain tensioner). Mine was much tighter than I thought it should be so I also ordered the MCT.

They sell the shim kits($82) and they sell the MCT($48).



Tony

[nitroman]

Well i tried to fire the gasser up today and no joy, the thing sounded weird and just didn't want to fire. i pulled off the cam cover and wound it round to tdc using a screwdriver in the plug hole and found that the cams were 1 tooth out. i made the mistake of relying on the crankshaft position with the old stretched chain. I loosened off the tensioner undid the cam cradles and adjusted the cam timing.
When I got it back together it fired up really easy and sounded quieter internally than it ever has!
I just took it for a burn around town and found it more responsive and .has more torque and a wider spread of power (due to using more of the cam lobes i suppose). There is much less engine noise and it has fixed the annoying occasional backfire when backing off the gas quickly.
It was a worthwhile repair and I reccomend you check your valve clearances if your bike feels off song.

[mike989]

nitro,
Are you using the stock cam chain tensioner?