novice tip: blue pipe blues

[posthuman]

so i buy this low miles xj1100, and edumacate myself on the workings and maintainance issues

well i find myself goin' nutz because #1 pipe is getting real purple vs the others, im not confident enough yet to do the valve shim and vaccum balance dance, but paranoid about frying a piston etc.

lo and behold i find something unexpected ...
the exaust header bolts were loose as hell, dont know why

[mro]

Gremlins????

lo and behold i find something unexpected ...

Not enough room to fit torque wrench with extension between headers, so would imagin who ever tightened em up originally was just guessing.

I made an extra long allen head socket so I could torque all the exhaust flange nuts properly.


mro
btw
when it comes to aluminum, tightening steel bolts/screws in it to manufacturers spec's doesn't take that much longer and will provide benifits down the road. may not apply to exhaust flange, but crushing exhaust donut might.

[posthuman]

loose... as in almost finger tight, like someone was trying to steal them and stopped..

or working on it and then quit

wierd

lesson learned: don't presume anything about maintainance, check EVERYTHING youirself.