After what seems like weeks of disassembly (because it has been), the C14 valve job is finally turning the corner back towards reassembly! I'm pushing to get it around the corner because even with all of this documentation I still want to have muscle memory of how it came apart when I put it back together. Today the cams came out along with the shims and everything got measured, so it's time for some maths!
The process of taking the cams out is pretty straightforward, but like everything else has twice as many fasteners and bits to it than you'd expect.
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| These oil pipes all have to come out. They're only held in by o-rings but were a struggle to release (you can imagine the heat cycles the o-rings in there have been through). What seemed to work best was (very carefully) getting a slot screwdriver down at the base and gently freeing it. |
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| Caps off revealing the cams. With the tensioner removed (notice the slack in the chain) you can slip the cams out from under it. |
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| The oil pipes (top right), cam chain tensioner (bottom right), intake (bottom) and exhaust cam shafts, and then the four caps and hardware (top left in the order they came out with fasteners included). |
What the gaps are supposed to be: SPEC: exhaust valves 0.19 - 0.24mm Intake valves 0.12mm to 0.17mm.
red = tight, white = spec, pink = on the cusp of tight: most are tight so will need slightly shorter shims to make a bigger gap, but we're talking fractions of a milimeter here.
Cyl 1 Cyl 2 Cyl 3 Cyl 4
Gap 0.18 0.18 0.2 0.19 0.19 0.19 0.19 0.21
Shim 2.27 2.22 2.29 2.29 2.30 2.30 2.30 2.23
Gap 0.15 0.14 0.13 0.13 0.10 0.13 0.11 0.12
Shim 2.25 2.20 2.22 2.20 2.30 2.25 2.20 2.25
Here's the calculator (I just threw it in a spreadsheet):
They look like they do them in 0.05mm sizes. Let's see if I can do this in my head.
Cylinder 1 Exhaust 1 needs a 2.20 and a 2.15 (I'm going smaller because everything was tight and a smaller shim means a bigger gap). 2.20mm would mean the 0.18 gap becomes a 0.25 gap (too wide). A 2.25 shim only gets me 0.02 back and makes the 0.18 a 0.20 gap (in spec but up the tight end). C1 Exh 2 2.20 gets me 0.20 (spec but up the tight end - but maybe that's as close as I can get).
Exhaust
C1 E1: 2.25 (0.20 gap) C1 E2: 2.20 (0.20 gap)
C2 E1: 2.25 (0.24 gap). C2 E2: 2.25 (0.23 gap)
C3 E1: 2.25 (0.24 gap). C3 E2: 2.25 (0.24 gap)
C4 E1: 2.25 (0.24 gap) C4 E2: 2.20 (0.24 gap)
Intake
C1 I1: at spec C1 I2: at spec
C2 I1: at spec C2 I2: at spec
C3 I1: 2.25 (0.15 gap) C3 I2: at spec
C4 I1: 2.15 (0.16 gap) C2 I2: 2.20 (0.17 gap)
Shopping Canadian is Harder Than it Should Be
The kits aren't helpful - I'd be paying for a pile of shims I don't need and they only come with 3 in each size, so I'm stuck there too. They also only come in 0.05mm gaps. Following the above logic I should buy 2.25 x 7, 2.20 x 3 and 2.15 x 1. Let's go have a look at a Canadian option: https://fortnine.ca/en/pro-x-valve-shim-refill
At $15.78 a pop I'm looking at a salty ~$170+ plus taxes, but (of course) they barely have any in stock so even if I wanted to pay through the nose it's still a no go. Looking through other makes on there, they all look to be out of stock. So much for buying Canadian.
Let's try another one: Parts Canada:
...but Parts Canada doesn't sell online and seems to work out of people's garages which doesn't fill me with confidence.
This got the thumbs up on the GTA motorcycle group:
And they're on it - and even have half sizes! So now I can touch up my gaps better.
Exhaust
C1 E1: 2.225 (0.225 gap) C1 E2: 2.175 (0.23 gap)
C2 E1: 2.25 (0.24 gap) C2 E2: 2.25 (0.23 gap)
C3 E1: 2.25 (0.24 gap) C3 E2: 2.25 (0.24 gap)
C4 E1: 2.25 (0.24 gap) C4 E2: 2.20 (0.24 gap)
Intake
C1 I1: at spec (.15) C1 I2: at spec (0.14 gap)
C2 I1: 2.20 (=0.16 gap) C2 I2: 2.175 (=0.17 gap)C3 I1: 2.25 (=0.15 gap) C3 I2: 2.225 (=0.16 gap)
C4 I1: 2.15 (=0.16 gap) C2 I2: 2.225 (0.16 gap)
14 out of 16 valves need shims.
2.225 x 3, 2.175 x 2, 2.25 x 6, 2.20 x 2, 2.15 x 1 (total of 14)
Under $30 US. Even with the conversion, shipping, customs (and now tarrifs), I'll still be miles ahead. The site is a joy to use, they sell individually AND at a higher resolution than anything I could find in Canada. I'm book marking https://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/
I'm going to calibrate the digital measurement tool I'm using by checking that the existing shims are 9.48mm diameter. It seemed close by eye but at fractions of a milimeter eyes aren't much good. I found the number changed depending on how I hold it, so if I can figure out which is the most accurate way, I'll use that when I do the confirmation measurements (measure twice cut once etc).
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| Where the cam chain tensioner is, in case the super close up in the shop manual proves unhelpful (as it did with me). 2 x 8mm bolts and it springs free. Reinstallation involves taking the tension off so you can align the chain. |
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| New caliper is consistent which makes me trust it more, so I went with the new numbers. |
New caliper. It consistently reads the same, which the other one didn't. It give me more confidence in the results. Here are the new numbers with Rocky Mountain's best shim fits:
I like to get my head around the maths so I backed up all the new measurements by visualizing the gaps they would produce - all nice and well within specs.
Just put the order in with Rocky Mountain. With FexEx and customs I'm under $75CAD all in. So I'm getting the right sizes and just what I need for well under half what it would have cost me to buy less accurate choices that aren't in stock anyway in Canada. How do we get this so wrong?
