Too much radial play in rocker arm

I'm a little confused about your description. Are you referring to rocker arm end play (axial clearance) on the rocker arm shaft.....or worn rocker arms that are too loose and wobble on the rocker arm shaft?? The axial clearance is easily adjustable.

You don't turn it to adjust, but rather push it in, then tighten the top allen bolt when appropriate.

I have been laying sleepless this night with the same "problem" :twisted:
In the manual it says clearly: PUSH... :roll:

mr le frog sir

i have the solution , head straight down to your local dealer and grab an 06 version :twisted:

RE: Re: Too much radial play in rocker arm

I've got the same problem, about 1mm end play (axial clearance according to Chas in the previous few posts) on the exhaust rocker arms.

Brendan - could you please clarify which bolt you mean when you say tighten the "top" allen bolt when appropriate.

There's an allen bolt M5x8 on the side at the end of the rocker shaft, and one on the top of the head cover that goes through a hole in the rocker shaft. I cant work out how either of them can adjust the end play of the rockers on the shaft.

Mine is a 2004 fs650, its my first Husa too, so apologies if its a dumb question, but thanks in advance if anyone can help.

Re: RE: Re: Too much radial play in rocker arm

xristos said:

I've got the same problem, about 1mm end play (axial clearance according to Chas in the previous few posts) on the exhaust rocker arms.

Brendan - could you please clarify which bolt you mean when you say tighten the "top" allen bolt when appropriate.

There's an allen bolt M5x8 on the side at the end of the rocker shaft, and one on the top of the head cover that goes through a hole in the rocker shaft. I cant work out how either of them can adjust the end play of the rockers on the shaft.

Mine is a 2004 fs650, its my first Husa too, so apologies if its a dumb question, but thanks in advance if anyone can help.

Click to expand...

Maybe I can help. Refer to the attached picture from the 00 parts manual. I am using it instead of the 04 manual because the 00 picture is easier to understand.

Put the piston to TDC on the compression stroke just like you do when adjusting the valves.

The screw you need to loosen is the #32 screw. Only loosen one screw at a time or you might disturb the seal between the rocker arm cover and the head.

The #14 rocker arm end plug is a sliding fit in the #11 rocker arm cover. It has a large clearance hole in it for the #32 screw to fit through. As you can see from the picture the #32 screw threads into the #1 cylinder head. When you tighten the #32 screw the hole in the cam cover is squeezed and tightens oround the #14 end plug holding it in place.

When the #32 screw is loose, you can push on the #15/#14 screw and end plug and move it axially on the shaft and in the cam cover. By pushing on the #15/#14 screw and end plug you slide the plug on the shaft toward the rocker arm, thus changing the rocker arm axial clearance. I push with one finger and feel the clearance with the other hand through the valve inspection port by trying to axially move the rocker arm back and forth. When it feels right whille pushing on the plug to keep it in place I snug the #32 screw down to hold the end plug in place. I check the feel again, and if still good I torque the #32 screw to 10 Nm. and then repeat the process on the other rocker arm.

The axial clearance specification is 0.05 +0.05 mm. (0.002" - 0.004")

The #14 end plug is counter bored to slip fit the end of the #13 rockerarm shaft.

The rocker arms and their integral bushings slide onto the shafts.

The other end of the shafts fit into holes ( not visible in this picture) drilled into the rocker arm cover.

I hope this helps.

Regards,

Joe

RE: Re: RE: Re: Too much radial play in rocker arm

Crystal clear! Thanks mate, much appreciated.

RE: Re: RE: Re: Too much radial play in rocker arm

I have a similar problem, I got way to much axial play at the same time as I got way to much valve clearence so I adjusted the axial play and everything was fine for about 5minutes then the valve clearance breaks open, over and over again.

What do you think would be the problem? Problems whit the rocker arm bushings breaking apart?

Teodor1 said:

I have a similar problem, I got way to much axial play at the same time as I got way to much valve clearence so I adjusted the axial play and everything was fine for about 5minutes then the valve clearance breaks open, over and over again.

What do you think would be the problem? Problems whit the rocker arm bushings breaking apart?

Click to expand...

Hello Teodor1, and welcome to UHE.

I do not understand what you are saying. Usually after adjusting Axial play of the rocker arm I check valve clearance on both valves and readjust the valve clearance if necessary, is that what you did? Did you torque the #32 screw and the valve adjusting screw lock nut to 10 Nm?

What year and model is your Husaberg, and how many hours has it been ridden? Are you using it for off road riding or on the streets like a Supermoto?

Regards,

Joe

Thanks..

It's a FE650 2002 with supermotard setup that I use on the street. Ridden about 35 hours since total rebuild off the engine. Just bought it about a week ago.

I will try to fill you in on the background off my problems first,sorry for the badly written post.

The first thing I did when I bought it was change the oil and oil filter of course to be on the safe side. Although I was abit unhappy, It was so hard to start. No big problem I thought, I just need to adjust the valve clearance.

So I went ahead and adjusted the valves and it ran great for about 5km before I heard a tapping sound from the valves.

I tore it apart again just to find that I had adjusted the clearance way to high because of wrong use of the feeler gauge. The high valve clearance had resulted in an way to big axial play so I adjusted that too. ''This time it must run fine right?'' I thought.

And so it did, until about 10min later, again a very high tapping sound and this time a metallic sound too! It scared the **** out off me!

This evening I removed the valve cover just to find that this time the cause of the sound was that the lock nut of the valve adjusting screw had come loose and had bounced around a little bit before settling nicely on the top off the cylinder head just beside the valve spring 8O .

Before it decided to settle down it just had to have some fun though It had probably jammed itself between the camshaft profile and the bearing on the rocker arm and therefor mashing the bearing to a mess.

Lucky me the bearing did not fall apart it just seized really bad.

Now to the next question, do you guys think that the camshaft bearings should be replaced? My thoughts is that the rocker arm bearing took all the punishment and saved the camshaft and such because there are no marks on the camshaft at all!

Do I need blue loctite on the lock nuts in the future?

Teodor1 said:

Thanks..

It's a FE650 2002 with supermotard setup that I use on the street. Ridden about 35 hours since total rebuild off the engine. Just bought it about a week ago.

I will try to fill you in on the background off my problems first,sorry for the badly written post.

The first thing I did when I bought it was change the oil and oil filter of course to be on the safe side. Although I was abit unhappy, It was so hard to start. No big problem I thought, I just need to adjust the valve clearance.

So I went ahead and adjusted the valves and it ran great for about 5km before I heard a tapping sound from the valves.

I tore it apart again just to find that I had adjusted the clearance way to high because of wrong use of the feeler gauge. The high valve clearance had resulted in an way to big axial play so I adjusted that too. ''This time it must run fine right?'' I thought.

And so it did, until about 10min later, again a very high tapping sound and this time a metallic sound too! It scared the stuff out off me!

This evening I removed the valve cover just to find that this time the cause of the sound was that the lock nut of the valve adjusting screw had come loose and had bounced around a little bit before settling nicely on the top off the cylinder head just beside the valve spring 8O .

Before it decided to settle down it just had to have some fun though It had probably jammed itself between the camshaft profile and the bearing on the rocker arm and therefor mashing the bearing to a mess.

Lucky me the bearing did not fall apart it just seized really bad.

Now to the next question, do you guys think that the camshaft bearings should be replaced? My thoughts is that the rocker arm bearing took all the punishment and saved the camshaft and such because there are no marks on the camshaft at all!

Do I need blue loctite on the lock nuts in the future?

Click to expand...

Hello Teodor1,

If you look in my gallery, (JOeUSA) and scroll through it you will see a 1003 intake rocker arm that has been bent by a broken valve spring breaking and part of the spring getting between the valve stem and the rocker arm assembly, yes it was bent quite a bit.

I suggest you replace the cam bearings, the rocker arm cam follower bearing

, and the valve adjusting screw and lock nut on the valve that the nut came loose on.

Check the thread on the rocker arm that the adjusting screw is being replaced in to make sure the threads are not partially stripped sue to being over torqued. If they are partially stripped, you will have to replace the entire rocler arm, very expensive.

No you do not need to locktite the adjustment screw lock nuts. You just have to get out your torque wrench and torque the nuts to 10Nm while holding the screws with a screw driver to keep the adjustment from changing.

Note of Caution:

When ever trying to place the piston at top dead center TDC on the compression stroke, for purpose of adjusting valves etc. watch the exhaust valve rocker arm as you slowly turn the engine over on the compression stroke with the spark plug removed. At about 120 degrees after bottom dead center you will see the exhaust rocker arm move slightly and then close again. This is proof that you are on the compression stroke. Use a bamboo skewer or such in the spark plug hole to determine when the piston gets to dot dead center. THEN check and adjust your valves etc.

Too many Husaberg folks have trashed their engines by not doing exactly Wait I have just pointed out.

By adjusting valve clearance on the wrong stroke and then runn kng the engine for some time, especially reving it high, you will destroy the rocker arm cam follower bearings, the adjustment screw, and maybe the cam bearings too.

Always use that torque wrench, the torque values are in the Workshop Manual and if free if you download it from our downloads files on this web site or from www.husaberg.se

Best of luck in your fixing the damage,

regards,

Joe

I thought the compression stroke was when the intake valves open then shut and the piston starts moving north?

kzoo said:

I thought the compression stroke was when the intake valves open then shut and the piston starts moving north?

Click to expand...

Correct, but it is easier for me to detect the slight movement of the autodecomp slightly opening and then closing the exhaust valves just before TDC on the compression stroke.

Thats the way I learned it on the Husaberg!

Regards,

Joe

Maybe I should pay more attention when I read a post...

Well, I went and pushed a little too hard on the end plug. I was thinking of backing the end plug screw, #15, out so I could have something to pull on. What exactly is that screw for?

kzoo said:

Maybe I should pay more attention when I read a post...

Well, I went and pushed a little too hard on the end plug. I was thinking of backing the end plug screw, #15, out so I could have something to pull on. What exactly is that screw for?

Click to expand...

If you push too hard on the end plug you just reach in and pull the rocker arm back on the shaft, this will move the end cap back and you can then start over.

Remember to use 2 hands, one to push on the end cap and the other to feel the rocker arm axial clearance by gently moving the rocker arm back and forth.

Regards,

Joe

Today I ordered a complete new intake rocker arm setup including the bushings,bearing,adjusting screws and lock nut. That should do the trick.

Did not think that it would be so expensive, how much does a rocker arm cost aproximately? I'm getting worried when you say things like that :shock:

The cam bearings will have to wait for about a week but I'am not so worried they should last that long atleast.

I am sure that I adjusted the valves at the compression stroke it's just that I ran onto some bad luck whit the nut coming loose. And from now on I wont touch the feeler gauge and just use the 1/6th method.

torque wrench whats that :wink: I go on feeling when I tighten the locknuts but maybe I should order a wrench too hah

JoeUSA said:

kzoo said:

Maybe I should pay more attention when I read a post...

Well, I went and pushed a little too hard on the end plug. I was thinking of backing the end plug screw, #15, out so I could have something to pull on. What exactly is that screw for?

Click to expand...

If you push too hard on the end plug you just reach in and pull the rocker arm back on the shaft, this will move the end cap back and you can then start over.

Remember to use 2 hands, one to push on the end cap and the other to feel the rocker arm axial clearance by gently moving the rocker arm back and forth.

Regards,

Joe

Click to expand...

Thanks Joe!

Well, as it stands I have 0 play on the rocker arm but I'll give it a go!

Jason