Rocker Arm Re-assembly

[guzzidog11]

So, I got brave over the weekend and decided to re-torque the heads and adjust the valves on my 2001 V11 Sport after 18,000 mostly trouble-free miles. I started on the right side, following the excellent directions that are posted on this site. I pulled the head covers, removed the plugs, found TDC on the right cylinder using the flashlight in the hole method to locate the D, popped out the rocker spindles along with the bushings and the springs and carefully kept all the parts in their correct order for re-assembly.

 

I re-torqed the heads and now can't get the rocker spindles to go back into the slots they came out of. Is there a trick here I am missing? I removed the tank and am working from the top down as recommended. It seems like the clearances between the washers and the springs are so tight around the rocker spindle that I can't get the assembly to go back together when I try to jam it back in. I have tried to sandwich the silver washer, the spring and the brass washer together as recommended, but then I can't get the spindle to go back into the rocker arm. I have spent hours trying everything I can think of to get things back together without success. I am wondering if the pushrods are in the wrong position (maybe not TDC after all) or if there is another way I can get some extra wiggle room to line things up correctly. Any suggestions? Fortunately, I had the good sense to not take the left cylinder rockers off.

 

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,

John

[twhitaker]

Maybe backing off the adjusters will give yo more wiggle room.

[Guest ratchethack]

John, please forgive if you have this covered, but the S and D marks on the flywheel for TDC give you 2 possibilities (each) for the correct crank position for removing the rocker spindles and/or adjusting valve clearances, only one of which is correct. You want TDC on the compression stroke. The alternate TDC is on the exhaust stroke. This will have the cam attempting to open the valves, and will put some serious pressure on the spindles, with the rockers in position to lift the valves off their seats. If this is the case, roll the crank over another 360 degrees, which (if wot I'm interpreting from your post is correct) will allow you to get the rocker spindles back in with no strain on them and clearance under the valve adjusters, no problem.

 

Good luck.

[pete roper]

John, please forgive if you have this covered, but the S and D marks on the flywheel for TDC give you 2 possibilities (each) for the correct crank position for removing the rocker spindles and/or adjusting valve clearances, only one of which is correct. You want TDC on the compression stroke. The alternate TDC is on the exhaust stroke. This will have the cam attempting to open the valves, and will put some serious pressure on the spindles, with the rockers in position to lift the valves off their seats. If this is the case, roll the crank over another 180 degrees, which (if wot I'm interpreting from your post is correct) will allow you to get the rocker spindles back in with no strain on them and clearance under the valve adjusters, no problem.

 

Good luck.

 

Errr. 360 degrees Ratch As long as the spindles slipped out easily you would have to of been on the correct stroke. If you had to force them then there is a chance the valves were on the rock. My guess is that the gaskets have just compressed down during the re-torque and taken out the clearance. Loosen the adjuters a tad, (But you should only need to do this by a small amount, not a couple of turns.). Once you have them back in and adjusted turn the crank back and forward 30 degrees or so to either side of TDC. If the valves move at all you've set 'em on the wrong stroke.

 

Pete

[Guest ratchethack]

Errr. 360 degrees Ratch

Thanks Pete. Apologies to all. I've EDITED the FUBAR.

[ronaldo]

Hello there.I have a problem.I re-torqed the heads and now can't get the rocker spindles to go back into the slots they came out of. Is there a trick here I am missing? I removed the tank and am working from the top down as recommended. It seems like the clearances between the washers and the springs are so tight around the rocker spindle that I can't get the assembly to go back together when I try to jam it back in. I have tried to sandwich the silver washer, the spring and the brass washer together as recommended, but then I can't get the spindle to go back into the rocker arm.Can anyone help me?

[guzzidog11]

Wow! What a difference turning the engine over made. The spindles popped in without a fight. Interestingly, the right side was .004 intake and .006 exhaust. The left side was .003 and the exhaust was .005. This is the first valve adjustment in eight years and 18,300 miles.

 

It's amazing how a little bit of knowledge makes all the difference. Thanks to Ratchethack and others who contributed. You guys rock!

Best,

John

[Guest ratchethack]

Wow! What a difference turning the engine over made. The spindles popped in without a fight.

Muy bueno, John. But now I just gotta know -- How did you manage to get the spindles OUT in the first place, with the valves off their seats?! My first thought was along the same line as Pete's -- that you had to've been pushing down pretty hard on the rockers from above, whilst sliding the spindles out?? Couldn't have been any too easy!

 

Enquiring minds. . .(well, you know). . .

[mike wilson]

Rotate the engine to correct orientation and extract spindles. Retorque. On to the other cylinder. Same. Carry on rotating (to bring original cylinder to correct position for reinsertion) and bring up the proper indicator at the incorrect cycle......... ?

[guzzidog11]

Ratchet-

The spindles were indeed somewhat difficult to extract--I had to use a piece of wood dowell to persuade 'em to come out

 

That should have been my first clue...

 

Next time will be a piece of cake. Thanks again for the help. You are a great resource. You have helped me fix a tachometer, my electric petcock and now my rockers. I owe you bigtime.

 

John

[Guest ratchethack]

Por nada, mi compadre.