Valve clearances
- Thread starter ShakeyBMW
- Start date
Two sets because I have read an asertion that there is a small amount of play in the cam shaft journals and this can skew the feeler gaugevreading so,it’s best to do both valves at the same time.Couple of sets ? Buy one set of proper flip out feeler gauges that cover from 0.5 up to 1mm.
Why buy a single gauge ?
I’ve read this but every how to video only ever shows them being done one at a time.
Happy to be guided by more experienced folk such as yourself.
Karlos
Registered user
You only need one set, the bit about two gauges refers to the older models of boxer engines, which use a screw adjustment, whereas the LC engines have shim adjustment. This means you need to measure the clearance, make a note of it and which valve and do this for both valves. Then to adjust the clearance you have to remove the camshaft bearing carrier/cover and remove the camshafts. Then take out the shim in the top of the valve, measure that and then workout what thickness shim you need to make the gap correct. Then you’ll need to buy the correct shim and reverse the procedure. And don’t forget you’ll need to lock off the cam chain so it doesn’t come off the crank sprocket, and lock the crank from moving.
Once you’ve put it all back together, you’ll need to ensure that the cam timing is correct.
The procedure is much the same as on most engines that use shims to set the valve clearances.
When I worked in the trade and did this, we had a box full of different size shims, as sometimes you’d measure and check, yet the supposed correct size shim would make the clearance either too tight or lose, so we’d change it out for the next size to get the correct clearance.
Obviously whilst you have the shims out, which you’ll only need if the clearances are wrong, the bike will be out of action until you get new shims from the dealer.
That said, in my experience, shimmed valves tend to keep within their tolerances for longer than screw adjustment ones. I can only assume it’s movement in the screw adjuster as the valves will wear much the same.
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That makes perfect sense. Thanks again.
