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Need valve adjustment help..
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Posted by: 07z400

I am lil confused on how to adjust the valves on my z400. it has about 15-20 hours on it.. i hear like a little noise from the engine witch i think may be the valves from what i read about. if ne body can help me out on adjusting my valves on my z400 that whaould b asome thank you all

Posted by: 44oEX

ok well, if you have to ask it means you should probably go and buy a shop manuel but anyway.

here are the basics

take all the fenders, gas tank off, theres a plug on the side of your motor that use a allen key, take the plugs off, turn the motor to top dead center on the compression stoke, take the valve cover off, take a feeler guage and check the valve clearence between the cam and valve bucket. according to suzukis specs ( I don't know what the setting is supposed to be on the Z ) the if your valves are to tight or to lose, figure out how much bigger or smaller you have to go, then take the cams out, take the buckets off the valves, theres a small shim in there. there should be a number on it...it's the shims size in mm ex: 108 would mean 1.08mm, now check how bigger you have to make the shim to be up to specs in mm, add it to the number on the shim, then just order the correct shim size that you need...if the number on the shim is worn out, take it to a machine shop or a dealer to get it mesured to know what size shim you have to get.

then change the shim, reassemble everything and your good to go....little tip, once you have the new shim in, check the specs again to make sure you didn't do any mistakes.

Posted by: 250X_project

I see you were smart and posted here too. You do not want to be on the exhaust stroke though, you want the compression stroke. To build compression to run, on the compression stroke you need both valves closed. This is exactly what you need to adjust. The exhaust had the exhaust valve(s) open to release used fuel.

Posted by: 44oEX

yeah I meant compression stroke, I changed it...thanks for pointing that out.

Posted by: 250X_project

No problem. I hope you don't think I was trying to be a jerk, I just wanted everyone to know so no one kills an engine....

Posted by: 44oEX

yeah don't worry man, no hard feelings...it's a good thing you pointed that out...like you said we don't want anyone to mess up there engines.

Posted by: 07z400

how much do u think it will cost at my local dealer to adjust them, change oil and what ever other service they provide with a ''tune up''?

Posted by: 250X_project

Yeah I know I'd hate it to happen to me so...

Posted by: 44oEX

quote:
Originally posted by 07z400
how much do u think it will cost at my local dealer to adjust them, change oil and what ever other service they provide with a ''tune up''?

depending on the dealer, 30-50$ per hour....and they take there time, so a couple hours of labour

Posted by: 250X_project

Wow that's expensive for an oil change, valve adjustment, and spark plug.

I'm glad I never take anything of mine to the dealers....