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Valves and rocker arms *edit* piston and valve location?

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Dalemac
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PostPosted: 01:34 - 23 Nov 2008    Post subject: Valves and rocker arms *edit* piston and valve location? Reply with quote

Well....

i had the head and barrells skimmed by an engineering company which went to a professional motorcycle engine rebuilders.

i knew they would need to remove the valves, so gave them the head with valves still in, expecting them to remove them and give them back to me in labelled bags, so i could then relap them and ensure they are seated correctly, before putting them back in and putting the engine back together.

When i picked up the head, i didnt get told much, just that the head was only very slightly warped and that the valves had been removed and reinstalled. i presumed they had relaped the valves and inserted them in properly, considering the high price, and considering they went to a company dedicated to working on motorcycle engines.

so i put the bike back together, then when i come to the camshafts i notice that the rocker arms are not in the correct place to allow the camshafts to sit on the bearings properly, when they are correctly alligned for valve adjustment.

as you can see in the pics, the rocker arm is sitting on the valves correctly, but the valves are too high, pushing the rocker arms up and not allowing the camshafts to sit properly.

https://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a51/dalemckeown/Image112.jpg

https://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a51/dalemckeown/Image114.jpg

now i wouldnt mind but i wasnt told they hadnt been relapped and needed doing - otherwise i wouldnt have wasted the best part of a day rebuilding the head, checking everything and then checking again.

oso now i need to undo all the work i have just done, sort the valves out and them do everything again!


feels like im never going to get this bike sorted!
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Last edited by Dalemac on 06:11 - 23 Nov 2008; edited 1 time in total
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sickpup
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PostPosted: 03:33 - 23 Nov 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

First strip the head back off the bike and clean all that crap out of it.

Second try bolting the cam down.
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Dalemac
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PostPosted: 04:44 - 23 Nov 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

thanks for the reply sickpup, however the head is actually really clean, the camera just picks up little things. i have cleaned the whole thing inside and out before spraying with brake cleaner and re oiling everything.


the only thing i can think of is if the cam is supposed to be pushing down onthe valves at this point, but i dont enough about them to be sure....i mean will the exhaust valves for the left cylinder be open when the left piston is at the bottom of the bore?

thirdly i just watched blade - is the bloke in your avatar whistler?


______

edit: just found the following information:

Quote:
1.The piston starts at the top of the cylinder bore and descends. As it does, an inlet valve at the top of the cylinder (the cylinder head) opens to allow the air/fuel mixture into the cylinder. The descent of the piston creates a vaccuum effect that sucks the mixture in. This is the intake stroke.

2.The piston reaches the bottom of the bore. The inlet valve closes and the piston travels back up the bore, compressing the mixture trapped inside the cylinder. This is the compression stroke.

3.The piston reaches the highest point of its travel and the air/fuel mixture is at maximum compression. At this point a device on the roof of the cylinder creates a spark, which detonates the air/fuel mixture. The explosion pushes the piston back down the bore and ultimately drives the crankshaft (which the piston is connected to). This is the power stroke.

4.The piston reaches the bottom of the bore again. The cylinder is now full of waste gas left over from the explosion. This has to go. An exhaust valve at the top of the cylinder now opens and as the piston rises again it pushes the waste gas out through it. This is the exhaust stroke.


so as i understand it, the right piston is at TDC, no valves for the right cylinder are open and if they were they would colide with the right piston. While the right piston is at the top, the left piston is at the bottom, so the exhaust valves are open. on the next stroke, the exhaust gasses are pushed from the left cylinder while the right cylinder is getting ready to push its own exhaust gasses from the cylinder.

On the next stroke, the left cylinder is compressing and then igniting while the right cylinder is expelling its waste gasses. etc etc.

so for every full rotation of the crank, the piston moves up and down the barrel twice.

thus meaning that when i come to put my camshafts back in, the right cylinder is doing nothing valve wise so the camshafts are located properly for the right cylinder, however the left cylinder is about to expel its exhaust gasses and therfore the exhaust valves are open.

so basically, as i understand it, i do infact need to bolt down the front camshaft because at this point the cam is supposed to be compressing the valve springs, opening the gap to the exhaust and getting ready to chuck the exhaust gasses through it.



If anyone can actually understand what i just typed, please tell me if i understand this correctly!

would explain why the front camshaft nearly jumped out of the engine when i removed the bearing caps.

Dale
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yandy_yay
Brolly Dolly



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PostPosted: 10:30 - 23 Nov 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

um, what he said Laughing

on a more serious note in a multi cylinder engine like yours there is always going to be 1 or more valves open, thus one or more rockers applying pressure to the camshaft, as sickpub says try tightening down the camshaft, i would do it slowly and evenly the bearing halfs should come together quite easily before to tighten to the specified torque. if the bearing halfs don't come together easilly enough i would take it off strip i down and start over... PITA but better to be sure than sorry.

Andy
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Current bikes: GN 125(now sold), Divvy 600s.
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Gazdaman
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PostPosted: 11:10 - 23 Nov 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

This thread is silly. Bolt it down, it'll compress the valves.

Even if you've got the timing wrong, make sure you turn the engine over by hand for the first time. i.e with a spanner. Then if you do get a piston/valve interface it'll do it very gently and shouldn't do any damage. But I'd say that's good practise anyway.

Gaz
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Dalemac
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PostPosted: 20:17 - 23 Nov 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

you guys were right. i bolted it down and it went on fine. wouldnt have noticed if i wasnt being so precise about everything.

bolted all the bearing caps down and the bloody cams have rotated backwards by about half a link....pain the the bloody arse.
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NiteMare
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PostPosted: 20:37 - 23 Nov 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

have you got a manual to assist you with setting your valve timing ??

if you haven't you stand every chance of bending a valve, especially if you have no experience of rotating an engine by hand (not on the starter), you might not realise the resistance is not a cam lobe and rotate the crank too far....

if you've no manual get one now !!

p.s.
i thought your pictures were showing swarf as well
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sickpup
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PostPosted: 22:58 - 23 Nov 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dale_Mckeown wrote:


bolted all the bearing caps down and the bloody cams have rotated backwards by about half a link....pain the the bloody arse.



Probably a bit more than that.

Forgot to mention you need to set up the cams, insert the cam chain tensioner loosely and then bolt the cams down otherwise the chain slips off the crank.
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Pete.
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PostPosted: 23:17 - 23 Nov 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dale_Mckeown wrote:
you guys were right. i bolted it down and it went on fine. wouldnt have noticed if i wasnt being so precise about everything.

bolted all the bearing caps down and the bloody cams have rotated backwards by about half a link....pain the the bloody arse.


You can't be half a link out with the cam timing - not without adjustable cam sprockets Smile

Follow the advice above with just a couple of things to add:

After installing your cams turn the engine over two full rotations by hand - DON'T use the starter. Check the timing after making two turns using a spanner on the end of the crank.

Never turn the engine backwards - always turn it in the direction it normally runs. Turning an engine backwards can make the timing chain jump or damage he tensioner.
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Dalemac
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PostPosted: 02:04 - 24 Nov 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

well, camshafts are finally sorted. got them alligned and turned it over by hand a few times like you said, got a little of resistance followed by the cam belt jumping despite turning it clockwise (how haynes tells you to turn it) but i do remember it doing the same thing when i was setting the crank up to take the camshafts out, so im not particularly worried by that.

guess all i need to do now is adjust my valves, do an oil change and put the rest of the cooling/ fuel systems back on the bike, then i can start it up again for the first time.....oh how im dreading it.
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NiteMare
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PostPosted: 03:43 - 24 Nov 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dale_Mckeown wrote:
oh how im dreading it.


i'd be dreading it as well if you haven't rechecked your valve timing since the cam chain jumped ....

an almost guaranteed valve/piston clash if it's not correct
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Dalemac
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PostPosted: 04:01 - 24 Nov 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

NiteMare wrote:
Dale_Mckeown wrote:
oh how im dreading it.


i'd be dreading it as well if you haven't rechecked your valve timing since the cam chain jumped ....

an almost guaranteed valve/piston clash if it's not correct


i did recheck it. the camshafts were still in position as they should be for tdc on piston 2. i cant understand why it slipped, but it definately did as the marks i placed in the cam chain to note its position are now not there...

there is still 24 links in between the punch marks mind.

What do i do now? i have done everything by the book!

could it possibly be when i put the camshafts back on, rear first, that i left no slack in the chain from the crank to the rear camshaft? does there need to be a little bit of slack there or something?

haynes can be very vague some times!
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sickpup
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PostPosted: 12:28 - 24 Nov 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

The chain hasn't slipped on the cams it has slipped on the crankshaft. Read my above post. Also bolt down the inlet cam first.
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NiteMare
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PostPosted: 12:51 - 24 Nov 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

when setting cam timing.....

the crank has to be in a particular position, there will be timing marks on the end of the crank to indicate where...

then you set the cams in position in relation to the crank ...

now go back to your manual and check you have gone thru the whole process to set your cam/valve timing correctly ....

if you don't this repair could get very expensive


i've enquired about the cost of valves a couple of times due to cambelts snapping, had a citroen xsara snap the belt, 16 valve engine and 10 of them hit the pistons ...

Citroen wanted over £30 per valve Shocked , that would have been in excess of £300 without headgasket,oil and cambelt and then there would have been my labour on top (time to reassemble, cutting valves in etc) the total would have been way more than the value of the car....

i've no idea of the cost of your valves
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Kickstart
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PostPosted: 13:06 - 24 Nov 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dale_Mckeown wrote:
i did recheck it. the camshafts were still in position as they should be for tdc on piston 2. i cant understand why it slipped, but it definately did as the marks i placed in the cam chain to note its position are now not there...


Err, not sure I am misreading you here. If you put a mark on the cam chain and then rotate the engine it is highly unlikely that the chain would return to the same position relative to the sprocket (would need the number of cam chain teeth to be a multiple of the number of teeth on the cam sprockets).

All the best

Keith
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Dalemac
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PostPosted: 16:34 - 24 Nov 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

sickpup wrote:
The chain hasn't slipped on the cams it has slipped on the crankshaft. Read my above post. Also bolt down the inlet cam first.


ahh.

i didnt put the tensioner in until after i had bolted down the camshafts.

so all i need to do is remove the cam chain tensioner, remove the camshafts and start again, lining up the camshaft with the cam chain on the sprockets, insert the cam chain tensioner and bolt down the inlet cam followed by the exhaust camshaft?

Dale
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NiteMare
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PostPosted: 20:50 - 24 Nov 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

it's getting to the stage where it looks like you aren't following the directions you are given ....

get a manual and set your timing stage by stage ...

remove the cams ...

set crank position ...

refit cams correctly ..

set tensioner ..

rotate crank carefully...

recheck timing marks

job done

if you can't follow that then you're best off paying someone to do it before it really costs you
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Ariel Badger
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PostPosted: 22:15 - 24 Nov 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

When it is back together do not try to start it. Roate the engine with a socket (spark plugs out) and make sure the valves do not kiss the pistons.
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Dalemac
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PostPosted: 15:07 - 25 Nov 2008    Post subject: Reply with quote

NiteMare wrote:
it's getting to the stage where it looks like you aren't following the directions you are given ....

get a manual and set your timing stage by stage ...

remove the cams ...

set crank position ...

refit cams correctly ..

set tensioner ..

rotate crank carefully...

recheck timing marks

job done

if you can't follow that then you're best off paying someone to do it before it really costs you



Like i said, i have followed the manual step by step, in exactly the order that you have given above. just like i have said in almost every post here...

but that made the cam chain slip when i turned the engine over by hand, like sickpup said it would.

my last post was just to confirm that i needed to fit the cam chain tensioner before bolting down the cam chain tensioner, to prevent the cam chain from slipping again.


Anyway i have been given a huge software development assignment at uni and i will not be able to dedicate any time towards the bike for another two weeks, will update the thread when i have made some progress.

Thanks to all who have contributed.
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