Hi, I am a little confused about cam timing. In the manual, it says that the dot (which it refers to as a notch, but I'm sure they mean dot as that is the only thing there) should be level with the cylinder head surface. However, on both my old 2001 610 and my new '06 610, I've found the dot to be one tooth up from what I would deem as "level". With it dead level you can only see the dot if you look down from the top, you can't quite see it if you look from the side, therefore I am wondering if they really meant exactly level, but the drawing seems pretty self explanatory. On my new one I've put it back in what looks like one tooth above the cylinder head surface, that was how I found it. On my old one, I put it how it showed in the manual and it was fine, but I was a little bit paranoid to do that on the new one since I plan to sell it rather than run it into the ground. Anyone else who's replaced the 610 cam chain able to shed some light on the matter? Here is what the manual shows: Here are a couple of pics from my old bike 1. how I found it when I pulled the rocker cover 2. what I set it to after replacing the cam chain But on my new bike I got a bit worried and left it as it was. Also on my new bike I couldn't quite notice whether I could see the dot or not when looking at the cylinder head surface that made me have second thoughts about the whole thing. Maybe it was just dark in my garage, I dunno. Add into that that I'm doing it after work in the evenings! My plan to do it over the weekend was scuppered when I found out that the cam chain was wrong and my bike is my only vehicle at the moment so I'm having to bum lifts from various people! So I'm quite keen to put it back together but if I had more time to fiddle I might have decided to put it back how the manual says it.
The cam timing mark should be lined up with the inlet side of the head cover mating surface when the marks on the crank and balance shaft gears line up to indicate TDC
Hmm, the manual didn't specify inlet or exhaust side, but the illustration shows that. I did it on the exhaust side on my old 610 and it was fine until it started burning oil (unrelated). I've just got the radiators back on the new one and I've also set it up on the exhaust side. Does that mean it will be a tooth out or what? I've turned the engine by hand and it was fine. I can't quite get my head around it!
Turns out I had it right the first time then! Just spent this evening putting it back on the exhaust side now it looks a tooth out on the inlet side! This is doing my nut! Can you pls tell me whether or not the timing will be correct by setting it from the exhaust side? It seemed to be on my old 610 which ran fine for about 10000 miles until the valve stem seals wore out. But come to think of it, it was always very clattery. Do I have to reset the cam timing for a third time or what?
Just realised it doesn't matter, it's only a case of detaching the sprocket from the cam shaft and putting it 180 degrees the other way, the camshaft itself doesn't actually need moving and therefore there is no difference to timing.
That's exactly as I've got it but on the exhaust side. The engine turns over and my old one ran just fine as well.
Well I rode into work today and I might have been imagining it but it felt slightly sluggish. It idles smoothly but I'm not sure if it pulls as strongly towards the limiter as it did. Still lifts the front in 2nd and 3rd though. I'm probably just imagining it...
Right, I've finally got to the point where I am not working on the bike/clearing my garage and I can conclude this thread. Turns out the bike is running spot on, I was just imagining it feeling sluggish. You can line the dot up on either the left side or the right side, it makes no difference. For some reason, it will always appear a tooth out on the opposite side. Observe the following pic: That looks a tooth out, doesn't it? But then this is what it looked like on the other side Dead level. This is a "before" pic of what the cam wheel looked like before I'd touched the timing, lined up on the intake side: As you can see from the dot, on the exhaust side it looks like it's a tooth out, but the timing is exactly the same, the position of the allen bolts is a dead give away. They should be vertical, a straight 90 degrees upright. This was at TDC: On one TDC, both rocker arms are preloaded for some reason. Initially, this confused me and I assumed the valve clearance had worn out, so I messed up the clearances, then when I found the correct TDC I saw that the valves were real loose, so I had to set the valves again! Anyway hopefully this helps some other poor sap paranoid about his cam timing that as long as the dot is level on either side and the allen bolts are vertical that the timing is correct. It's a bit of a mystery why it doesn't line up on both sides, any ideas?
