I have a 2006 Sportsman 800 that is burning oil, so i am in the process of removing the valve cover and head to check out the rings and pistons. A friend told me that we need to check the timing before we get to far into this. Are there timing marks somewhere that we need check before removing the head?

 

The cam's in the center of the engine and is already timed to the crank and counter balancer sprocket. Pull the head, keep each push rod,lifter and rocker arm in plastic baggies and mark them as to what position they were in. Head bolts torque to 35 foot pounds,rocker arm bolts torque to 22 foot pounds upon reassembly. Doesn't matter if one rocker arm is loose,another one is tight when you torque them down. The lifters will compensate after the engine is started.

 

perfect...Thanks!