Nine kinds of you know what adjusting valves 350X Help!!

[ClayW]

I got the motor on Top Dead Center like the manual says. Lined up the T mark with the crankcase. However. After taking the sparkplug out to eyeball the piston, It didnt appear to be quite there. At this point my feeler guage would not go in. So I slowly turned the crank advancing the motor, and then the feeler guage jumped in there. THis was the loosest point. Biggest clearance gap.I could turn it back to the T mark and it would clamp down on the feeler guage. (.003in) So from talking to dad, he seems to think the valve train is lagging a little behind the piston. I advanced the motor about a 1/4 inch or just past the F mark on the flywheel to achieve this. This should be were I make the adjustment right? I have been told by a couple people that the T mark isnt necessarily TDC. Any way I adjusted the intake valves there. The seemed tight prior to adjustment. Had to loosen them. Went on to the exhaust valves. I could not get the .003 in feeler guage in there. I loosened it like 4 rounds and still nothing. The valve was still under tension. So I advanced the motor just a hair and then the feeler guage poped right in. Is my timing chain that stretched. Its not noisy. The only noise I ever get is a slight tapping when its bone cold and cool outside. After a min of ideling it goes away. Did I do any of this right? Do I need to start over. If anything they are loose now, Not tight. ANY insight would be great. Help, Im about to blow a gasket.

[350x'inNY]

Let it sit overnight... then follow the manual and my added tips in the pm and do it over again... THEN start blowing your gasket! hehehe

It can be an art since it's such a thin setting... remember.. just a bit of 'chatter' when you pull out the .003" gap.

Remember, the 10mm nut 'locks' the setting... the square piece on the top adjusts the valve.

Once you start adjusting, leave it at TDC...

If your valves only make noise at startup/1min and are fine after, I'd not worry about the cam chain. I'd have to think thqat if your cam chain was that worn/stretched, then it would bother all the time. (350X does have an auto tensioner)

You think the early noise could be just the time for oil to get flowing properly? or just warming up expansion of the valves? Remember.. I'm not a motor guru... I just slept at a Holiday Inn express last night!

About all I can add.... give'r another try!

Bruce

[ClayW]

Do you think I should fire it off and see what gives?

[ClayW]

I might add that in the position its in now, the feeler guage chatters just slightly when I pull it out. Even after I have tightened the nut. I made sure that it didnt get tighter.

[ClayW]

Well I fired it off, and something is still not right. She fired right off and idles fine, but the tapping may be slightly louder. Im at a loss. I guess I should have left it on the T mark. It was just so dang tight there. I might just bring the dang thing to the dealer. They said $60 to do it a few weeks ago. This just really pisses me off. Why does everthing I decide to do turn in to a monster. :cry:

[MTS]

did you have it on the right stroke when you adjusted them? it has to be on the compression stroke on the T mark to make sure its on the compression stroke you have to put it to the T mark and move the fly wheel back and forth a little bit too see if the valves move, if they do your not on the right stroke you have to turn the motor back untill you get it on the right stroke, you should be able to move the fly wheel a bit and the valves should not move

[ClayW]

IT was kinda like you were saying. It was stiff and could have gone either way. Should I just rotate it unitl the T mark comes back up?

[MTS]

yea rotate it untill the cam lobes are pointing down :D or in otherwords ther is no pressure on the valve springs...:)

[ClayW]

See thats what doesnt make sense, I could see one cam lobe, and it definately looked like it was pointing down.

[MTS]

http://www.3wheeler.org/dirtwheels/6-87~tuneupindex.html
try that see if it helps any

[ClayW]

Man I swear thats what I did. When I got it on the T mark and checked the rockers, they would not budge at all. Neither. So that sounds like the compression stroke. Thats the stroke you want it on. Any more ideas. Thanks for the help

[TimSr]

You can take this or leave it, as the free information that it is. I am not a 4 stroke Guru, but all mine run just fine.

Valve clearance is not all that critical. The idea is to make sure they close all the way when they are supposed to without having excessive slop that causes ticking. With this theory in mind, I have never used a feeler guage to adjust valves on anything in my life. Forget the timing marks, and just turn it over to where the valves are loosest. (This is a lot easier to do with the plug out) When you find that sweet spot, the adjuster screw should just be barely touching the valve stem, without putting any pressure on it. Its should wiggle side to side freely and without friction, but you should not see any gap or feel any space when you are trying to pull it away and then push it down. .003" is something youd need a microscope to see, and it varies a lot more than that just from temp changes. If you dont believe me, open a set of calipers .003" and look at it. Tighten or loosen the adjusters as needed to achieve this. If they are too loose, they will tick and continue ticking when warmed up. If they are too tight, the valves wont close all the way, and it will be very hard to start.

[ClayW]

Thanks TimSr. Thats about what I did. The weird thing was that the intakes sweet spot, and the exhaust sides sweet spot seemed to be in a different spot. Does that make any sense?

[TimSr]

Makes perfect sense. They dont both open and close at the same time.

[OldSchoolin86]

I slowly turned the crank advancing the motor, and then the feeler guage jumped in there. THis was the loosest point. Biggest clearance gap.I could turn it back to the T mark and it would clamp down on the feeler guage. (.003in) So from talking to dad, he seems to think the valve train is lagging a little behind the piston. I advanced the motor about a 1/4 inch or just past the F mark on the flywheel to achieve this.

RED FLAG!!!
Your cam was improperly installed or your chain is so loose it's slipped(I'm betting on the first one). You should be a hell of a lot closer to "T" then that. From what your telling us you need to take your cam out and reinstall it. Good news is that if your carefull it's an easy job.


The weird thing was that the intakes sweet spot, and the exhaust sides sweet spot seemed to be in a different spot. Does that make any sense?
If your cam is installed correctly, the T mark is lined up and your on the compression stroke you will have a point that they are both closed. If you didn't have this is would be awfly hard to have compression, lol.

yea rotate it untill the cam lobes are pointing down or in otherwords ther is no pressure on the valve springs...
Right, this is the point where both valves will be closed at the same time:
http://miltechsolutions.tripod.com/offroad/3ww/cam.jpg
This is a different motor but it's the same idea. Notice that when the lobes are facing "down" that they are not strait down. Instead they are at a point where they both are facing as close to down as they can.

Once you get your cam position straightend out it sounds like your ready to go to battle with setting the valve clearence.

Good Luck
OSin86

[ClayW]

Well. The head cap is leaking, so I will just take it down and give it a look see.