450FE-09 valve adjustment?

where u from,,do they not give u a manual yet..iv got one (not read it yet tho) so if theres some way i can get the info to u,will try n help u out,,but spect few of the lads can tell u how to do it of the top of there head on here

Re: RE: 450FE-09 valve adjustment?

garthfin said:

I received the Owners Manual, but this does not go into any depth. It certainly doesn't cover valve adjustment, except for telling you when it should be done. I'm located quite far North in Finland. Dealerships few and far between!

Click to expand...

Hi Garthfin,
I dont get involved with valves, let the mechanic do it, and i'm sure some of the gurus will chip in for you here along with a utube video.
But, its the same shim adjust as the newer ktms and easier than my 530 where the long rocker cover bolt did not have room to come out.
I watched mechanic do my fe570, he drained coolant, removed rads for access to head, removed head (rocker cover). Removed long bolt that runs right through from throttle side of bike ( someone will be more specific here). You then turn rear wheel for TDC or turn from flywheel nut if you have a rekluse. Look down the bolt hole and a groove appears in bolt hole telling you , you have correct TDC. Then bolt goes back in to lock in position. Then check valves to spec with guages.Also check camchain tensioner while open then reverse procedure.
The good news is, the valves, like the newer ktms, look to be good and probably wont require adjusting. My 530 ktm had four checks over 2000 miles and was spot on.
Please dont take the above as gospel, i am no mechanic, just what i watched over a coffee

Cheers,
Nick

Hi Garthfin,

Here are the steps for the "Valve Service", and "Valve Check".

"Valve Service"

Drain Coolant.

Dismantle left and right radiator.

Take out Spark Plug.

Take off Valve cover.

Put in 6th gear and go to O T (? I'm assuming that they mean TDC on compression, but by another name. If you are not sure on how to determine TDC on compression by watching the valves, then take it to a mechanic) . by turning the rear wheel.

Take care for marks (dots). ( Looking from the left side of the motor, there is a dot on the cam gear, and another on the cam bearing carrier casting, these will be lined up on TDC, you can't miss them)

"Valve Check".

Adjust Valve clearance: Measure between rocker arms and shims; if they have to be adjusted take out the rocker arm axles. ( Be sure and write down the measurement of all 4 valve clearances on a piece of paper where you can set the shims once you have removed them in a later step. This way you will be able to measure the shim from each valve, and you will then be able to determine the correct shim thickness you will need to make the adjustment. For example: Let's say you measure one of the intake valve clearances and get .10mm's. The minimum clearance is .12mm and the max is .17. So now you'll measure the shim from this valve, take that value minus at least .05mm's to get the thickness of the shim you want to replace it with, and that should give you a valve clearance of .15mm's.

Dismount the caps at the outside of the axles. (right side of motor, referred in your owners manual as the "Plug-rocker arm" M14x1.25 tightening torque 20nm (14.8ftlb))

Dismount the 4 rocker arm screws. ( referred to in your manual as "Screw rocker arm bearing" M7x1. tightening torque 15nm (11.1ftlbs) )

Take out rocker arms. (I'm pretty sure this is done by inserting a screw into the rocker arm axles, so that you can pull them out. I have no idea what size bolt this is, or what it's thread pitch is)

Change Shim

Mount parts in reverse order.

A couple of thoughts here........ On the older head design one had to be careful to set the axial play when messing around with the rocker plugs, as these plugs could be set at whatever depth was necessary to achieve the proper axial play, and then secured by the bolts that ran from the top of the rocker box through the rocker arm axles and into the head. So, not knowing how the new head design is set up, one might want to make sure to check the axial play of the rocker arms before dis assembly, and compare that to the axial play of the rocker arms after re assembly. I have no idea what is under the "Plug-rocker arm", I don't know if there is a shim under there to adjust axial play, or if the axial play is set by the manufacturing process.

Hope this helps.