I've been through the owner's manual twice and I can't find any mention of valve adjustments on this thing. Does anybody know what the interval is and what's involved in adjusting them?

Rob

 

I should be getting my Friday....stopped by to "touch" it today, sigh. I'll check with them and see what they say.

Ken

 

I talked with my local dealer about the valve adjustmant and he did know, because they havn't received their service manuals or any service information yet. Not sure what Polaris is up to. They still don't have any oil filters yet

 

Okay I found out how to do this... and let's just say it potentially sucks.

The Predator's valvetrail uses "shim over bucket" which is typical for a DOHC motor. My friend Chuck says that his Ninja was that way. The upside was that he said his were never out of spec, but if they did get out of spec, he was gonna let the dealer adjust them because you have the pull the cams to do it. And this is coming from a guy who is VERY mechanically-inclined.

So with any luck we won't have to deal with 'em.

Rob

 

Rob:

I think you should be able to at least check the valves for proper clearances without removing the cams. It they are out of spec, then deal with how you are going to change your shims.

 

DuneMe is right. It is probably no harder to check them than anything else. If they are out of adjustment, then the fun begins. I have learned some interesting things about the shim/bucket set-up thanks to Yamaha's YZ250/426/450F motors. And YES, they are a pain in the @ss to adjust. Sometimes you need quite the assortment of shims to do it correctly.
As for the other dealer that has not recieved his service manual or filters, neither have we.

 

 

Shim on bucket can be changed without removing cams, depending on what it is. Shim under bucket absolutely has to have the cams removed. Usually you can depress the bucket assembly then lift the shim out with a magnet or special tool. "Special tool" is the operative word. It usually takes a couple to do this job, plus a micrometer or vernier calipers and a set of shims.......See your dealer.

 

Just pulled in the driveway with mine. We had a little discussion at the dealer. Since, like Elroy said, the manuals aren't out yet, the jury is kinda out. One tech even thought they might be hydraulic. My copy of a manual is on order, have to see when it gets here. Also a caution, make sure to use the PS4 engine oil. Not just the regular Polaris synthetic 4-stroke oil. I've got two spare filters, but the oil is on order.


Ken

 

Yeah, the manual says to use PS-4 Polaris oil. But it also says "or the equivalent". Mine is broken in and the dealer said the oil was backordered until Dec 23 ! I consulted an atv mech and he recommended the Motul 10w-40
100% synthetic. He said that it was probably better than the PS-4 anyway. Thoughts??