Valve adjust V7-III

[Vagrant]

I prefer a plain old un sharpened pencil. Wood side down. No flex. BUT< don't use it until the piston is close to the top.

[guzzisteve]

My straw is a old striped one from fast food w/a small tie wrap on it for a moveable reference point.

[John A]

Use a red straw on the right and a green one on the right. Don’t mix them up or it’ll run backwards

[Guzzi Gal]

To clarify, use the correct straw in the correct hole. Got it.

Thanks for this, Pete!

[timonbik]

Just a question and maybe Pete can chime in.  I have a 2008  Breva 750 and recently did the valve adjustment.   All were within spec and only the intake loosened since the last adjustment. There is a very widely used guide to this procedure that I used as a reference.  On the Breva you CAN remove the front cover to expose the alternator and the 24mm nut to turn the engine over  to find top dead centre rather than using the rear wheel.  In this guide it says to turn the nut "anti-clockwise" which is opposite to normal engine rotation.  Is the guide incorrect or is there some reason for this?   Just wondering,
Cheers, Tim

[SmithSwede]

That’s the way I do it—pull the alternator cover off and rotate the crank using the big nut there.   

Just watch the valves to determine the correct rotation.  You should see intake rocker push down, then compression stroke with neither rocker moving and clearance present, then exhaust rocker pushes down, etc. 

You can feel TDC because just past that point the wrench will “fall” forward.

At TDC, tap the end of the pushrod to squirt out the oil built up in the gaps.  Then measure the true, oil free clearance

[Air-Cooled]

How often do you torque the heads?  I know that my V7II Stornello is supposed to have the heads torqued early on at first valve adjustment. But from then on, I'm not sure whether they should ever be torqued again.

[timonbik]

I personally wouldn't be screwing around with retorquing the heads unless I had a head gasket leak.  Once they are seated in and retorqued on first service let her be!!!

[bad Chad]

I thought the whole re-torque thing went out a decade or more ago.

[SmithSwede]

No need to re-torque

[jbell]

Didn't see it mentioned throughout this thread but I always rotate the engine through another cycle and recheck the clearances after setting them the first time.

[Kev m]

V7 II was the last to require a head retorque and then only one time at break-in (unless something funny occurs).

Just a question and maybe Pete can chime in.  I have a 2008  Breva 750 and recently did the valve adjustment.   All were within spec and only the intake loosened since the last adjustment. There is a very widely used guide to this procedure that I used as a reference.  On the Breva you CAN remove the front cover to expose the alternator and the 24mm nut to turn the engine over  to find top dead centre rather than using the rear wheel.  In this guide it says to turn the nut "anti-clockwise" which is opposite to normal engine rotation.  Is the guide incorrect or is there some reason for this?   Just wondering,
Cheers, Tim

Pete's not about to chime in as he hasn't been here in years.

What guide are you talking about that says the motor spins anti-clockwise (counterclockwise) and FROM what perspective?!?. It's been a minute since I checked the valves on the MKI, but that doesn't sound right. Looking at the front of the motor from the front I  believe it turns clockwise.

But the easy way to check is - spark plugs out, on centerstand or axle roller, in a higher gear, spin rear tire normal direction and WATCH.

[mechanicsavant]

First great job sir . I just checked the valve clearances on my 21 Stone 850 . The left side was pretty much dead on . The right side was a different matter , intake was .006 . Exhaust was .004 ! It kinda looks like someone confused their goes into with the goes outa ! I seriously doubt anyone was in there before me as it has less than 700 mi. On it . Oh also oil sump drain bolt was barely more than finger tight . The rest of the afternoon was spent checking all fasteners I could get to , everything else was ok .

[mechanicsavant]

According to the under seat sticker .004 intake .006 exhaust

[Kev m]

According to the under seat sticker .004 intake .006 exhaust

Interesting that the sticker says that, again.

Background. 4 & 6 seems to be the popular setting, both in specs and in practice for many dealers (and people like Pete) over the years.

But there was a point, on multiple years/models I believe including both my MK I Heron Head Stone and our V7III Carbon Dark where the stickers (at least in some markets) were saying 6 & 8.

Though even still people (like Pete) were continuing to recommend sticking with 4 & 6 (which I do. though I think that's varied with how much I was paying attention to my notes that day).

[mechanicsavant]

Yeah Kev my V7mkII sticker says .006 & .008

[Vagrant]

Back in 17 that was stated as wrong by supposedly the guy that designed the new heads. 4&6 are right, sticker wrong.
If confused use 5&7! can't go wrong.
 Now back to 0/20 vs 10/55 oil. 

[timonbik]

V7 II was the last to require a head retorque and then only one time at break-in (unless something funny occurs).

Pete's not about to chime in as he hasn't been here in years.

What guide are you talking about that says the motor spins anti-clockwise (counterclockwise) and FROM what perspective?!?. It's been a minute since I checked the valves on the MKI, but that doesn't sound right. Looking at the front of the motor from the front I  believe it turns clockwise.

But the easy way to check is - spark plugs out, on centerstand or axle roller, in a higher gear, spin rear tire normal direction and WATCH.

I knew Pete has not been active but I thought he posted this new tutorial on V7III valve adjustment. 

The guide that I was referring to can be found in the link below.  it is a very common guide is available on the SB  site as well as on Wild Guzzi.

https://pexi.blogs.com/MGBreva_ML_i011.pdf

[Kev m]

I knew Pete has not been active but I thought he posted this new tutorial on V7III valve adjustment. 

The guide that I was referring to can be found in the link below.  it is a very common guide is available on the SB  site as well as on Wild Guzzi.

https://pexi.blogs.com/MGBreva_ML_i011.pdf

This "new" tutorial was posted back in 2018.

I've never seen that guide. * shrugs * but thanks for posting the link.

Like I said, it's been a bit since the last time I checked valves on the MKI and I have no notes regarding direction of rotation. I could have SWORN it was clockwise when viewed from the front. But I've been wrong before, and will be wrong again.

The V7 MKI and MKIII manuals don't specify, under Valve Clearance all they say is:

"Bring the piston of the left cylinder to
top dead centre making sure that the
reference mark on the crankshaft gear
is up on the perpendicular axis."

So I would recommend you pull the plugs, put it in a high gear, and roll that tire the normal direction of rotation (perhaps with an assistant so you can observe which direction it turns, then get back to us to settle it). If you don't have a centerstand or axle roller just roll the bike itself forward and watch.

I'm assuming you're getting ready to do the job which is why you've asked? Perhaps bad assumption and you've already done it?

[timonbik]

Already did the job.   Yes you are correct in that the normal rotation is clockwise when viewed from the front, that is the reason for my question.  If you do it following the instructions in that guide you will be 180 out of phase.   Took me for a loop until I figured out what was going on.

[Kev m]

Already did the job.   Yes you are correct in that the normal rotation is clockwise when viewed from the front, that is the reason for my question.  If you do it following the instructions in that guide you will be 180 out of phase.   Took me for a loop until I figured out what was going on.

 

Ah, got it, guess we need to track down the publisher of the questionable material.

[bobdog6861]

Should the bike be cold or warmed up before doing the valve adjustment ?

[Vagrant]

cold

[Kev m]

Should the bike be cold or warmed up before doing the valve adjustment ?

Valve adjustments on everything I've ever seen are cold. The reason is, like tire pressures, the clearance changes when hot and things expand, so specs are set at approximate room temperature of ~ 68°F (20°C).

[kingoffleece]

Yep.  Stone cold, as in overnight.

[guido guzzi]

Who is this Pete Roper they speak of?

[guzzisteve]

You can go over to Griso Ghetto forum & find out, tech & dealer from AU.