'85 XJ700X valve lash check

Well Fitz....when you're right....you're right!! Here's the valve lash results, not good, not good at all! :cry:

#1 In- .05, .07, .08 Ex- .15, .15

#2 In- .09, .10, .13 Ex- .18, .18

#3 In- .08, .09, .06 Ex- .20, .18

#4 In- .04, .05, .03 Ex- .18, .18

Wonder if this explains why the bike doesn't seem to have that arm tearing power it used to have?

This bike has just under 17K on the clock....a word of warning for those (like me) who intended to stick with the Yammie recs of 25K for the first valve check....may very well have cooked a valve or two had I stuck to that.

I'll go back out tomorrow and do the whole thing all over again with a fresh recording sheet and compare results.....assuming there are no changes then out come the cams!

 

Ouch! What are the clearance specs for the "X" motors?

 

Intake .110 - .200
Exhaust .210 - .300

 

Dang. Good save, then!

 

I'll be honest with ya BF, it was your words that kept ringing in the back of my head over the last few months...."At least CHECK them"....so I finally did....thank you for the good push! :lol:

They are so far off I just threw a rag over the motor and turned the shop lights out....call it a day. I'll do the same process all over again....just in case....but really don't expect any change.

 

Well, we're getting into it now! :lol:

Keeping organized helps a lot too.

 

I'm done and the project was a huge success! All the valves are comfortably in the tolerance range except (2) intakes which are on the tight end (.110mm) and (1) on the loose end (.200mm) but still within spec....the tight ones will probly need attention in 10K miles or so.

She fired right up and seems to have her power back....very quick on the throttle, spins the rear easily....in the garage anyhow. Think a little sync & a/f adjust will dial her right in.

This is proof positive that Yamaha's 26,600 mi valve lash check for the 'X' model is not to be believed! I had to replace 18 out of 20 shims at 16K miles....not hard miles either.

 

Just realized I had mis-spoke in the above thread....I had to adjust ALL 20 valves.....but only needed to get 18 new ones....I could use 2 of my existing shims from other valves.

So....20 out of 20 at 16K!! 8O

 

If that turned out to be the bike's initial valve adjustment, then don't fret it.

I suspect a close look at the service manual would reveal an INITIAL check at a much lower mileage. The airheads' initial was at 3K then every 5K thereafter. They tend to "slow down" on wear the more miles the bike gets on it.

Good job by the way, and nice pics. Wish you'd taken more, for the benefit of all the other "X" owners.

 

Thanks Fitz....sorry about the lack of photos, I never think of them until it's too late.

Yes, initial adjustment. Very satisfying to run the new measurements and shims through HAP's shim size calculator and see "Within Spec" come up for every valve!

 

Yes the valves should be initially checked at the 600 mile service, then according to the service manual every 26,600 miles (42000km). That seems a lot of milage between checks though doesn't it Fitz?

 

I read somewhere that the valve adjustment on the X model is considerably more difficult than on other XJ engines and Yamaha spec'd the interval to 26,600 mi so it wouldn't have to be done as often.

Well, that's very nice of Yamaha to be considerate and all but I don't see how they can change the 'dynamics of wear' in the X engine, as opposed to the other motors. The valves are going to burrow up into the heads at about the same rate whether the adjustment shims are on top of the lifters or underneath them.

I just don't get the rationale there at all.

I'm going to check mine at 5K, it isn't that big a deal.

 

Wish I'd have done what you did with my cam sprockets... I'm a little worried I'll have to adjust the timing when I get her all back together

 

I fretted a lot about the chain sagging on the crank sprocket but the guides seem to hold it from doing that....the service manual covers the upper end timing pretty well, follow that procedure and you should be ok.

 

Nice job -- Nice lift -- Nice ride

 

Thank you!

 

The theory is that a 4 or 5 valve engine has much lighter valves, with corresponding lighter valve springs resulting in less pounding of the valve seat, hence less valve recession.

 

That and the water cooling.

I suspect that if anybody ever actually DID the initial, 600-mile adjustment, that it's very possible the longer interval is fine. Maybe they don't pound into the head at near the rate of the air-cooled motors, but the initial adjustment is all that much more important. It would seem so, since the "airheads'" first check was at 3K miles; by comparison 600 miles is really conservative.

But most of these bikes never went back to the dealership, ever.

 

That makes sense....the V Max (16 valve) is spec'd at 27K miles also....and the FJR, come to think of it. Both are water cooled.

I logged a 600 mile oil & filter change in the back of my 700X owners manual but don't recall if I did it or if it was part of a 600 mi. dealer service....which may have included a valve lash check. I'm going to call them and see if they still have maintenance records going back that far.

 

Just how did you find one of these with such low miles....I am envious....I got mine with 8,000km on the clock, but that was in 1988, haha.

 

I bought it new in '85 but sold it in '88 for $'s to start my business (along with everything else I owned at the time)....quickly regretted the hell out of that and tried to buy it back for the next 23 years! Last August the guy called and asked if I was still interested.....10 hours of driving later and she was 'back home'! Which is where she'll stay!

Called the dealer yesterday about original service records on the bike but they have nothng going back that far....not that it really matters, it's in spec now.

 

Yery cool story...how time flys hey? Hard to believe I have had mine for 23 years...refreshed it last year and may never sell it. I plan to get collector plates for it this year.

 

Haha...the really cool part of the story is...I asked the guy if he still had the owners manual, he said he never got one with the bike....that puzzled me but figured it was a long time ago and dropped it. After getting home, and poking around my new/old/new purchase I noticed the corner of a baggie behind the right side cover....pulled it out and sure enough....there was the original owners manual, right where I had put iot 23 years ago!! My faded old maintenance log still written in the back!

It was like running into an old friend!

Apparently he never even had the side cover off!