I tried to adjust my valves this weekend. I have the factory manual and followed the procedure as outlined in the book. If you have never done this before then your in for a treat when you have to take all the front plastic off, it wasn't hard just it all comes off. Anyway, I turned the flywheel until the "l" mark lined up with the notch on the case. I used the feeler guage but could not get the guage between the rocker arm and the contact surface at the spring. I turned it on more time like the manual said and same problem. I turned the fly wheel to a different position and continue to check until I found a spot where the feeler guage fit through and I found a gap which was in spec. Not beliving this was the correct procedure I ended up leaving it alone and not doing anything to it. Also the exhaust valves are a real pain, how do you see what is going on in there. They are a little difficult to get into. I know I read that Swytak does this very often so if your reading I gladdly take your comments.

 

You have to check the rocker clearance at the prescribed point. It sounds like your intakes are "tight", just like mine were. As I recall I backed them off about 1/2 turn. My exhaust rockers were within tolerance, which is a good thing, because I still haven't got any ideas about how to get in there and adjust them. Yamaha makes a tool to hold the adjuster (I don't know how much for it), and there was an earlier post about using a Snap-On 'E5' Torx socket for this purpose. I bought the socket (about $12) and it was too big. I'm going to try the 'E4' next time. You didn't say if you checked the exhaust valves or not. Motion Pro makes a set of offset feelers that look like they might work on the exhaust side better than the conventional setup. I bought some, I just haven't used them yet.

 

Here is more to the story........
I tried to check the exhaust valves but I'm going to need the offset feeler guages because the conventional ones just can't get in there. As for the valve adjusting tool I went to a Yamaha dealer to get one, they told me that it was discontinued. I had them look under a different part number and they could not find it. They went to the back and asked the tech since I told them they could not have discontinued it since this is a new bike, the tech had one made by Kenmore and said that they would not be able to order me one and if they could the price would be around $150.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-frown.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img] So I went down the street to a little cycle shop and they told me that they can order tools through the catalog (Can't remember which catalog). The tech said he had one in his tool box and showed me which one to order. It cost me $45 for the tool but it can do several different types. Basically it came with three spark plug looking wrenches with three inserts, one a 3mm, 4mm, and a flat head. I think the wrenches are a 8mm, 9mm and 10mm. They work as a one piece tool when put together. You can twist the nut with the wrench and then turn the adjuster and tighten back with the wrench. I'll check tomorrow for the name if your interested.

The real problem with the exhaust valves is I can get in there to do the adjusting, I can't see very well as to what I doing in there.

 

01Raptor660R,

I will agree that the procedure is not the easiest thing to do but, taking your time, being patient and doing it a few times is what it takes. Yes, I do check my valves at every other oil change, as I would rather be safe then sorry. Most will say that checking that often is over kill but, I just feel better knowing that they are correctly adjusted.

When turning the flywheel, you may have to turn it (as stated in the manual) "clockwise", up to 3 "full" turns to get to TDC (top dead center). I just use a small pair of needle nose pliers to hold the tappet adjustment and use an open end wrench to tighten the nuts.

In regards to the exhaust valves, your right, it's no the easiest but, be patient and take your time. I take both of the covers off of the exh valves and use a drop light to see in there. Using a fold out type feeler guages it's not all that tough. Since getting my Raptor in September, I have only had to adjust the exhaust valves once, they have been right on all the other times I have checked them.

In speaking with the head mechanic at my dealer, he said that the exh valves typically will not need adjustment but, to watch the intake valves because they "typically" will tighten up. My experience, once I found one intake valve very loose with the others being too tight. All other times they have been tight or ok.

One thing I would recommend, is to alway tourque the lock down nuts on the valves to specifications. I believe that it's like 10 ft lbs, which doesn't take much. If you tighten them too much and your valves also need adjusted (too tight) you can run the risk of breaking a valve. Again, I am check my valves more often then anyone recommends and I don't want to cause panic. I just like knowing that everything is in tip top shape, so that when I'm revving the **** out of her and running her hard, I'm confident that nothing will go wrong.

I hope to have helped a bit.

Swytak

 

Hey Swytak,

Thanks very much for the info. I remember reading about you adjusting your valves and knew you would be the person to ask. I thought that maybe the valves were too tight but I wasn't sure of it. I guess I kind of expected that they would be loose not tight. Anyways, I think I was going counter clockwise and only going one turn. How do you know if you need to go more than that if the valves are tight?

 

Your better off to turn it (remember, counter clockwise) one full turn from the first time you see the mark. Check the valves, if there is no clearance, turn the flywheel another full revolution and check again, if again you can't get the specified feeler in, then try a smaller one. If again you can't get the smaller one in, make another full revolution. If you can get the smaller feeler in then your valves are too tight. That should be it. It does take some time, until you get used to doing it, or the first time you adjust them too loose and start it. The noise you'll hear when they are too loose will scare the bajesus out of ya. If that happens, just make a full turn from the first time you see the mark, when you check the valves with the recommended guage, it will be way to big of gap. Then just use the adj and right feeler to adjust it correctly, cause your at TDC.

Let me know if I can help further.

Take care, Swy

 

The Motion Pro feeler guages definately help. Motion Pro also makes a set of generic valve adjustment tools that work on the Raptor as well as most other quads/bikes. Sears makes an open ended 10mm wrench that works on your torque wrench along with a 3" extension so you can tighten the lock nut correctly.

For the record, my intakes were too tight and the exhausts were fine. Unfortunately, I checked them a month after I paid a local Yamaha dealer to adjust them. I am sure they just started the bike and said all is well here. I recommend laying traps so you know whether your dealer is doing the work you are paying for (Use whiteout on bolt heads to see if they ever put a wrench on it or use permanent marker on parts that are supposed to be replaced, etc...

I am not blaming the dealership per se, I think it is often just the mechanic who is trying to take shortcuts. I am sure more than one mechanic has been fired for getting caught not doing the work he said was done.

 

Matter of fact that is the Valve tool set I have, Motion Pro. I recalled the name after I saw your post.

Does the factory send these bikes out this way with the tight valves?

 

I don't think they send them out with tight valves, 4-strokes valves in general will just tighten after riding so many hours. Again, I check mine quite often but, I'm just one of those people that have to know everything is in good shape!

 

I just wanted to thank you guys for the input. I adjusted my valves last night and it was not all that difficult. I have a few tips for anyone doing this. As Swytak mentioned, the exhaust valves did not need adjusting on my quad either. The top valves were really tight. It was difficult to know if you were at top dead center on the power stroke. An easy way to find out if you are or not and if you need to turn the flywheel one more time or not is to check the position of the valves in both the intake and the exhaust. You want them to be closed in both locations when you have the flywheel mark lined up to the crank case. Once they were I checked my exhaust valves first since I new that my intakes were tight and made sure I had clearance there. I went on the hunch that the exhaust valves may still be in spec since I had other posts that their exhausts were fine. When adjusting the valves make sure you take the time to check a few times that you still have the proper clearance. I used the following steps, loosen tappet nut, adjust tappet to feeler guage, tighten tappet nut, check gap after tightening nut (sometimes you will loose gap after tightening nut, in which case loosen and re-gap), use torque wrench and tighten tappet nut, then check gap again with feeler guage. It takes a little time but it is worth it.