On the way for its MOT rattle and clunking engine locked up, 3 mile ride almost to the MOT centre, 3 mile ride back in recovery truck.
I failed front CCT, 2 X new exhaust valves later.
Just got the cams back on, unable to exactly line up the markings level with the top of the cylinder head, FE about a couple of mm high.
Question does this need to be exact or am I OK a couple of mm out.
Last edited by ips on Tue Jun 21, 2016 11:24 pm, edited 4 times in total.
Have you used a ruler along the top of the head to confirm you are off? It can look off cause of the angle of the head. If it is off then make sure your ft and so on marks are lined up correctly and then check cam positions again, you might find you are 1 tooth out. It's been said 1 tooth is not a lot to worry about but I would set it up straight.
Argh man...I'm sorry to hear you had a failure. No matter how many times we tell people to change those CCT's
A couple of mm is OK, just get things as accurate as you can. None of them are exactly lined up spot on linear. The reason being you have to take into account cam chain stretch which has stretched a little over the years. Not a problem though. Also with the engine in the bike you can't get your head ( that's your head not the bikes LOL) looking directly head on at the markings so they may visually look slightly off because of the angle your viewing them at. Loosen the rad and drop that a bit as you can peak through the frame better.
Make sure that you have the slack in the chain on the tensioner side. Best to fit one cam and pull the chain taught over it and cable tie, fit the cam cap loosely so the cam don't pop out and then fit the other cam. Then tighten up both cam caps in a zig zag fashion a bit at a time. Go easy on them bolts as they can snap so don't over-tighten and you may want to put a bit of threadlock on them. I would tighten to just under the recommended torque to account for old stretched bolts. Then check you valve clearances and you can adjust a little if needs be by very slightly and gingerly either tightening or loosening the bolts in the cam cap above to tighten of loosen valve clearances. Then tighten the MANUAL CCTS and check the valve clearances once again as often tightening the tension on the cam chain pulls on the cams a bit affecting the clearances a little.
A picture says a thousand words That's about half a tooth. If you try to get it lined up more you will probably find it's half a tooth in the other direction. So take you pick, do you want to advance or retard the cam.
Yep, Finally got the picture posted.
Rads are currently off so got quite a good look, ran a steel rule across the top, can just see the mark above the rule, so looking at about 2 mm high.
Yes I was thinking cam chain stretch, was hopping not to have to replace it as they are not cheap, pockets are empty after valves and other bits.
Thanks for the responses
New cam chain don't be silly. Like I said that is fine it''s not massively out. You may even find that when you ride the bike it will feel a bit livelier or not so lively, depending on if it's retarded ever so slightly or advanced and where the other cam falls into place compared to this one. It wont be much though, you might not even notice any change and the new valves have to account for something. Did you grind the valves into the seats a little or just slap them in?
ips wrote:On the way for its MOT rattle and clunking engine locked up, 3 mile ride almost to the MOT centre, 3 mile ride back in recovery truck.
I failed front CCT, 2 X new exhaust valves later.
Just got the cams back on, unable to exactly line up the markings level with the top of the cylinder head, FE about a couple of mm high.
Question does this need to be exact or am I OK a couple of mm out.
Nothing wrong with that.
As Carl points out, it's not enough for the timing to be out one tooth,
Richard wrote:Mine were a bit off, but crossed fingers pushed button and still going. Not done much though the bloody weather. ATB D
You have to be lots more than one whole tooth out to have a piston/valve interface, push button (but only after turning the engine over twice by hand gently).
It's not falling off, it's an upgrade opportunity.
I have a stupid question. The CCTs on this bikes get suddenly broken and the chain jumps out putting the valves out of synch or the CCTs get stucked not providing enough tension over time and the chain before rattles for a while and then the engine gets fooked (you have the time to hear the problem)?
Standard CCT's can fail at any time without warning. If the chain jumps and the valves go out of sync where do you think the valves end up when a great big piston is shooting up to meet them at great speed. It your lucky and hear a loud rattle and are quick enough to react, you can dip the clutch and shut the engine off and coast to a stop. You may get lucky and save the valves from crashing into the piston, but you would have to be quick, virtually instinctive. And then a lot of folk will often wonder what has happened then try to start the bike again and cause further damage rather than call the breakdown truck.
So...best to listen to the experience of everyone on this site and change them to either manuals or do the stopper mod. We don't go telling people to change them for no reason, and those that don't listen almost always end up regretting it later. Do a search and you will find many examples of folk that did not listen.
wbonx wrote:I have a stupid question. The CCTs on this bikes get suddenly broken and the chain jumps out putting the valves out of synch or the CCTs get stucked not providing enough tension over time and the chain before rattles for a while and then the engine gets fooked (you have the time to hear the problem)?
you will NOT get any warning on a V twin, the chain will jump as soon as the tension is released. On an inline 4 you will get a warning rattle as there are 4 cams at different angles reducing the effect of the valve springs trying to push the cam away
Ok. Thanks for the advice, I got convinced. Will try to find the cheaper solution between replacing with manuals and STOP mod.
I will dig into the forum, no need to repost here things.
That's about half a tooth. If you try to get it lined up more you will probably find it's half a tooth in the other direction. So take you pick, do you want to advance or retard the cam. 
