Hi, finally took my zx14 in for valve cover gasket and valve clearance check. 4 exhaust valves tight, 1 intake tight, does that sound about right? its done 22,000 miles.

Whilst I was there the mechanic showed me the cams on the table and all the sizes written down so I don't doubt him,

Is it normal practice to move radiator forward and lower front motor mount to gain a bit more access with the exhaust header still attached?

Because Im only having to pay for the labour costs for setting the shims how many hours do you reckon to do them.

The valve cover removal and gasket is being done under the warranty.
Unfortunately he has needed to order two shims which he was short of so wont get it back till next week now!

Dave

Moving the radiator sounds normal and removing the motor mounts and dropping the lump sounds like a neat trick. Have not heard of that before but it sort of makes sense. I'm guessing they will hit you with another 4 hrs of labor for the shim swap and check, maybe 3 but I would not expect more than 4. Talk to the tech about a proper throttle body sync with the correct Kawi vacuum level tool. If he's good he will know exactly what and why you are asking, if he seems not to know be careful on all of the work he is telling you he is doing. 4 tight ex and 1 tight in sounds about par, how tight was she?

* Last updated by: cruderudy on 1/5/2018 @ 12:56 PM *

Because Im only having to pay for the labour costs for setting the shims how many hours do you reckon to do them.

I doubt they would have tilted the motor just to replace the head cover gasket. They had to do that and tilt the radiator then remove the camshafts + the out of spec buckets and shims + crankshaft cover, fuel tank and Tbody ducts. I would not bother about 4 hours if the guy can do it that fast. Sounds like he is doing a very careful job and trust me, if you are confident that's what he's doing, it's worth the cost. For me what I described would be a couple days of work and I have done it a couple times. As you know, you can't be too careful about maintaining the engine timing. I would be taking my time and triple checking everything.

Don't forget to ask for new spark plug well gaskets and ring-Os.