2000MT Lifter adjustment

[Joekingiam]

Hi,
I'd appreciate some of your input.
I installed my replacement motor and it runs and drives great except during cold starup I have a small tick until engine warms up after afew minutes then its pretty quiet. Does this happen normally with these lifters? What is the clearance supposed to be? Cold or hot?
This motor supposedly has 120,000 miles.
Joe

[Insightful Trekker]

Valve clearances that are too loose will _not_ fade out after the engine is warmed up.
Valve clearances that are too tight will ultimately result in a "burned" valve.

Reads to me like "normal" cold engine sounds.

I'd leave well enough alone.

[bretthans]

The Insight valves have notoriously been audible when the engine is first started. Some noise at first is normal. It should get quieter as the engine warms up. The valve clearances are supposed to be checked at 105,000 miles. I adjusted my own and they were off slightly, but the adjustment did not improve the noise. With 120,000 miles on your engine, it's very possible they were never checked.

I recommend getting the service manual, but since you asked, the intake clearance is 0.007 - 0.009 in., the exhaust clearance is 0.008 - 0.010 in. (engine cold). The guage should just slide through without binding. I recommend re-checking the clearance after tightening the lock nuts.

HTH

[fleming95]

Originally Posted by bretthans

I recommend getting the service manual, but since you asked, the intake clearance is 0.007 - 0.009 in., the exhaust clearance is 0.008 - 0.010 in. (engine cold). The guage should just slide through without binding. I recommend re-checking the clearance after tightening the lock nuts.

HTH

I have a strong recommendation: use a torque wrench to set and check the nut torque! I had an experience on a Honda motorcycle (VF500F) engine where I tightened the nuts by feel, as tight as I could with a 5" wrench, since the torque specs were something like 8 ft-lbs on a 6mm nut.

It wasn't tight enough. I'd suspected something after a few days of running the engine, and, sure enough, one of the nuts had worked loose, and the screw had come out. I found the nut atop a camshaft holder, and the screw down in the valley below the camshafts, and the broken pieces of the cap atop the valve down in the sump and oil screen.

I also had the opportunity to help salvage parts out of another guy's same model of motorcycle that he had purchased after an aviation A&P mechanic - as professional a certification as I can think of - had adjusted the valves before selling it. Two of the nuts had loosened, and one of the valves had dropped after the rocker arm eventually loosened the valve keepers. All of the nuts were just hand-tight.

War stories aside, on the Insight torque specs are:

14 ft-lbs on the INTAKE
10 ft-lbs on the EXHAUST

Access to the crankshaft bolt to turn the engine over is through a hole the righthand wheel well liner. Check engine rotation while running, and turn the engine the same direction, to avoid bunching the timing chain up in the works.

Valve adjustment is straightforward on the Insight. One thing to note is that the fuel line to the fuel rail needs to be removed to allow the valve cover to come off. On the 2000-2003 models, this uses a crush washer that isn't recommended to be reused. I had a small fuel leak when reusing mine, remedied by thoroughly cleaning the mating surfaces, and smoothing the washer before the second try. Don't assume that it's leak-free - double-check after finishing the work!

-Jeff