Fun with the Valve adjustment - Ducati.ms

originalebm · Jan 15th, 2010, 11:44 am

Hey fellas, was wondering if anyone had an idea as to what might be going on with my horizontal exhaust valve. Maybe I was just tired and aloof last night but for the life of me, I could not (once the opening exhaust rocker arm was shifted out of the way and opener shim removed) depress the closer rocker arm enough to expose the collets to remove them and get the closer shim off the valve.

I checked that I was at TDC for that cylinder per the service manual. I also noticed that I had NO clearance on the opener shim which according to the service manual should be .10-.15mm. I couldn't for the life of me manage even my smallest feeler gauge between the opening rocker and the opening shim. I also notice that the closer shim was completely unable to rotate and also has 0 clearance.

I was wondering if any of you gurus may have any advise as to what to look for. I'm gonna go home from work to night and work on it some more. Perhaps I was just tired and grumpy last night. Thanks for any and all info as always.

dietrichpfeifer · Jan 15th, 2010, 12:04 pm

You have to rotate the cam to a position that allows the closing rocker to fall enough to expose the collets. Turn the crank slowly (if your belts are on) while pressing the rocker to feel where the best spot is. Don't forget to turn back to TDC for other stuff.

originalebm · Jan 15th, 2010, 12:51 pm

Thanks for the quick reply. I'll give that a go once I get home. Would you recommend doing this with the belts on or off?

Desmo_Demon · Jan 15th, 2010, 2:07 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by originalebm

Thanks for the quick reply. I'll give that a go once I get home. Would you recommend doing this with the belts on or off?

Off.....the easiest way I find to do this is to mark the tooth of the belt that sits at the dot on the cam pulley, loosen the belt tensioner, gently slide the belt off of the cam pulley, and with tension on the belt to prevent it from skipping a tooth on the drive pulley, put a clothes pin on the belt to hold it in place (have the clothes pin pinch the belt near the drive pulley to prevent it from slipping). The reason why I state to do this instead of simply pulling the belt off is because I've heard too many stories of people pulling the belts off and somehow having the cam be one tooth off in timing because the cam will roll a little when you retension the belt - I don't know how they don't notice that the dot on the cam pulley does not align with the mark on the head, but....I guess they align the dot on the pulley before tensioning the belt and forget to recheck it.

For the vertical head, you will probably need to mark the cam pulley and the belt.

originalebm · Jan 17th, 2010, 1:19 pm

Hey fellas, I think I got some shit luck going. Spent yesterday working on the bike. Got the closer shims that I needed to finish the horizontal cylinder and as I go to turn the engine with the turning tool to get the opening rocker arm in place to put the opener shim in place, the engine turning tool breaks!!

The two nipples that actually do the turning broke off in side the slots that they fit into on the bike. I have tried serveral different things to get the broke pieces out but I just gave up yesterday and drank myself into a coma.

Any snippits of advice for someone with a bit of bad luck? Thanks as always!

originalebm · Jan 19th, 2010, 12:18 pm

Ugh, ok so just about every idea I have had to remove the sheared off engine tool tangs from my motor have failed. My last resort would be to try and drill into them and try and extract them like that. Does anyone else have any other suggestions or ideas?

stryder · Jan 19th, 2010, 3:12 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by originalebm

Ugh, ok so just about every idea I have had to remove the sheared off engine tool tangs from my motor have failed. My last resort would be to try and drill into them and try and extract them like that. Does anyone else have any other suggestions or ideas?

Can you not pull off the left side crank case cover? Where did you buy that tool from?

originalebm · Jan 19th, 2010, 4:44 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by stryder

Can you not pull off the left side crank case cover? Where did you buy that tool from?

Will that better expose the area of the crank that the tangs broke off into? I wasn't wild about the idea of opening the case to dig these little bastards out but if you think it maybe easier than I suppose I can give it a shot.

hyperdookie · Jan 19th, 2010, 8:46 pm

Post up some close ups of the problem.I can't picture it and I'm not gonna' pull my cover.

If its's a matter of pulling a coule of sheared off pins, you could zap them with a mig and let the wire cool on it. Then cut the wire and pop them out with a slide hammer.

originalebm · Jan 20th, 2010, 11:13 pm

I tried to attach a photo of the problem. Not to use to posting pictures and what not. hopefully it worked. Anywho...

I was able to get one of the engine turning tool tangs out of the motor but one is still in there. I used compressed air but the other appears to be jambed in there pretty good. It moves side to side but not forward or back.

Sigh...