Stelvio's 8th major service ...

[Lannis]

Nothing amazing here in this long picture-less post, but this is for those who might be looking at the list to get info about Moto Guzzis, and give them an opportunity to see something that isn't hair-curling or expensively broken, which situations tend to be over-represented on any forum.

The '09 Stelvio major 10K kilometer (6250 mile) service was due for the 80K kilometer mark.   I'm still using some of the "extras" that I bought with the bike, like the CARC drive gear oil and the extra drain plug seals.   I had used the extra valve cover gaskets on the 4th service so I ordered a couple new ones, along with an exhaust head-pipe gasket, a set of rear brake pads, a new rear tire, an UFI oil filter, the engine and gearbox oil, and the little logo medallions that go on top of the valve covers, which reach escape velocity pretty easily.

Two bolts to unbolt the rear caliper and hang it from the frame with a big wire tie.   Four lug bolts (I always use a dab of Anti Seize on them so they come off smoothly), and the wheel falls off and rolls out the back without even tilting it or touching the fender.   Drive out the holding pin on the caliper and the two brake pads fall off.    This is the second set that's been on the bike and they were almost down to the steel backing; they're tiny little things and I suppose that 26,000 miles per set is pretty good.

Take off the old tire (7500 miles and pretty raggedy), spoon on the new Michelin Pilot Road 5 and pump it up and set the beads.   Fit the new pads on the caliper (they're TIGHT), bolt the wheel back onto the bike, and bolt the caliper back on.   Pump the rear brake back up and Bob's yer uncle.

Drain the CARC drive oil, through a paint strainer into a graduated paint mixing cup.   Oil looks like new oil, nothing in the strainer, nothing on the magnetic plug.    Exactly 300 cc drained out.    Measure out 300 cc of new oil and pour it in.   It brings the oil JUST to the bottom of the threads of the filler hole, which is where I want it.   The "book" capacity is 380 cc but I've had such good luck with leaving it at the level hole that I'm not adding any more.  With that level, with the specified oil, and a Roper CARC Vent, the CARC is quiet, never leaking and I'm dancin' with who brung me.

Drain the transmission oil, now THAT's a messy operation, I can't get a funnel under the hole, so I use a splash pan and some paper towels and let the .5 liter of oil run all over the frame and center stand and into the pan.    Drain plug magnet checked, not even any sludge on it, much less metal, so put it back in, and break out my new liter of Liqui Moly "Hypoid Gear Oil".    This is a lovely package, with an extendable tube in the top of the bottle that fits into the filler hole.   Extend the tube, stick it in the filler hole, squeeze the bottle, and in 20 seconds you've bunged .5 liters of oil into the tranny.   No more sitting there with a tiny funnel watching the oil level in it go down about 1/2" an hour.    Tranny fill is right up to the level hole.

Engine oil now.   Pull that silly plastic sump plate (who's idea was that?), eight socket head screws, drain the oil, get the filter wrench on the filter and twist it out.   I have one of those cheap AutoZone oil drain things where the oil drains into it, and you can stand it up and put the cap on and take it to the disposal place.   

I've always used UFI filters on all my Guzzis and had good luck with them.   No leaks, no loosening inside the sump or outside (no hose clamp!).   The only knock against them is that you never know how many flutes are going to be on them, so you have to have three filter wrenches to make sure you have the right one.   I always fill up the filter with new oil before I put it on.  Fill the sump back up with oil (halfway between the "full" and "low" mark) and since there's already oil in the filter, you don't have to add half a quart later.

Set the valves; they haven't been checked in the 15,000 miles since the roller tappet conversion was done.  Put the bike in 4th gear, take the four plastic trim pieces off the valve covers,  gently pull the spark plug boots off (I'm using the NGK ones, the originals are long gone), get a blow nozzle from the compressor and blow the dirt from around the spark plugs, and twiddle them out.   They look almost like new, so they're going back in.   Pull the valve covers - the gaskets are still good so no need to use my spares yet.   Everything is as clean as new in there; no condensation, sludge, or anything.  Sit down next to the bike with your 8mm box wrench and a small screwdriver.   Put a long soda straw down into the cylinder so it's resting on the piston.   Bump the rear wheel around until the intake valves go down, then keep going and bring the piston back up until it's at TDC.   

I'm using .004" intake and .008" exhaust.   All 8 valves were still so close to those settings that it was just a matter of how much oil-film drag did I want on the feeler gauge.   Could have left them alone, but went ahead and adjusted 4 of them just to show I cared.   Valve covers back on, spark plugs back in with the threads shined up with a tiny bit of grease dabbed on and wiped off clean, and pop the plastic bits back on.

The right side cylinder header-to-collector exhaust gasket had blown out of the exhaust on our last trip.   We finished the last 200 miles with the bike noisy and a bit down on performance.   Five miles from home a "Service Engine Soon" warning came on; I'm sure that was the exhaust air sensor hollering "Hey, there's WAY too much oxygen in here!"   Can't run it like that!

Someone at Guzzi was either lucky or thinking, because a 10mm socket on a foot-long 3/8" extension will just fit through to reach the "inside" header-mounting stud at the head.   If it didn't, it would mean taking off all the front-end plastic, which is a boring, fiddly bugger of a job.   The nuts came off the studs easily, no rust, and the header, of course, was loose in the collector.   Set the header aside, fiddle with the cylindrical gasket (it's a TIGHT fit) until it's seated in the collector, lube up the clamp, and take about 5 minutes wiggling the header back on so that it engages with the collector and the head studs at the same time; not hard, just tedious.

Final job - putting away all the tools and cleaning up the shop.   I haven't been in the habit of doing that in the past and it comes back to bite me.   Fay helped me get my shop cleaned up and organized this past summer in a two full day effort that resulted in a MUCH nicer place to work and a truckload of trash gone, and in her honor, I'm going to keep it that way so it doesn't turn into a cleanup nightmare that never gets done.

And now the Stelvio is ready to go anywhere.   For those of you who hesitate to work on your own bikes, be encouraged ... If I can do it, YOU can do it.   And if you run into a problem, just ask WildGuzzi .....

Lannis

[rschrum]

You meant 4 and 6 on the valves, right?

[PJPR01]

Nice write up...ha Inc done that a few times, a good visual follows along with the descriptive process.  I’m distressed to see no coffee breaks, music references or other distractions along the way that usually seem to accompany my service routines!  You were in the zone and focused all the way through end to end!

[Lannis]

You meant 4 and 6 on the valves, right?

My '09 Stelvio service manual says:

Use a screwdriver to act on set screw
(2) until the following clearances are
obtained:

Characteristic Values valid with control clearance between
rockers and valve
intake: 0.10 mm (0.0039 in)
exhaust: 0.20 mm (0.0079 in)
•
The measurement must be taken using a special thickness gauge.

That's what I've always used.   Did this get superseded at some point?    I've seen specs of .004/.006, as well as .006/.008.   I figured I'd just go with the manual ...

Lannis

[Lannis]

Nice write up...ha Inc done that a few times, a good visual follows along with the descriptive process.  I’m distressed to see no coffee breaks, music references or other distractions along the way that usually seem to accompany my service routines!  You were in the zone and focused all the way through end to end!

PLENTY of coffee breaks.   My sound system in the garage broke so no music until I get another .... but I did get it done today.

I'm real pleased with myself for the half-hour spent cleaning up and putting away; I hope I can keep doing it but it's hard ....

Lannis

[PJPR01]

 

[rschrum]

Roper says 4 and 6 on a roller motor. A little loose on the exhaust wont hurt a thing.

[Lannis]

Roper says 4 and 6 on a roller motor. A little loose on the exhaust wont hurt a thing.

I hope that's true.  As I said, about 15,000 on the roller conversion at these settings, and the engine is pretty quiet for a Guzzi, runs well and pulls hard, and the clearances didn't change since the last check.   Pete may or may not check in on the thread, but unless he has some reason why .008 on the exhaust isn't long-term-good, I think I'll leave it ....

Lannis

[bobbyfromnc]

Nice write up Lannis!

[pete roper]

We've always run roller motors at 4 & 6. The gaps get bigger as the motor heats up but an extra 2 thou won't make any difference really to how a motor running a closed loop map runs. If you're running an open loop map it will make a noticeable difference! Really.

Pete

[Lannis]

We've always run roller motors at 4 & 6. The gaps get bigger as the motor heats up but an extra 2 thou won't make any difference really to how a motor running a closed loop map runs. If you're running an open loop map it will make a noticeable difference! Really.

Pete

I have to admit that I don't know whether the map is "open loop" or "closed loop".    It's the stock Stelvio engine control system throughout, with the latest map sent to the dealer by Guzzi installed when the roller conversion was done.   

Open or closed, then?

Lannis

[pete roper]

Closed loop like all the factory maps. It uses input from the lambda sensor to add or subtract fuel in parts of the map. Because the slightly bigger gaps change the cam timing, (Opening the valves later and closing them earlier.) the amount of air going in is reduced. If the engine is running in the part of the map where the sensor is getting the ecu to reach a target figure it will reduce the fuel. If there in no lambda input, (Open loop.) the ecu will just throw in a non adjusted amount of fuel. This is very noticeable at idle.

There is a common fallacy that " Modern bike's are mapped very lean to get through emissions." Usually the exact opposite is true. The maps are universally rich and rely on the lambda input to remove fuel, hence the term 'Trimming' to describe it one assumes. If you simply turn off the lambda people tend to think that the bike is running far better but generally it's just rather than being trimmed lean it will run pig rich instead.

This is why changing the valve clearances won't make a jot of difference on your bike but might if you were running an open loop map.

Pete

[Lannis]

Gotcha.  Thanks!

What I'll probably do, then, is leave it like it is for now and tighten up the exhaust ones by .002 the next time I check 'em ....

Lannis

[pete roper]

That'll be fine.