P500 P500 Valve adjustment

[Montecresto]

Yea Did mine tonight. Real pain. And I don't see doing this with out removing fenders and airbox.

30 plastic rivets ,6 screws, 12 bolts, 6 or 7 wire grommets. Ridiculous

How far out were they?

 

[Talen]

How far out were they?

Exhaust seemed good. Intake tight

How far out were they?

Exhaust good. Intake tight

 

[Code54]

I don't recall exactly but think it was around an hour. It is a little bit of a hassle due to the lay out of the machine...

 

[Chooglin]

Yea Did mine tonight. Real pain. And I don't see doing this with out removing fenders and airbox.

30 plastic rivets ,6 screws, 12 bolts, 6 or 7 wire grommets. Ridiculous

I agree @Talen , I think it's a must and you also need to remove all wire clips from the battery box and get it out of the way ,so you can see the timing marks thru the site hole.
This is how I did it. It takes a lot longer but we'll worth the extra effort !!!

 

[Chooglin]

I took a picture but was having trouble getting the camera to focus. The site hole was very easy to see once the battery box is moved out of the way !!!

 

[sthomp54]

I don't recall exactly but think it was around an hour. It is a little bit of a hassle due to the lay out of the machine...

I can handle an hour or two but if it takes 5 hrs to check the valves I'm not gonna be happy. I've had the plastic off under the seat installing a center seat belt so the Phillips screws are loose now...hopefully no other overtightened bolts that I tend to see on this machine.

 

[Montecresto]

Exhaust seemed good. Intake tight

Exhaust good. Intake tight

Intake tight??

 

[Talen]

Yea tight. Feeler didn't fit till I adjusted

 

[ehart814]

Thank you for the write up on this. I'll probably be doing it before the weekend is over - going to wait till i'm a little past 100 miles. I was concerned about all the crap you have to remove to get to the top of the motor, but after changing the oil last night it doesn't seem too bad...

Does everyone put the machine in 5th and roll it to get to TDC??? I would prefer to put a socket on the flywheel bolt to turn the motor, as I have done in the past on other machines. Has anyone used a wrench to turn the engine instead of rolling the machine??

 

[ehart814]

Well I did it. And yes. It sucked. But both of mine were off. Loose on exhaust and tight on intake. Did I mention it sucked???

 

[Montecresto]

Well I did it. And yes. It sucked. But both of mine were off. Loose on exhaust and tight on intake. Did I mention it sucked???

Does it run any different, better??

 

[ehart814]

Does it run any different, better??

No difference in how it runs. If the clearances get excessively big, you might notice a little more valve noise and an adjustment might quiet them a little. But it's better to have a little too much clearance than not enough, so always err on the high side when it comes valve clearance.

I would be willing to bet that you could go a very long time with no valve adjustment and be just fine... however, I didn't want to take a chance. this is the first new Honda I have bought, so I'm going by the book.

 

[Montecresto]

No difference in how it runs. If the clearances get excessively big, you might notice a little more valve noise and an adjustment might quiet them a little. But it's better to have a little too much clearance than not enough, so always err on the high side when it comes valve clearance.

I would be willing to bet that you could go a very long time with no valve adjustment and be just fine... however, I didn't want to take a chance. this is the first new Honda I have bought, so I'm going by the book.

I hear ya, I think you're right, my buddy has 2K on his with no adjustment and no trouble.

 

[ehart814]

So I've been really running mine hard lately. Towing a disc around my small field to help smooth it out and eventually expand my yard. So, pulling hard (have to use 4wd or it spins out) in "L" I've probably run 3 or 4 hours like this since Friday night. I'm not running the rpms up excessively, but enough to keep moving. Anyhow, tonight I started to notice a ticking noise. I'm 90% sure it's valve noise. Maybe it's normal...but this is the first I've noticed it. I guess I'll check the valves again sometime. I've got just about 300 miles on. Did the valves at 120 I think.


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[Code54]

Also make sure you are not running hot (or possibly low on antifreeze) and checking the valves would be a good idea.
Good luck

 

[ehart814]

Also make sure you are not running hot (or possibly low on antifreeze) and checking the valves would be a good idea.
Good luck

When I work it hard like that I keep the temp on the display. I have yet to see it go above 2 bars out of 5, even though the fan runs occasionally. I'll double check the coolant tho. I always take it for an easy cruise down the road to make sure it's cooled down a bit before putting it away.

 

[Montecresto]

When I work it hard like that I keep the temp on the display. I have yet to see it go above 2 bars out of 5, even though the fan runs occasionally. I'll double check the coolant tho. I always take it for an easy cruise down the road to make sure it's cooled down a bit before putting it away.

Been doing the same thing, never over two!!! That seems strange to me, climbing the long steep trails I do in the winter or summer, no difference, two bars. Do they actually work, lol.

 

[ehart814]

Been doing the same thing, never over two!!! That seems strange to me, climbing the long steep trails I do in the winter or summer, no difference, two bars. Do they actually work, lol.

Yeah I wonder that myself... You would think it would climb a bit, then drop after the fan starts running. Either the temp gauge is not precise at all, or the cooling system is amazingly effective!

 

[Montecresto]

Yeah I wonder that myself... You would think it would climb a bit, then drop after the fan starts running. Either the temp gauge is not precise at all, or the cooling system is amazingly effective!

Right. Like the gas gauge. Go down a steep hill for a very long time and your 4 bars will read 1. If you're on 3 bars, the low fuel signal starts flashing, lol.

 

[ehart814]

Right. Like the gas gauge. Go down a steep hill for a very long time and your 4 bars will read 1. If you're on 3 bars, the low fuel signal starts flashing, lol.

I just laughed out loud... I have experienced the exact same thing. The gas gauge sure doesn't like it when the buggy is on uneven ground!