[sennister]

I got around to the valve clearance check on my Z950R today. Just wondering what others think about what I found...

Z950R is equipped with a Kawasaki FX850V engine. I have both the JD TM for gas Z9xx and Kawasaki Service Manual for FX850V.

I like having both manuals to cross reference what the manufacturer says on stuff vs JD. I went through and took my measurements. Engine hasn't been fired in 2-3 weeks so cold. I have done valve clearance adjustments on the Kawasaki in my X585 and many motorcycles so I understand the process. Engine has right about 250 hrs.

Here are my starting measurements in mm then inches

Cyl 1	Intake	0.33mm​	0.013
Cyl 1	Exhaust	0.40mm​	0.016
Cyl 2	Intake	0.23mm​	0.009
Cyl 2	Exhaust	0.40mm​	0.016

Here are snips from the TM on the process. It calls out 0.05-0.10mm (0.0020-0.0039 in)

This is a snip from the Kawasaki manual that calls out 0.10-0.15mm (0.004-0.006 in)

I didn't expect them to be this loose. The question is, should I tighten them to JD's spec or Kawasaki? I guess I could shoot for 0.10mm as that is common but that is on the tight side of one and the loose side for the other.

 

[IndianaJim]

I would follow Kawasakis specs. They built it.

 

[sennister]

I would follow Kawasakis specs. They built it.

That is the direction I am leaning. I assume it loosened up because all my numbers are way off and if I go to 0.10mm that is in spec for Kawasaki and on the loose end of JD.

 

[Gizmo2]

I would say, a little loose is better than a little tight.
Or
I'd call Kawasaki to see if the changed anything for John Deere's application.
I do know for a fact Kohler did for John Deere applications.

 

[kbeaag]

This is how they got so loose...when the rocket arm is loose it bangs against the pushrod to the tune so it wears the end of the pushrod where it contacts the rocker arm. Kawasaki should suggest to those that have a V-twin to adjust the vales after "break-end" period should as 20 hours. Waiting some 250 hours would wear the pushrod tips. I would adjust the vales to 0.006 in.

 

[sennister]

This is how they got so loose...when the rocket arm is loose it bangs against the pushrod to the tune so it wears the end of the pushrod where it contacts the rocker arm. Kawasaki should suggest to those that have a V-twin to adjust the vales after "break-end" period should as 20 hours. Waiting some 250 hours would wear the pushrod tips. I would adjust the vales to 0.006 in.

The Kawasaki manual doesn't really mention much about valve clearance. The only mention of it is the chart I showed with the spec that they call for.

The JD manual (I think it was the owners manual) calls for valve clearance check at 300hrs. I have done them on my X585 and it never really moved much. I also have both the JD TM and Kawasaki manual (FD750D) and I don't recall a discrepancy.

It is kind of interesting on how JD calls for one thing and can override the manufacturer. For instance the TuffTorq drives in the TM call for J20D spec Hydraulic fluid. However if you look up the drives from TT I want to say they call for something like a 5w50 Synthetic Oil. I have read some posts on other forums where people have reached out to TT and they ask what machine it is for and they will say use the JD Fluid. Then they ask the engineer, if it is your machine and I didn't say it was a JD what should I use and they have said the 5w50 Synthetic. I have debated on this and am sticking with the JD stuff mainly because from reading the TM I know I can't get it all out and I am concerned about mixing. I guess TT looks at it from the perspective of if JD is doing the warranty and they are selling to JD they will let them set the spec. Even though they didn't engineer it.

That is why I am leaning toward the JD spec. I see too tight as a bigger risk than too loose as the valves may not fully seat. I set them to 0.10 but was curious as to what others thought about this. As I have mentioned I have done clearance checks before on the X585 and it is the same process. It is nice that it is a bolt adjustment. On the motorcycles I have worked on, they were all Hondas and they use shims that you have to calculate swaps. Way more of a headache and you have to have a shim kit like the Hotcams kits that I have with a full stock of shims. Though I imagine the shims are a solution that holds a lot longer. It is 16K miles between checks on those bikes and it is pretty normal to check every 16K but only make a change 48K+ miles. They are a different engine design though with the OH Cams.

If nothing else this is a good reminder for anyone with a Kawasaki powered ZTrak. Don't skip this check. As you mentioned, earlier might be better. I am 50hrs early for the first check at this point. It isn't that hard to do. I pulled the covers, pulled the plugs. You take off the guard and screen on top of the engine and there is a bolt head to turn the engine over. The manual has you look at the flywheel but unless you take the engine apart a lot more than you need to you can't see this. I just turned the engine over by hand with a clean 1/4 extension in the spark plug hole to feel for TDC and watched the valves as they went through the stroke cycles to make sure they were closed on compression stroke. Much quicker this way than the manual's procedure.

 

[kbeaag]

I really don't follow JD valve adjustment procedure on how to make the adjustment. I go from old school on how to do it. I remove the valve covers, s. plugs, and take a lead pencil or a small round wooden dowel to get the piston to TDC. I put the pencil/dowel in the plug hole, turn the crankshaft to get the piston to it's highest stroke, mark the pencil/dowel where it is level with the head, turn the crankshaft one more to see if the mark on the pencil/dowel is different, if so, I turn the crankshaft again to get a "true" TDC as it is so important to get the TDC perfect. Just a "minor" fraction more or less on the piston travel changes the pushrod/rocker clearance., and that is where you would get a false valve setting. You will always know the valves need adjusting by the extra noise on the Kawasaki engines. I'm sorta lucky that I have a Kohler V-twin on my Z710A, which doesn't require any valve adjustments due to it is self-adjusting.

 

[sennister]

I really don't follow JD valve adjustment procedure on how to make the adjustment. I go from old school on how to do it. I remove the valve covers, s. plugs, and take a lead pencil or a small round wooden dowel to get the piston to TDC. I put the pencil/dowel in the plug hole, turn the crankshaft to get the piston to it's highest stroke, mark the pencil/dowel where it is level with the head, turn the crankshaft one more to see if the mark on the pencil/dowel is different, if so, I turn the crankshaft again to get a "true" TDC as it is so important to get the TDC perfect. Just a "minor" fraction more or less on the piston travel changes the pushrod/rocker clearance., and that is where you would get a false valve setting. You will always know the valves need adjusting by the extra noise on the Kawasaki engines. I'm sorta lucky that I have a Kohler V-twin on my Z710A, which doesn't require any valve adjustments due to it is self-adjusting.

I have done the dowel method in the past. Never thought of marking it though. That is a good idea. On the motorcycles there is a cover that has to come off to crank the engine over by hand. When you have that opened up, there are reference marks on those as well as the cam shafts. This is really important those because you have to pull out the cam shafts to get to the buckets that hold the shims. You need to get everything back into place or your timing would be off. Push rods are so much easier to do this on.

The hardest part is the slop in the wrench. I open up the gap then tighten down to the feeler gauge. Then hold it there when you torque the pinch nut. If you went the other way and went from too tight to when the feeler gauge would fit, when you go to tighten up the pinch nut the slop in the wrench holding the adjustment bolt allows the bolt to turn and you are way out of spec once tight. The first time I did this on my X585 it took me a bit to figure it out. It was a little frustrating going back and forth then I looked at why it was off and realized to work the other way.

 

[jgayman]

I really don't follow JD valve adjustment procedure on how to make the adjustment. I go from old school on how to do it. I remove the valve covers, s. plugs, and take a lead pencil or a small round wooden dowel to get the piston to TDC. I put the pencil/dowel in the plug hole, turn the crankshaft to get the piston to it's highest stroke, mark the pencil/dowel where it is level with the head, turn the crankshaft one more to see if the mark on the pencil/dowel is different, if so, I turn the crankshaft again to get a "true" TDC as it is so important to get the TDC perfect. Just a "minor" fraction more or less on the piston travel changes the pushrod/rocker clearance., and that is where you would get a false valve setting. You will always know the valves need adjusting by the extra noise on the Kawasaki engines. I'm sorta lucky that I have a Kohler V-twin on my Z710A, which doesn't require any valve adjustments due to it is self-adjusting.

This is the same procedure I use for setting the valves on all small 4-stroke engines. Some Kawasaki engines still have a little valve "tick" in them even when adjusted correctly. I have the valves on the FS730V in my X500 dead on the center of the adjustment range and I still hear a slight "tick" once the engine is warmed up.

As others have said, if you have to decide, a tad loose is better than a tad tight.

For the record, I DESPISE the eccentric adjusting nuts used on Kawasaki engines.

 

[sennister]

For the record, I DESPISE the eccentric adjusting nuts used on Kawasaki engines.

Yeah they are tricky. Starting loose is the only way I can get them to hold while I lock it down. That way the slop in the wrench is taken up.

 

[kbeaag]

I don't know why Kawasaki hasn't made their engines with hydraulic (self-adjusting) valves and lifters like that of Kohler or others. This has been around since mid 1960's and all automobile engines are now made in that manner. It doesn't appear that Kaw engineering isn't any different in design that would prevent such change-over.
As I have mentioned in some other threads and other forums that I live down the road from the Kawasaki plant in Marysville, Mo. I have been to the Kaw plant many times and had discussions with the plant manager over the problems and matters concerning Kaw engines. He (retired now) was very informative on these engines.