I'm sneaking in a few minutes a day to try to get the heads back on after head gasket replacement on both sides.
This morning I was trying to get the valve clearance set on the left hand cylinder. At TL timing mark I could not get the feeler guage through on either intake or exhaust. I loosened the tappet screws and still could not get the feeler guage through. I turned the engine by the crankshaft bolt and found that the rocker arms were not loose at TDC. Rotating the crankshaft until the exhaust valves were opened the intake rocker was loose and the tappet clearance was excessive. I tightened them down, then rotated. Stayed good. Rotated the engine until the intake valves opened and found the exhaust clearance was pretty close but tweaked a little anyway. Rotated to TL again, cannot get the feeler guage in intake or exhaust. I was looking at the piston through the spark plug hole and yes, it does appear that at TL the left piston is TDC.
Okay, so I thought maybe I'm rotating the engine the wrong way but I'm at the front wheel facing the front of the engine and turning the rachet righty-tighty and going clockwise. Next thought is--are the push rods different lengths and did I get them mixed up? Measured up the right side rods and they seem to be identical. Manual says to put grease on the ends of the pushrods when assembling (seems to help tack them in place while getting it all together)-that shouldn't have caused the rockers to be too tight @ TDC. I didn't take the springs or valves out of the head this time. Next thought is that the timing chain is not properly installed so that the camshaft and crankshaft are timed, but I didn't tear down that far and I'm pretty sure the prvious owner said there had never been engine work done.
I can get a good gap, but just not at TL. At TL it seems the valves are closed but not at their loosest (is that a word?). I don't think there was a spot where I had both rockers loose at the same time. I'll get to the right side in a couple days.
This morning I was trying to get the valve clearance set on the left hand cylinder. At TL timing mark I could not get the feeler guage through on either intake or exhaust. I loosened the tappet screws and still could not get the feeler guage through. I turned the engine by the crankshaft bolt and found that the rocker arms were not loose at TDC. Rotating the crankshaft until the exhaust valves were opened the intake rocker was loose and the tappet clearance was excessive. I tightened them down, then rotated. Stayed good. Rotated the engine until the intake valves opened and found the exhaust clearance was pretty close but tweaked a little anyway. Rotated to TL again, cannot get the feeler guage in intake or exhaust. I was looking at the piston through the spark plug hole and yes, it does appear that at TL the left piston is TDC.
Okay, so I thought maybe I'm rotating the engine the wrong way but I'm at the front wheel facing the front of the engine and turning the rachet righty-tighty and going clockwise. Next thought is--are the push rods different lengths and did I get them mixed up? Measured up the right side rods and they seem to be identical. Manual says to put grease on the ends of the pushrods when assembling (seems to help tack them in place while getting it all together)-that shouldn't have caused the rockers to be too tight @ TDC. I didn't take the springs or valves out of the head this time. Next thought is that the timing chain is not properly installed so that the camshaft and crankshaft are timed, but I didn't tear down that far and I'm pretty sure the prvious owner said there had never been engine work done.
I can get a good gap, but just not at TL. At TL it seems the valves are closed but not at their loosest (is that a word?). I don't think there was a spot where I had both rockers loose at the same time. I'll get to the right side in a couple days.
