First time doing a valve check - Is this normal?

Paegelow · April 21, 2009, 08:34:48 PM

True that.

I was talking to one of the guys at the dealer, and he said he has a piece of safety wire wrapped in electrical tape that he bends into a curve and sticks in the sparkplug hole under the valve, to keep it from falling in. I guess that would work.

I'm still wondering how to get the closer shims un-stuck from the valves though. I don't want to grab the valve stem with a pliers and scratch it up, but I can't hold it very tightly with my fingers either. Any good tricks?

ducpainter · April 21, 2009, 08:43:36 PM

Sometimes the half rings leave a little burr on the stem. Your closers were all loose IIRC.

A pass with a piece of 220 grit paper should solve the problem...or just pull harder.

EEL · April 21, 2009, 09:02:56 PM

Pull up on the valve...this will give you access to the half rings. remove half rings w/ magnet. The shim can then come off

You'd better secure the valve BEFORE you do any of this. Also there are oil drain holes in each head. LOOK CAREFULLY they are there. Make sure you cover these before you do any work. If a half ring falls in there you could be screwed.

scott_araujo · April 21, 2009, 09:11:20 PM

An 8mm bolt on a piece of safety wire blocks the oil galley nicely.

Scott

Ddan · April 22, 2009, 02:54:38 AM

Quote from: Paegelow on April 21, 2009, 08:34:48 PM
True that.

I was talking to one of the guys at the dealer, and he said he has a piece of safety wire wrapped in electrical tape that he bends into a curve and sticks in the sparkplug hole under the valve, to keep it from falling in. I guess that would work.

I'm still wondering how to get the closer shims un-stuck from the valves though. I don't want to grab the valve stem with a pliers and scratch it up, but I can't hold it very tightly with my fingers either. Any good tricks?

If you're talking about getting the shim off the stem, do what DP said. Sometimes the there is a bit of a fat spot developed on the end of the stem and the shim won't slide up over it. If you're still trying to get the collets off the stem then you need to carefully push down on the rocker until the shim slips down enough to get the collets off. A magnetic pick-up tool works great for grabbing the collets. Don't forget to remove whatever you use to block the oil galleys after you're done, or you'll be very unhappy.

Dirt Monster · April 22, 2009, 04:51:34 AM

There may be some hints / info you can use in this thread:

http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=18964.0

Paegelow · April 22, 2009, 07:42:07 AM

Alright thanks guys. Yeah I have bolts with safety wire plugging all the oil galleys (just like LT Snyder told me to do)

Dirt Monster, your write up is printed out and tucked in my Desmo Times manual. Good info there!

My problem before was getting the closer shim and collets loose. I think I'll try again after work and take the timing belts off this time. In the CA Cycleworks video it looks lke he's pressing down the closer rocker a lot farther than mine would go. I must have had the cam in a bad spot for it.

I also got a EMS shim kit on ebay, so I should get that on Friday. Then hopefully I can wrap this sucker up

EEL · April 22, 2009, 08:38:11 AM

Shim kit has a range of closers /openers but only one closer/opener of each size..If your closers/openers are of similar size. You may need more shims. Either that or you'll have to do a lot of sanding from the incrementally higher size.

Just giving you a heads up.

Paegelow · April 22, 2009, 09:39:48 AM

That is true. One of the dudes at the dealership said I could probably trade a few with them if I need to though

EEL · April 22, 2009, 11:09:28 AM

You have a better dealer than mine. My guy was asking 21 bucks per shim.

ducpainter · April 22, 2009, 05:46:57 PM

Quote from: Paegelow on April 22, 2009, 09:39:48 AM
That is true. One of the dudes at the dealership said I could probably trade a few with them if I need to though

Trade them the ones at the extremes.

You'll never use them.

Paegelow · April 22, 2009, 09:35:26 PM

Hey have you guys tried just using a clothes pin to hang on to the valve stem?

I HAD some forceps, but as soon as I tried to clamp them on the valve they broke

Ddan · April 23, 2009, 03:47:07 AM

A clothes pin will be a little bulky, but will probably hold the valve.

Dirt Monster · April 23, 2009, 08:54:08 AM

Quote from: Dirty Dastardly Dangerous Dan on April 23, 2009, 03:47:07 AM
A clothes pin will be a little bulky, but will probably hold the valve.

I tried it, it slips... the spring isn't tight enough. I found the best technique was to shove some 1/4" nylon cord, or plastic tubing in through the spark plug hole. That wedges the valve from below, and won't scratch anything, and keeps your valve/shim/rocker area clear to work.

Paegelow · April 23, 2009, 10:37:56 AM

You're right. The clothespin didn't work for shit

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First time doing a valve check - Is this normal?