Tools for valve adjustment

[brad black]

For belt tensioning, I purchased a tuner similar to this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Korg-KOR-CA30-CA-30-Chromatic/dp/B000BBRZ3S

For $15.00 (mine does not have as large a display and I paid $8.00) you cannot beat the price...

just bought one - a ca1.  we'll see how it compares to the trusty old deflection tool.

[thought]

i was actually just reading up on ducatidiag and it seems that the writer of that program offers a free app to adjust the belt tension.

what ducatidiag is seems to be a free basic version of vdst.  you just need around $25 worth of cables ordered from amazon.  doesnt work with the new monsters though.

http://www.ducati.ms/forums/138-streetfighter/113620-oh-my-5.html

http://www.ducati.ms/forums/92-hypermotard/119712-ducatidiag-must-have-every-hm-owner.html

http://www.ducatisti.co.uk/forum/ducati-chat/65496-anybody-tried-ducati-diag-1098-a-2.html#post662230

not sure if you need it, but might be worth it for you to try out that app... all you'll need is some kind of pc laptop and a mic.

[lazylightnin717]

One note, are you planning to machine your own closing shim tool?  They run $13.00 at Desmo Times.

Didn't see this on the site 

Link?

[lazylightnin717]

Per EMS website...

"This tool is used to pull the rocker spindles out 4V Ducatis. A must for Desmoquattro valve adjustments. It is a slap hammer design, since the spindle is easy to remove with a few taps. 5 mm end threads into the end of the spindle."

So I'm looking for 5mm threads on the end of the puller tool that I plan on making? Are there different thread pitches for 5mm?

Can anybody confirm??

Also

Am I going to have to replace half rings while I am in there?

Also Also

Anybody with an opener shim and a caliper confirm the ID so that I can look for a mic that will fit

OOOOOK thanks. Too many questions and too much coffee

[Speeddog]

Thread is 5x0.8.
The rod that connects the butterflies on your throttle bodies would work great, but you need it where it is.
Just get a piece of allthread, you don't have to pull that hard.

You won't necessarily have to replace the half-rings, not likely that you've broken any of 'em.

Opener shim ID is 0.267".

[lazylightnin717]

Thanks Speeddog

Changed the oil about a month ago and snapped some pics of the oil filter. Notice anything unusual with the flakes? I'll still be checking the rockers regardless but I just want an opinion.





Also thought it might be helpful to provide a little more info. The bike was last serviced at around 13k (belts replaced and 3 valves adjusted) and it is currently just slightly more than 17k. I won't be riding any more this winter and figured it would be a good idea to go ahead and service it.

[Speeddog]

I don't see anything from those pics to concern me about rockers.
But... that screen's not in my hands, so YMMV.

Good to do the service over the winter, for sure.

Don't mix up the cams between the vertical and the horizontal when you've got 'em out.

[mgrisham]

The iPhone app is iAnalyzer. Gets great reviews; I've used on 2V and it was fine.

[lazylightnin717]

Things are slowly starting to come together. I got the LT Snyder manual read through much of it for the past few days. It's well written although it tends to be geared more towards the SBKs at times. I'm excited to get in there and do what they do. Seems simple enough.

I'm not excited to rip everything off of the bike just to get to the valves though. I took some time last night just sitting there and inspecting the bike a bit in hopes of having a plan of attack. Looks like the tank, radiator, battery, airbox, and maybe throttle bodies will have to come off. LT Snyder manual says to remove a few screws and push the TBs out of the way. Any suggestions here folks?

I plan on replacing the fuel filter while the tank is off. I don't know that I will be replacing the belts at this time though. They are only a year old with 4k on 'em.

Here are the tools I made. Rocker depressor can be adjusted to length. Rocker pin yanking do-da should do the trick. Just a few more things and I will be ready to go.

[Speeddog]

~SNIP~
Any suggestions here folks?
~SNIP~

Take pictures *frequently* as you go.
Ziplock bag fasteners and parts, and put a note in the bag as to what they are.
Put them in a tote box as you go.

If you have small children who have access to your workspace, get the parts out of reach.
It's no fun when they've borrowed one of you closer rockers and buried it in the backyard.

Don't remove the radiator.

Remove the throttle bodies and intake manifolds.

Blow out the spark plug recesses before removing the plugs.

Stuff shop towels into the intake manifolds *immediately* after you get the throttle bodies out.
Then stuff shop towels into the ports *immediately* after you get the manifolds off.
Do the same after you remove the spark plugs.

Have a shop rag ready to mop up a bit of oil after you remove the vertical exhaust valve cover.

Have a catch pan underneath when you remove the horizontal exhaust valve cover.

[lazylightnin717]

If I do in fact remove the TBs, will I have to sync them upon re-installment? I'm curious how one might just remove some bolts, throttle cable and such to kind of "adjust" their positioning without having to completely tear them apart. I'm not opposed to learning about syncing TBs, just a bit uneasy as it is just one more thing on my list of shit that I've never done to the bike and is very important.

In the meantime I'll try to read up on it and see how difficult it may be

[Speeddog]

No need to sync TB's just because you removed/reinstalled them.

Unhook the fuel lines, unhook the throttle cable, unhook the fast idle cable, disconnect the TPS.
Remove TB assembly.

[Cloner]

And, while they're off, take some carburetor cleaner and Q-Tips and thouroughly clean the throttle bores and the edges of the throttle plates.  There's often a rather thick buildup of varnish/goop on them that causes poor idle/off-idle throttle response.

You should reset the tps as part of your service, regardless of whether or not the throttle bodies are removed.  Take the bike to your dealer or your LOCAL INDEPENDENT SERVICE PROVIDER (says Albuquerque's only independent service provider) and they'll generally reset it for you on the cheap (and they can tell you if you have any other codes set while the bike is "hooked up").

It doesn't hurt to check the balance, etc. as part of your service, too.  Ducati's factory settings aren't always ideal, even according to their own literature....so even if you haven't messed with them they may not be correct.

You can do all that yourself with a homemade manometer (for balancing) and a copy of VDST from Technoresearch (if you don't want a dealership hooking up to your ride).

[lazylightnin717]

Good info there. I think that what I will end up doing is valves, belts, check rockers, fuel filter and replace some lines, put everything back together.... cross my fingers.... fire it up and take it in to the local shop to have them sync the TBs and reset whatever.

I'd sure love to be able to perform all of these things myself.... but I gotta go one step at a time here.

[booger]

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=701625
^was this posted already?
What a badass tool. Homemade manometers will work for TB sync, but real vacuum gauges are much better. I got a set from MikesXS. You might want to hit that site up; several useful tools available and cheap.

One suggestion on the crank turning tool. I'd go ahead and go for the one with the handles since it has a provision for the attachment of a degree wheel. Having a degree wheel makes it handier, not only when doing the valves but especially when degreeing cams. A crank turning tool that doesn't have a way to attach a degree wheel is kinda useless to me. Also, you cannot always rely on the marks on the pulleys. Sometimes you have to be able to accurately meter how many degrees you are turning the crank. I made my own degree wheel in AutoCAD, printed it out on 8.5x11 and spraymounted it to a circle I cut out of some sheet styrene. It's really dirty now but still works great.

A couple short lengths of rubber vacuum hose on the ends of some large hemostats (why are the ends of your hemos black and stinky, Junior? ) work great to hold the valve. I have also filled the cylinder space with small diameter rope in a pinch.

I just used the 5mm allen key belt tensioning method on my 2v. On a Desmoquattro you may want a more sophisticated method.

It's been a while since I've done valves on a Duc but I remember thinking about how I didn't really need the narrow feelers LT sells as I didn't check between the closer and rocker directly. Though they are what I used. I kind of used a hybrid Chris Kelley/LT Snyder method where I did the math to find the closer dimension, and then fit and refit the closer shims until I could get as little clearance as possible and still spin the shim and the cam without binding. It's a slow way to do it but that's what winter is for, and I got zero under the closers that way.