Valve adjustment troubles

[DangerousDean]

Ok, so we are trying to adjust the valves on my 400.... and i think we screwed up.

How do you tell when the piston is on the compression stroke ?

[cals400ex]

the exhaust valves will be tighter when your on the wrong stroke. feel the valves when the T on the flywheel aligns up. then rotate it 1 more full revolution until the T aligns up and see which one the exhaust valves feel looser. this will be the compression stroke.

[DangerousDean]

ya, but we ****ed u pwhen we were adjusting them, so now they are all haywire.... we adjusted them on the wrong stroke and **** ?

[ewalker302]

You can either look down into the spark plug hole, or stick something like the plastic body of an ink pen in there to tell if you are on the compression stroke.

:bandit:

[DangerousDean]

Originally posted by ewalker302
You can either look down into the spark plug hole, or stick something like the plastic body of an ink pen in there to tell if you are on the compression stroke.

:bandit:

that wouldnt work though
it's a 4-stroke, so it is up fo the exhsaust stroke, and the compression stroke:mad:

[iceracer65]

This one's easy... just rotate the engine until the lobes on the cam are down, all of the valves should be closed, this is the compression stroke. It doesn't matter if its at tdc (top dead center) as long as the cam lobes aren't opening or closing any of the valves.

[cals400ex]

Originally posted by iceracer65
This one's easy... just rotate the engine until the lobes on the cam are down, all of the valves should be closed, this is the compression stroke. It doesn't matter if its at tdc (top dead center) as long as the cam lobes aren't opening or closing any of the valves.

i have done that before. it is kind of tough without takeing the whole valve cover off though. however, i have removed the 4 valve cover caps and looked down there with a flashlight and if you know what your looking for you will be able to tell.


also, if you still have the valves adjusted, even though they are wrong, you can still feel the valves. leave the valves tighten as you have them now. feel both exhaust rockers for play while the T mark is aligned up and note how much play there is. then rotate the crank 360 degrees (just 1 revolution) and alight the T again and feel the rockers again. see which one has more play. the one with more play, even though they may not be adjusted correctly, will be compression stroke.

[JOEX]

Originally posted by DangerousDean
that wouldnt work though
it's a 4-stroke, so it is up fo the exhsaust stroke, and the compression stroke:mad:
This can work......

When turning the motor over by hand put your thumb or finger over the sparkplug hole. When it starts buiilding pressure you're on the compression stroke. Then insert your feeler device while slowly turning the motor til the piston is at TDC.

It may take a few tries to get it right.....

[bigbadktm]

i just bought a clymer manual so that i wouldnt be flying blind. read the manual, it explains how to find the compression stroke, and it has nothing to do with a pen. i would listen to cals400ex, seems to know what the book says.

[cals400ex]

Originally posted by bigbadktm
i just bought a clymer manual so that i wouldnt be flying blind. read the manual, it explains how to find the compression stroke, and it has nothing to do with a pen. i would listen to cals400ex, seems to know what the book says.


thats because i wrote the book. :devil: :rolleyes:

[nosliw]

stick your thumb over the spark plug hole and turn it until it starts to hiss at you


duh :D


i don't know, that works for cars anyways...

[DamageInc]

Just think about about what valve opens before your compression stroke(intake). After the intake valves open and close, the next time the "T" lines up, you will be on top of the correct stroke.