[Sam I Am]

Feel free to invite me to stop picking nits.



But, in the process of chasing down a mystery noise, I decided to check my valves and it struck me that when the cam chain tensioner is adjusted there's the potential for the camshaft to be rotated a little when the slack is taken from the camchain thereby throwing off (however minutely) the preceding adjustment of tappets. Granted, there shouldn't be any movement between the crank and the camshaft due to the tensioner (and any chain slack) being on the opposite side of the load but what if?



Maybe I just answered my own question. But I had noticed that all the descriptions of adjusting valves that I've come across always leave the camchain adjustment for the end and I wondered whether there was a reason for that.

 

[CXPHREAK]

I've always done the camchain adjustment first for much the same reasons you have outlined above followed by the left valve adjustment while the engine marks are still lined up.



There's probably not much in it but I don't think you can go far wrong that way.

 

[Sam I Am]

Thanks for not making me feel like I've been wasting valuable (and limited) thinking time on this one. That's what I decided to do this time just to see if I noticed a difference. Although a noticeable difference would likely indicate a criminally overlooked camchain.

 

[Shep]

For your tapping check from reply 13,



http://cx500forum.com/index.php?/to...__81813__hl__thread__fromsearch__1#entry81813

 

[bearman1]

Eliminate worry, ease your troubled mind. After you adjust/inspect your tappets, and do the cam chain thing, spin your motor over a few revolutions, and just recheck/adjust IF NEEDS BE. It won't take THAT much longer, and it'll sure help keep your stress levels down.....Lol!

 

[Sam I Am]

Shep, you're making me obsess about dropping my motor. I just checked my valves today and they were all out at least a thou. Not too pleased about that. Now I'm thinking about loose bits in the back as well as worrying about camshafts and journals. I'll be firing her up tomorrow to assess. I know that some of the rattle was from my muffler guards buzzing on the sportster pipes but I hopefully dealt with that today. The new pipes sound excellent and were a pretty straightforward install. I just made a plate that bolts to the existing bracket and the muffler. And I really like the way they look.

 

[Shep]

I can only relay my experience on this issue and it was early on in my CX500 engine servicing days.After fitting the engine and after only around 50 to a 100 miles the tapping occurred.I knew it couldn't be the Cam-chain as it was well within service limits.

As I read through my manual I noticed the reference to using thread-lock on the aforementioned bolts and then knew where I had gone wrong.Prior to this I know I had done my 1st couple of cam-chain/rear end checks correctly.

It's easy to get complacent when re-fitting.I now treat every job as if it's the 1st time I've done it but with accrued knowledge and triple check at every stage.

 

[shadowjack1020]

Regardless of which you do first, the tappet adjustment isn't so precise that the chain slack can affect it--there are many degrees of rotation where the valves are closed, which is all you're looking for. As long as the marks are close, it'll be fine.

 

[marshallf3]

Shep, you're making me obsess about dropping my motor. I just checked my valves today and they were all out at least a thou. Not too pleased about that. Now I'm thinking about loose bits in the back as well as worrying about camshafts and journals. I'll be firing her up tomorrow to assess. I know that some of the rattle was from my muffler guards buzzing on the sportster pipes but I hopefully dealt with that today. The new pipes sound excellent and were a pretty straightforward install. I just made a plate that bolts to the existing bracket and the muffler. And I really like the way they look.

The right ones no only look good but sound rather similar to stock. perhaps a little bit less torque over stock due to a lightly reduced back pressure though.