Valve Clearance Adjustment from Hell

[gtosteve65]

Hello Friends,
I just wanted to send out a quick reminder to everyone for whenever they are working on something important. DON'T GET DISTRACTED BY OTHERS. I was diligently working on my valve adjustment (only needed to do 1 exhaust valve thankfully) while having two different people text me at the same time. This led to me missing one of the Cam Sprocket Bolts and leaving it finger tight. Well about 2 minutes after starting the engine it began to whine. Even with me immediately shutting it down it still did its damage. The bolt came loose and grinded away at the side of the case leaving aluminum shavings everywhere. So I took everything out (intake and exhaust cams, timing chain etc..) and cleaned it all. Flushed a quart of oil through that area buttoned it all back up and started it for 10 seconds. Then drained the oil so I could get another pile of aluminum chips. And so tomorrow I will drain another round of oil until I feel as If either me or the oil filter has gotten it all.
Then a new oil filter, new oil and some prayers from there.

Moral of the story. DON'T GET DISTRACTED. What started as a very easy adjustment (the easiest cam removal and installation I have ever done on a bike) turned into a 10 hour cuss fest.

And yes, you can laugh at me for this one. My roommate hasn't stopped all day.

 

[Gary in NJ]

I'm not laughing at you dude, I'm crying with you. That's a heart breaker. Been there and done that with finger-tightening. I have an aircraft background. On my aircraft (an aerobatic RV6) I put a dot of white paint on the head of the bolt (or nut) on the vertical AFTER it's been torqued. This way I can visually inspect if the fastener has been tightened AND I can see if it has rotated. It's a good practice for critical assemblies, of which the head is one.

 

[FinalImpact]

Sounds painful. That is unfortunate.

Knowing these have a mesh screen for the oil pickup you might consider dropping the exhaust and pan and cleaning the pickup.

An alternate option would be to remove the filter and backflush the pump. Although this may not supply enough volume to remove particles.

Did it make dust or actual chips? Likely both at some level??

Ya, been there too. 20+ years ago left a right front caliper bolt set loose after an axle replacement. Return trip home the leading bolt was free (gone forever) and the caliper slung itself out in the wheel making a hell of commotion. I pull over and shake my head in disgust.

No tools with me but moved the finger tight bolt to the leading edge and forward travel didn't push the caliper away. Off to the hardware store for bolt and tools.
One a dem Ruuh Rooh moments!

 

[Motogiro]

Thank you for sharing. When I saw the title I thought worse. Good that the symphony was not disturbed.
I do the same as Gary. I clean with acetone and use nail polish after torquing.

 

[gtosteve65]

Well an update as of now shes all good to go. I got it running great.
It made chips and a small amount of dust, but I would say 95% of them laid right in the bottom of where the timing chain runs. So it was an easy clean out. I haven't dropped the pan yet, as while I was draining the oil there were no chips coming out. I'm under the assumption that I turned it off quick enough and it didn't spread them into the pan. Ill be keeping a keen eye out for anything out of the ordinary, but I feel very confident.
Rebuilt about 15 engines in my lifetime cars and bikes and never have I ever done something so dumb. :spank:

 

[FinalImpact]

Maybe start a thread of Fail?
In 50+ years there may be some work related and personal.

Could be both educational and entertaining!

 

[swedespeed]

I feel your pain. I HATE being pulled away from a job only to return and then make a mistake. Your head is in "the zone" and then it's not. I typically ignore my phone when in the garage, the worst for me is having someone physically with me/helping me and we're chatting during the job. Nice to have company but I get the job done waaay faster and better when I'm on my own.

 

[Tailgate]

Geez, every mechanic's nightmare. Thanks for the post

 

[bigborer]

Don't think anyone that has done at least some wrenching hasn't left anything out or unscrewed.

Especially when I'm not at 100% concentration (most times lately) I like to have the parts diagram in front of me, and I check it at least during and after tightening. For more complex jobs I wrap all disconnected parts in masking tape, give them a code, write it down on paper and only remove the masking tape and cross them off after the final remount. It is a bit tedious but it's better than finding out you forgot to put that little spacer that's behind everything that just took you 3 hours to install.

 

[trepetti]

So we do all have our stories!

Last year I was putting on AIS block-off plates on, when the self-anointed 'motorhead' from across the street visited to observe....and YAP! 'What does THIS do? What does THAT do? Mine is BIGGER than yours!' AHHH.

All was buttoned up and he left (Mom called him, his SpaghettiOs were ready!), and I got ready to start up. Started perfectly, idled like a swiss watch, big smile. Blip the throttle and all HELL breaks loose. Revs rise out of control. I can't believe how quickly I hit the kill switch.

Start taking things apart and realize I left the rags in the intake stacks. Blipped the throttle and the rags moved into position to prevent the butterflies from closing! No harm done, had it all finished before the kid had his Jello!