[sully]

Ok were to start....lol. Done everything honda book tells you about adjusting valves. ONE: Could not find the "T" on flywheel as outlined in book....did see an "F "and two" _ _ "marks one above the other. Decided to leave on the ( "_ _ "one above the other) marks ,as all valves were loose on rocker. TWO:Book does not say which valves are which....seems to be that the front two are intake (.006) and back two are exhaust (.013). Hope this is right. Anyways adjusted all the valves....they were pretty good....only had to turn maybe 1/4 to 1/2 turn at the most. Started bike up again and didn't seem to make much difference...still got one destinct ticking sound...almost sounds like a sewing machine. Anyways just wondering if anyone else tackled this and if they ran into the same trouble.

 

[rdharper]

Checked mine at 20 miles.... as I was getting some ticking while cold and some while hot. Mostly cold.

So when I bought the 2006, I did check it at 20 miles and found the settings dead on (same numbers you sight for 2003).

Since then I've noticed others have had the same experience. Performance is excellent... so I assume this is normal.

Btw, sure glad I had the FSM, as it seems to me one could easily get lost in all the bodywork, without that FSM, which is excellent imho.

 

[sully]

OK mistake........the valves in front are exhaust and valves by the carb are intake.....re-adjusted and made at least a 75 % difference in ticking.....kinds sounds like a honda civic engine now....whoever adjusted valves before must of had it backwards....no damage...bike still ran fine just noisy....alot quieter now .....will check settings again tomorrow when bike is cold.

 

[sully]

Put about 100kms on bike since valve adjustment and noticed tick comming back in again...so decided to check valves again.......exhaust still at .013 but intake at about .011 instead of .006.....i did give this bike a good pounding in the mud and water and had it bogging out in heavy mud..You know 1st gear in standard mode with thumb throttle to the limit(running 27" dirt devils x/t).......Question is... should the valves had moved that much....both valves are the same.....will set again and see if it happens again.....just wondering if anyone every had this happen?
P.S. also notice big power loss form the 25" to the 27". I dont think this bike really meant to have 27" on there....Could it be that the dirtdevils are a heavy tire....wonder if 27" mudklites would have made a difference.

Any input would be of great help.

 

[Yooperforeman]

I adjusted the valves on my Foreman like the manual says, .006" for intake and exhaust.Well,I wasn't happy with how noisey it was.So I adjusted them a second time and double checked everything.Still it was noisey.What I found was that when the engine got hot then the valve clearance increased to almost .012" ! So the third time I ran the bike till it was good and hot and set the valves to .004" and I haven't had any valve noise since.