can this be done without pulling the head? thanks again tim

 

If the piston is at the bottom when it should be at the top I "think" that means its 90 degrees off if we are referencing to the camshaft. One revolution of the cam = 720 degrees on the crank. One rev of the crank = 180 degrees on the cam. Its confusing, but at least we don't have to worry about a distributor like a car, so all that matters is the piston is at TDC to line up the cam. On a car its said to be 180 out when then cam and crank are lined up, but the ignition is only firing on the exhaust stroke and not when it should be on the compression stroke.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: dorrt

can this be done without pulling the head? thanks again tim</end quote></div>

of course! It got out of wack w/o pulling the head. Just skip the teeth until its right. IF its too hard to skip the teeth, maybe it will be easier to take the cam sproket bolt out and move the chain then. I used to skip teeth all the time when playing around with the valve timing. Be careful not to break a screwdriver tip off and let it fall into the engine like I did. Months later that tip wedged itself between the chain and the crank sprocket and I had to be towed home. Plus I had some stator damage, lol.

 

skip the teeth? how do you do that....thanks tim

 

Take the chain tensioner out and get as much slack as you can. Then roll the slack around the sprocket if you can with couple small screwdrivers or whatever. If you can't find enough slack, you will have to take the cam bolt out. I had to use an impact to do that. A socket n wrench wouldn't work no matter what I tried.

 

Ok I started on this again this morning..heres what Ive done..I moved the piston to to dead center and then with the timing chin off the cam sprocket i moved the can to the proper timing mark. Tha atv has spark but just turns over and doesnt seem to fire..any ideas what to do next? Ive tries psraying starter fluid in the carb also... thanks tim

 

Did you check the valve lash? If a valve stays open you wont have good compression and it will be tough to start. I haven't had much luck with starting fluid and atv's. Just because it wont start with starting fluid, dont assume the problem is not in the carb. Can you pull start it while being towed behind a car or another atv? If it runs or at least tries to fire like that, at least you know the valve timing is close enough. I would be checking the carb after that. Why did you have to replace a cam chain tensioner anyway? That's seems odd.

 

well actually i was told the tenioner was bad and didnt look at it until i had bought a new one.n it all started back when I put the selonoid on backwards and well since then i had to replace the cam because the alingment hole where the gear goes on got damaged. have had the thing apart no less than 15 times setting the timing it was moving because the old tensioner was to tight and wouldnt release to add tension to the timing chain. and I went out and bought a compression tester at the local parts store yesterday to only find out that even with the 3 types of adapters it doesnt have the right one for the spark plug hole..ugh. but it sounds like it just turns over but has no compression but im not sure I know it has spark and fuel in the carb how would i check the valves is it easy? thanks

 

ok, it ran fine until you put the solenoid on backwards?

Since you put in a new cam, you may need to set the valve lash. I bet your valves aren't closing. Take those little round covers off the top of the engine... They have hex bolt looking things on top of them so you can use a wrench, but many times they are rounded off from people using pliers on them. There should be one on the intake side and one on the exhaust side. Under those covers you will see the valve adjusters. Put a socket on the cam sprocket bolt so you can turn the cam around and watch the valves. While turning the cam, grab the valve adjuster and wiggle it. If you can never feel any gap or looseness, there is your problem, the valves aren't closing. The book should have a detailed instruction on how to set the valves, but I always just "feel" when the cam is in the right spot so the gap is the biggest between the adjuster and the valve stem. Then use a feeler gauge in the gap and turn the screw to get the right setting. I usually set mine a bit looser than what the books says. It gives the engine more low end torque. Anyway, the exact gap isnt necessary to get the engine to run. You just need to have SOME gap so the valve can close.

I'm really confident the problem will be solved by setting the valve lash. If not, I'm affraid you have bent one of your valves by having the cam timing off so much. In that case, you'll have to pull the head off and take it to a shop (unless you think you can handle the job yourself).

Oh, and about the compression tester... You can make an adapter out of an old sparkplug, but you will need a tap for the other end of the sparkplug so the compression tester will thread into it. THis is a common problem. I dont have the right fitting either, but have a nice compression tester. I just haven't gotten around to making one or ordering one. No real need for it.