Any ideas on where I went wrong?

[DJinNH]

Well...got it back together, everything seemed like it would be fine now. Nope. No compression in the #4 cylinder or at least very little. Sounds sure as heck like I bent a valve.

One step forward, two steps back. Hey, at least there's no oil leaking out the front when I turn it over. You can hear small puffs of compression coming out of the exhaust when it turns over but I think that's only from two or three other cylinders.

Still, seems like it's not getting much fuel as the spark plugs are dry on the bottom. I checked the fuel lines for kinks, petcocks are open, and yes there's fuel in the tank. Just one of those days I guess or I should say three days.

Time to take it to a REAL mechanic.

Don

[The Lorax]

To the contrary, my brother. you can fix it if you wish. get some valves, grind or lap as necessary, install, shim, life's good . actually, when I tore my engine / Trans down for a complete rebuild, I took the head and cams to a local shop and had them replace the seals and all the other bits in there, grind and lap the valves and shim them to the correct gap or whatever its called. so if you wish to take it to a mechanic, feel free, be prepared, I spent a few hundred on my head when I had it done. I think they said they grind three facets or angles on the valves for better sealing or some similar non-such. All I know is when I installed the head and put the cam chain on, it all worked, and I was happy. do what you have to and get her fixed, neither you or she will be happy until you are on her back, rolling down the road. have a nice day and ride safe.

[DJinNH]

I called this one motorcycle shop nearby in Manchester, NH that some people have reccommended to me. "It looks like we might have an opening in late July". Hmmmm

I'll give it some thought overnight as I try to rebound and maybe start tearing it down tomorrow to get a look inside. So much for those two gaskets I just put in, huh? $100 for the head gasket or something like that.

Don

[thewiz]

Hey, DJ..

Might wanna' contact Andreas about a complete head cuz it sounds like you know how to get it off an on now .... he's pretty reasonable on stuff like this.

[CarolynS]

PM me

DJ-I just got an entire valve set up from Andreas. I only need one of them and I can run the rest up to you. I am only a quick trip away and I have the valves in the car right now. I am off tomorrow and I will be around all day.
Also, if you need a good yet inexpensive mechanic, I have one that is available immediately. You can drop the head off to him and he'll call you when it's ready. He's doing my head now, so he could easily do yours at the same time-they need the same things and that is where I'm taking all the valves to. I was going to just let him keep the extras in case someone else ever needs them.
Let me know if you're interested and I'll talk to him. I have been waiting to head up to his place to see what happened with you. I can always drop the stuff tomorrow.
Let me know, one way of the other.

[saddle up]

What a web site!!

Where is the Love?

Boy there is a plenty on this one. This is the absolute, greatest Motorcycle loving internet portal; bar none. It is 10 times better than any other web site on the net. Just reading, I want to start tearing down a great riding motorcycle.

Ok, let's not get to carried away. I'll run until she breaks down. If it ain't broke don't screw with it. IMHO, .02 cent's and all that bloody rubbish, (that's thrown if for our British and Canadian friends).
Cheers and have a good day and keep the rubber side down.
LOL

[TopCatGr58]

Hey DJ,

You can reuse the head gasket since you haven't actually been able to start the engine or bring it up to operating temps.

But, yes, you've most likely bent at least one valve. Your description about turning the cams to position the sprockets for the bolts scares me a bit!

Even with the cams not linked together with the chain, you can NOT turn them independently, even with the head OFF the engine, without damaging a valve....because at least 1 valve on the other cam will be positioned in the open position, and 2 valves cannot be open at the same time, they will hit each other,hence your bent valve and no compression.

I had this happen to me when I was first trying to rebuild mine 8 years ago....TWICE!

Take the chain off, sprockets, then the cams, and pull the head off. With such a low rpm event, you probably haven't done any damage to the valve guide, just bent the valve.....it's partially sticking open when you rotate the engine/cam when it gets depressed, and then when the cam rotates away from depressing the cam, either the tension of the springs finally overcomes the sticking or it's being hung up on the other valve, but it finally closes and that's the thump it's making as the valve shim bucket slams back up into position. These engines don't use rocker arms, they are direct cam to valve "lifter/bucket/shim" actuated.

Once you get the bent valve(s) fixed, then either ask PROM or some of the others folks to PM you a step by step procedure to properly position the cams and chain/sprockets once you get the head back on. You CAN DO IT, just regrettably a little more $$ lesson learned along the way!!!
T.C.

[DJinNH]

I thought it over and I will NOT be beaten by this beast! Nor will I wait a month and a half for an appointment to get it into a mechanic so they can charge me $500.

After a good night's sleep, and since it's such a beautiful cool day, I think I'll suck down a few more cups of coffee and start in on tearing it down again.

But man, am I sore (back and legs). Whaaaaa!

Don

[Jerry]

I had just finished replacing bent valves on my XJ just before taking off for the Yosemite rally. Couple comments.

Versah has the valves for around $17.50 each, depending on which vender you get them from.

Parts And More has a complete gasket set for about $65.00 US. Includes everything you need except the oil line copper crush washers. Has valve seals and exhaust manifold gaskets in addition to all the other engine gaskets. Quality is excellent.

A torque wrench is the only special tool you need to do the job. You should also have a shop manual.

OEM valves have a 3-angle grind on them.

I lapped in the valves before I reinstalled the head. Lapping kit was purchased from a local auto parts store for around $20.00.

Thread, including photos of dots on cams and journals, is

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17716&highlight=screwed+up

Take a look. It may help you fix your problem.

[thewiz]

You will also need a ....

valve spring compressor that will work on a 29 millimeter hemi-style recessed valve spring. I got mine at Mikes XS for about 30 bucks, IIRC....

[skids]

That is exactly what I was going to say. Try and get it to run at an rpm that is smooth and wear in the valve that is sticking...

Originally posted by olebiker
Sounds like you have bent valves that are hanging up . If that disk you are talking about is on the top of the valve stem. Follow the advice to line up cam timing marks.

[skids]

But actually, you would have to have a range of rpms where it could run without sticking. Also, be aware that the valve guides might be the devices that "wear-in."

Originally posted by skids
That is exactly what I was going to say. Try and get it to run at an rpm that is smooth and wear in the valve that is sticking...

[DJinNH]

Originally posted by Jerry


A torque wrench is the only special tool you need to do the job. You should also have a shop manual.

OEM valves have a 3-angle grind on them.

I lapped in the valves before I reinstalled the head. Lapping kit was purchased from a local auto parts store for around $20.00.

Thread, including photos of dots on cams and journals, is

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17716&highlight=screwed+up

Take a look. It may help you fix your problem.

Torque wrench...check, got one

shop manual...check, got one

common sense...hmmm, where can I find some?

Don