Valves on a v twin Kawasaki

carpenter · Aug 31, 2015

I just bought a Zero turn Gravely 260 with a 31 horse v twin air cooled Kawasaki, 643 hours. The manual is ordered.
I don't know jack. I think it has three valves per side. The valves are a bit noisy. Maybe more than a bit.
The mature mechanic, about the same 58 years as me, at Frontier Ag and Turf assured me they where fine.
That that's the way we like them. I get they are better loose than tight.
I guess my question is should I be concerned and in a hurry to check and adjust the valves or should I just run it.

I started another with 1000 hours and the valve train was quiet.

Please advise.

Bob · Sep 1, 2015

NOT sure about that specific engine, but typically the valve clearance on modern V-twins is probably .005" to .007".

If you are REALLY hearing "valve noise" something is seriously wrong, or a "BLEM" was playing around in there before you bought it and mucked up the valve settings.

Just MHO.

Hoenes · Sep 1, 2015

I have a 2012 model cub cadet with a kohler v-twin. I usually idle it down for about 60 seconds, before I shut it off. (Good advise, as per this forum) It only has 150 hours on it, buts it sounds like my old '59 Panhead clattering, during the idle down! Noisy, but no problems so far.

carpenter · Sep 1, 2015

Bob: Thanks for your reply. Why do you say something is seriously wrong ? Is it not common to here valves in all sorts of engines.
I guess my question is on this particular engine should I be concerned or will this quickly pound the parts out of shape.
Not sure but I think the manufacturer recommends adjusting the valves every 300 hours. It may have never been looked at.
In all other respects it makes lots of power, run and starts and idles well. Also, what or who is a "BLEM" ? Is it slang or an acronym ?

Bob · Sep 3, 2015

My point was that I would not expect to hear "valve noise" on a such a modern engine designed to have very little "valve clearance", and if you are hearing such noise I would pull the valve covers and set the valves to the correct clearance using the factory-suggested procedure.

My thought was that possible a less-than-skilled "wrench" may have set them incorrectly in the past.

Tires and batteries that are slightly less than perfect are sometimes branded "BLEM" and sometimes folks that don't pay attention and abuse machinery should have a "BLEM" stamp on their forehead. And, yes, that includes myself, from time to time!

tractorguy2 · Sep 3, 2015

If the valves are too loose. It wouldn't start easy. Crank over heavy hard and act like the battery was bad.

Valves on a v twin Kawasaki

carpenter

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Bob

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tractorguy2

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