Export thread

I’d been having issues with engine, while mowing, and about 1+30 into the mow, engine was / is losing power and starting to back fire (unclear to me whether through the Carb or Muffler). My Brother (via long distance call said it sounded to him like I have a Valve “Acting Up,” rather than a Carburetor Issue). Yesterday, after reading Kaw Service Manual, I looked into adjusting valves. Started with Cyl. # 1, got what I believed the Cyl. to be at TDC & set the Intake to .006. Went to Exhaust, Clearance was NON-EXISTANT, so proceeded to adjust via the Manual, and Exhaust Valve NEVER FREED UP. Moved Cyl. OFF TDC (Don’t know how much / far), and Valve moved to where there was some Clearance, after having none. Scratched my Head, moved Cyl. #2 to TDC, and adjusted both Valves to .006, WITHOUT ANY DIFFICULTY. Moved Cyl. #1 BACK TO TDC, proceeded to Adjust those Valves again. Adjusted Intake with no issues, but Exhaust STILL WILL NOT ADJUST OUT OF A “NO CLEARANCE” Condition. Outside of taking the Head Off and examining what’s going on under there, does anyone have any suggestions of what I might try to free this valve up and adjust while at TDC. I’m certainly not a “Professional Mechanic,” and would appreciate all the feedback / recommendation(s) anyone can offer. Next Stop just might have to be to my “Over-Priced JD Dealer,” and a 2 - 3 week back logged visit. Thanks for your Responses.

givemeabreak said:

I’d been having issues with engine, while mowing, and about 1+30 into the mow, engine was / is losing power and starting to back fire (unclear to me whether through the Carb or Muffler). My Brother (via long distance call said it sounded to him like I have a Valve “Acting Up,” rather than a Carburetor Issue). Yesterday, after reading Kaw Service Manual, I looked into adjusting valves. Started with Cyl. # 1, got what I believed the Cyl. to be at TDC & set the Intake to .006. Went to Exhaust, Clearance was NON-EXISTANT, so proceeded to adjust via the Manual, and Exhaust Valve NEVER FREED UP. Moved Cyl. OFF TDC (Don’t know how much / far), and Valve moved to where there was some Clearance, after having none. Scratched my Head, moved Cyl. #2 to TDC, and adjusted both Valves to .006, WITHOUT ANY DIFFICULTY. Moved Cyl. #1 BACK TO TDC, proceeded to Adjust those Valves again. Adjusted Intake with no issues, but Exhaust STILL WILL NOT ADJUST OUT OF A “NO CLEARANCE” Condition. Outside of taking the Head Off and examining what’s going on under there, does anyone have any suggestions of what I might try to free this valve up and adjust while at TDC. I’m certainly not a “Professional Mechanic,” and would appreciate all the feedback / recommendation(s) anyone can offer. Next Stop just might have to be to my “Over-Priced JD Dealer,” and a 2 - 3 week back logged visit. Thanks for your Responses.

Click to expand...

Not to be critical but....."got what I believed the Cyl to be at TDC" might just be the problem, you have to know where TDC is and also know what you're doing. It's easier to mess things up than to repair them......if you're just guessing.

mower king said:

"got what I believed the Cyl to be at TDC" might just be the problem, you have to know where TDC is and also know what you're doing.

Click to expand...

Well Sir, the Manual says to place the flywheel magnet under the Ignition Coil, and I ALSO believe I know which of those are, and I can READ and Comprehend what the manual says. All I’m requesting is to know what’s going on with the Exhaust Valve that will not allow it to “free up” when unlocking the Lock Nut, and moving the Adjusting Bolt through a couple of 360 degree “opening and closing” revolutions. What else is there to your statement “....know what you’re doing?” Your honest and candid opinion would be most welcome!

I'll just say this and leave it at that, just because the Flywheel magnet and coil is lined up, doesn't mean that cyl is at TDC....there is more to it than that.

First GIVE ME A BREAK, don’t go slamming someone who is trying to help you. We are not standing next to you with a beer in our hand seeing exactly what you are doing. The person is trying to understand what is going on to give you their best advice. If you came here thinking you know more than those trying to help, you’re wasting your time. You came here asking advice, but started biting the hand trying to feed you. Second, you said you are following the manual, but you didn’t say whether you rotated the flywheel when going between cylinders. If you just guessed that you had it a TDC, that will be your first mistake. TDC on the compession stroke on one cylinder means TDC on the exhaust stroke on the other cylinder. This would mean that the exhaust valve on the second cylinder will probably not be fully closed, meaning no clearance. In this case, you can’t guess. You have to do it a certain way, or you will have or become the problem. Here is my suggestion to you. Bite the bullet, swallow your pride, apologize and do the following. On cylinder #1, remover the valve cover, insert an unsharpened pencil into the spark plug hole, rotate the flywheel until both valves are closed and the piston pushes the pencil up as far as it will go, then starts back down. At this point keep rotating the flywheel until the piston goes down 1/4” and stop. At this point adjust the valve clearance. When done rotate the flywheel through two or three cycles and repeat to check clearance. If it has not changed, repeat the procedure on cylinder #2. That is the proper way to adjust valves without guessing. If you think that you have more expertise than mower and me, throw this procedure in the trash and wait for someone smarter than the three of us to come along and give you another opinion. Or you can reread the manual and do as they say without guessing.
PS: Sorry forgot to say you can now go to the back of the line of people who hate me, because I am too old, blunt, and call it as I see it.

I will be the renegade heretic here.
Remove valve cover. Rotate engine till one valve is open and adjust the other valve. Rotate the engine till the other valve is open and adjust the other valve. Repeat on the other cylinder. When one valve is open the other is on the heel of the cam. Don't worry about TDC.

Okay. Mower King, I apologize. My Reply to you wasn’t meant to be condescending, but was more like a statement of frustration. The Manual, being the only tool at my disposal (besides a Forum, such as Lawnmower), seemed to have left me a “little short” of what I expected, when the #1 Exhaust Valve failed to show any sign of clearance. And for ALL WHO HAVE REPLIED TO MY FIRST EVER FORUM POST. My sole purpose for being here is NOT to impart any wisdom / experience I have about small engines. I HAVE NONE. My purpose is to seek KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM from those of you who do. But surely, I’d think MK would have to admit his comments: 1) “You have to know where TDC is and know what you’re doing,” and 2) “....just because the flywheel magnet aligns with the coil doesn’t mean the Cyl. is at TDC....there’s more to it than that,” falls a little short too of providing any substantive explanation of “.....how does one ENSURE that the Cyl. is at TDC?” I know the English Language, coming from everyone’s mouth, or computer keyboard, can be difficult to interpret. I COULD USE ANYONE’S HELP I CAN SOLICIT FROM THIS FORUM TO HELP ME UNDERSTAND THE PROPER TECHNIQUE FOR ADJUSTING THE VALVES ON THIS MACHINE, TO KAWASAKI SPECS. Thanks for everyone’s input.

Glad we could help you out.

slomo

Hammermechanicman said:

I will be the renegade heretic here.
Remove valve cover. Rotate engine till one valve is open and adjust the other valve. Rotate the engine till the other valve is open and adjust the other valve. Repeat on the other cylinder. When one valve is open the other is on the heel of the cam. Don't worry about TDC.

Click to expand...

Some engines do that 1/4" into the bore deal. Comp release as you know. I have done this method for years, no issues.

slomo

I use the old school method of adjusting valves as Hammermechanicman describe. I still; however, do put the piston at TDC each time as I can feel when I am at TDC.

For me I have broken off the wooden dowel a couple times doing the 1/4" pass TDC method. Not fun to remove a head unnecessarily.

Takes a little longer but you are not fighting the ACR either. Now of course I learn my valve rocker adjustment on V6s, V8s, and inline 6 cylinder engines.

I taught my students to use the 1/4” passed method, because it would work on engines with and without ACR systems. It made it easier for them to remember one method only, than trying to figure out if they had an ARC system. I called it the KISS way of teaching.

EOIC (Exhaust Opening, Intake Closing) Method of Adjusting Solid Lifter Valve Clearances

1. Remove the valve cover(s).

2. Identify the intake and exhaust valves. You have to know which is which.

3..Determine which direction the crankshaft turns when the engine is running. You do not have to remove the spark plug(s) but it makes rotating the engine easier.

4. Setting the Intake Valve Clearance. While looking at the EXHAUST valve, rotate the crankshaft in the direction it turns while running. Continue turning the crankshaft until the exhaust valve has just started to open. Set the clearance on the INTAKE valve.

5. Setting the Exhaust Valve Clearance. Continue rotating the engine until the INTAKE valve is almost closed. Set the clearance on the EXHAUST valve.

6. Check Your Work. Rotate the engine a turn or two and repeat the above steps to check the clearances you just set.

7. Reinstall the valve cover(s) and check for leaks.

That's all there is to it. If you have engine manufacturer's instructions that differ from the above, use the manufacturer's method.

I don't know who 'invented' the EIOC method of setting solid lifter cam clearances. It wasn't me; I read about it in a Crane or Comp Cams book a long time ago. It works for any 4-cycle, solid lifter cam engine.

It really helps if you can visualize the 'Mouse Ears' end view of a camshaft with the exhaust and intake lobe profiles superimposed over one another. They make a 'V' with roughly 110 degrees between the centerlines of the two lobes. Then you can see that as the exhaust lobe is just beginning to open the exhaust valve, the intake lifter will be directly opposite of the peak lift portion of the intake valve cam lobe. That 'sweet spot' of the cam lobe is called the 'base circle.' That is where valve clearances are expected to be adjusted.

Similarly, visualize rotating the pair of cam lobes until the intake has just closed, the peak lift portion of the exhaust lobe is directly opposite its lifter.

Once you can visualize what you're doing, you don't have to memorize anything other than EOIC.

givemeabreak said:

I’d been having issues with engine, while mowing, and about 1+30 into the mow, engine was / is losing power and starting to back fire (unclear to me whether through the Carb or Muffler). My Brother (via long distance call said it sounded to him like I have a Valve “Acting Up,” rather than a Carburetor Issue). Yesterday, after reading Kaw Service Manual, I looked into adjusting valves. Started with Cyl. # 1, got what I believed the Cyl. to be at TDC & set the Intake to .006. Went to Exhaust, Clearance was NON-EXISTANT, so proceeded to adjust via the Manual, and Exhaust Valve NEVER FREED UP. Moved Cyl. OFF TDC (Don’t know how much / far), and Valve moved to where there was some Clearance, after having none. Scratched my Head, moved Cyl. #2 to TDC, and adjusted both Valves to .006, WITHOUT ANY DIFFICULTY. Moved Cyl. #1 BACK TO TDC, proceeded to Adjust those Valves again. Adjusted Intake with no issues, but Exhaust STILL WILL NOT ADJUST OUT OF A “NO CLEARANCE” Condition. Outside of taking the Head Off and examining what’s going on under there, does anyone have any suggestions of what I might try to free this valve up and adjust while at TDC. I’m certainly not a “Professional Mechanic,” and would appreciate all the feedback / recommendation(s) anyone can offer. Next Stop just might have to be to my “Over-Priced JD Dealer,” and a 2 - 3 week back logged visit. Thanks for your Responses.

Click to expand...

Givemeabreak attempting to set valve lash without knowing where Top Dead Center is akin to a brain surgeon not knowing anything about the brain. I am not slamming you but being vey mechanically inclined myself I know when to say when. There are some jobs you have to leave to the professionals even If you saw the training video. Call for help before you really mess things up for yourself.

Finding TDC is completely unnecessary and from the description given by the OP, that's exactly what he did--he found TDC, except it was the wrong one.

Did You ever figure out the valve lash problem Bud..