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I just adjusted the valve clearance on my 86 Honda XL 600r. I followed the manual, but now it runs with a rattling noise. I was wondering if this means they are too loose?
Also I broke of a piece of a screwdriver adjusting them and it might have fallen into the cylinder head. Could this cause problems?

Whoa. Yeah First off, get that bit of screwdriver out of there. i dunno how big it was but it could get stuck in an oil passage, creating an obstruction which will mess w/ your oil flow. Try using a magnet or something.

You probably adjusted your valves too loose if you are hearing clatter. A proper adjustment should give "magnetic drag" on your feeler gauge, and the gauge MUST be perpendicular to the valve so you don't get a false feel for it.

If you take your magnet (which u used to get the screwdriver bit out of your oil passage ) and drag the feeler gauge across it, you should get an Idea of what I mean by "magnetic drag." You shouldn't clamp it down so it's difficult to move the gauge, but you also shouldn't make it so that there's no resistance at all.

Give it another shot, you'll get a feel for it.

Thanks for the help. I uses a magnet and removed some small pieces of metal. I'm thinking the tip broke into small pieces instead of an intact piece.

I checked the valve clearance again and it was way off. I think that I adjusted it on the wrong stroke. Is there a way to tell when the TDC mark is on the compression stroke?

when both intake and exhaust valves are closed is tdcc.
Just rotate the motor over with the valve cover off, so you can
watch the cam.. i'll usually just use a small screwdriver or pen,
and feel threw the sparkplug hole when the piston is at tdc.

*accidently

While talking about valve adjustments, my service manual talks about different thickness of shims.

1st - Are every shims standard on any model
2nd- Can I go to the dealer and ask em for the thickness I'll need ?

BeerBaron

It's been a long time since I've had to swap shims on a Japanese bike (They don't go bad too often) but depending on the bike, there's a really weird classification system for them (It's by color)

Maybe that's only Yamaha I can't remember... anyway, dealer should be able to help you.

there are 2 types of shim-type valve train, shim under bucket, and shim over bucket.. shims go by size in increments of .05mm. You'll first have to measure the valve clearence and record that reading, then determine how many mm's you'll need to get within spec.. factory shims usually come
in .02, but if you're buying shims aftermarket, they will most likely be
.05's.. too much clearence needs a larger shim, too little clearence needs
a smaller shim..

So if I want to adjust my valves I need to change the shims to if they are out of specs?

BeerBaron

hmm that magnet can be dangerous!
once i tried to get some debris out,
by putting a magnet on a screwdriver
and it got stuck to the cylinder wall!!
to make the long story short
i took the heads off and there was nothing!