stuck Bucket

Hi All,
After replacing my valve stem seals on the maxim xj650, I carefully placed back each of the shim bucket however one of them was stuck half way. All the other ones went in with relative ease and could be pulled out as well. I then tapped the stuck one gently with a rubber mallet and it went in all the way. It is also seated propely

Now, the problem is that the one I tapped in cannot be pulled out using a magnet, it simply would not budge. Basically I can pull out all the other bucket with relative ease using a magnet however this particular one seems to be tight.
Is this a cause of concern ?

Will it loosen up over time ?

I don't need to pull it out right now for anything but I was wondering if this can cause a valve to be stuck ?

Thanks

 

It should, regardless that you think that you seated it square, it probably was a little canted. double-check it before running but it should be ok. I''ve run into that before on engines that I've worked on and it's nothing to get too worried over.

jeff

 

You made sure they all went back in the same holes they came out of?

It was slathered in clean motor oil before you installed it?

You did pay attention to the orientation of the valve spring coil directions?

I would certainly turn the motor over more than a few times and watch it "work." Maybe even spin it with the starter (TCI unplugged, plugs out) and the valve cover off to watch it work. ***This will make a mess, it will spatter oil everwhere*** but it might be worth it.

If after turning the motor over it operates freely and you can rotate the bucket within the head (when the cam lobe is off of it,) then don't sweat it. But the bucket has to be free to rotate in the head; if it doesn't it will need to be revisited.

 

if you got it in all the way with just a minor bump using a rubber mallet, I'd say you're fine. there's not much clearance between the buckets and engine head.

another tip for removing buckets: I've taken the shims out then had to use my fingernail along the upper lip of each bucket to pull it out. like I said before, there's very little clearance..

 

Misslaneous.....if, in a -worst-case scenario, you find when you get the bucket back out that you have damaged the bucket----PM me. I have a couple dozen buckets available.

dave fox

 

Hi All,
I had taken out everything and placed it in a sheet with 8 squares and marked out everything so that there wont be any mix up. Also it was in a place where nothing was knocked over or mixed up.

I took out each bucket using a magnet. I also made sure there was plenty of oil on both contact surfaces before placing the bucket back in the recess.

I made sure the valve springs where such that the closer windings or the tighter windings on both springs where facing the bottom... I hope that is what you meant Bigfitz?

The shim comes off easy but the bucket is not moving in any direction.... as everyone says I guess I will closely observe the movement as I manually crank it.

I also noticed some of the shims have no marking on the underside so i don't know the size... guess I need to measure this with a micrometer before assembly ?

If it is still stuck what is the best way to get it out without damaging the cylinder....

All the other buckets seems to go up and down using a magnet with relative ease, however they don't spin in circle easily... I am hoping they will loosen up after the bike runs for a while ?

I shall keep your offer in mind hogfiddles.

Hope I am not missing anything.....also it is snowing in ChiTown... I will not be able to assemble anything on the bike for a while ( My garage is a little distance away from the house and not heated)...covered in snow) ...however I have the head sitting on my porch and it is accessible in case I need to do something else before assembly....Thanx

 

Actually no it wasn't, sorry. I was talking about the "direction" of the rotational orientation of the coils. As long as you put everything back exactly where it came from, that shouldn't have gotten messed up.

Didn't I email you some pages from the factory book?

 

Yes you did send me the page Bigfitz... I had everything going the way it came out...guess I will wait and see what happens after assembly

 

just keep things in order and double check every step. even the simplest things may be skipped and you'll be starting over again. trust me; we've all learned this way including myself

 

Aluminum expands faster and farther than steel when heated (The thermal expansion coefficient of aluminum is 23x10^-6 deg^-1 and that of steel is 11x10^-6 deg^-1. For example, heating it up to 100degree Celsius, 1 m of aluminum will become(1+23X1000x10^-6) = 1.023 m and steel would become 1.011m)...

Carefully of course, but if you're afraid of a torch - and for good reason - use a paint-stripper heat gun aimed at the offending bucket cylinder just above the exhaust port, and on the cylinder from the inside of the head).

By the way -- some say you'll magnetize buckets/shims so be careful -- use a small square pliers CAREFULLY gently to grab the lip of the bucket and to coax the bucket

 

That should be fine.

If you're working in the freezing cold, with stiff oil and ice-cold parts, things may be a bit reluctant to move freely.

Don't sweat it too much until you get the head back on and can turn the motor over a few times and see. Unless you know there's something more to this than we do, then you should be ok.

Don't use gasket sealer on both sides of that head gasket, in case it needs to come back apart.

Continue to proceed carefully, ask questions as you go, until the motor is back together and you can turn it over by hand. You'll be wanting to do a LOT of that, not only to watch the valves work but to double-check cam timing, etc., before you EVER put "fire" to it.

 

When you place your new shims in, make sure the numbers are facing the bucket, not the cam. This way you will have numbers when you do a valve clearance check in the future.

 

umm... that would be why we have to pull the shims out to "read" them.

http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=14827.html

OP is way beyond that point. He's reassembling in the process of doing a head swap.