Tight cam chain?

[JackD]

I recently bought a 2015 FJ-09 with 32000 miles on it. It had the valves checked at 28000 miles but I have no documentation on what what clearances were before and after. I decided to check the clearances myself. I also want to lower the throttle spring tension. When I rotated the crank to get the cams in the right position the engine didn't rotate as easily as I thought it should. It turned smoothly but required quite a bit of force. I first tried a 3/8 drive breaker bar but it required too much effort from my healing, broken hand. The only thing that came to mind is the cam chain was too tight. But before I get into that I thought I would check here to see if others had found the engine difficult to turn over. I have a few hundred miles on the bike before starting this check. It ran fine, lots of pep, no rattle noises or whining sounds which I would expect from a tight cam chain. BTW all exhaust valves were .008" and intakes were .005". This is nowhere near my first time adjusting valves but normally I put the bike on the centerstand, the bike in high gear and bump the engine with the rear wheel. Thanks to anyone who wants to share their experiences when checking valves.

Edited November 14, 2022 by JackD
missing word

[2and3cylinders]

OEM CCT?  Did you remove the spark plugs first; which easily could be changed while you're at it?

There are several threads on valve adjustment here without needing to go to YouTube.

A manual CCT (i.e., from APE, etc) will eliminate such worries.

Getting rid of the PAIR plumbing and having the CPU flashed are primary mods.

Rotating the rear wheel to turn over the crank is not controllable and accurate enough for valve lash checking/ setting...

 

 

[PhotoAl]

Welcome and of course we need to see photos of your lovely bike 🙂

It is not the easiest engine to turn over.  Do not think the cam chain tension would affect that.  Since this is not your first time, have you done a larger multi cylinder before?  Seems like its a bit more effort than my 600 i4s I've done before -  but my 49cc Honda Metropolitian was much much easier to turn over 🙂   I pulled the plugs first and that made it easier.  I tried turning it with the rear wheel but changed my mind as I didn't want to get my hand dirty - really that's why  and I'm not changing my story.  I found the clearances to be a bit tricky bt did it with the chain tensioner installed.  Turning the engine without one in really makes me nervous.  At 17,000 miles all of my exhausts were tight but the intakes were fine.  That was back in July and now it has 26,000 miles on it.  

I posted my before and after clearances in one of the threads.  Very few folks that check clearances find they do not need to adjust the exhausts but the intakes seem to be fine.  

[2and3cylinders]

No need to remove the CCT until you need to pull the cams to swap shims.

I don't find the CP3 particularly difficult to turn over with the pugs out, I just use a 10" - 3/8" ratchet and I think 12 mm 6-point socket.

[RaYzerman]

Definitely remove the plugs, why fight compression?  Also not advisable to turn the engine without a CCT, could lose valve timing... not good on an interference engine.

[Forevertwowheels]

Call me crazy but I found this engine really easy to turn over via 14mm Allen wrench from the left side access window in the engine.. I didn’t remove plugs or anything. Maybe low compression 😂 or I’m used to car engines.