10k valve check

kmrmike

Supercharged
Joined
Feb 13, 2011
Messages
244
Location
S Florida
Ride
2008 Rocket Touring, Vulcan 1500 Classic
I tackled the 10k valve check on my R3T the pass couple days. For me, it was a little taxing as there seemed to be a never ending disconnecting of electrical plugs! After scaring myself with so many disconnects, I finally started to mark them, and hoped when starting to reassemble everything would go together( just did not plan properly). Next time I will mark them first!
I raised the bike on jack stands and placed the bike in 5th gear and followed the procedure in the manual for checking valves. I guess I had a stroke of good luck as the valves were all within spec’s. All EX valves were .007 to .008 and the IN were .005, .006 except one at .004. This was double checked by Brother Russ and he came up with the same results.
We took our time putting things back together, checking and looking for a plug or vacuum line I may have missed. I pulled out all the spark plugs to check them and found them like new condition so I applied Never Seize compound and re-installed them. Added a new valve cover gasket and bolt seals hopefully to avoid any leaks. After a couple hours I was ready to crank it up. I was very hopeful but in the back of my mind I was thinking the worst case scenario. Turned the key, no smoke, that’s a good sign! instrument cluster lights on,-check! Hit the start button……Aaaahhhh!, the GRIN is back!! Everything back to normal! And after oil change, installing battery tender and 12 volt plug for accessories I’ll be back on the road again!
I made the best effort not to show my garage to avoid much
embarassment!!
Now I have a question to put out there and hope someone will chime in. In the attached photos I have, the intake valves are showing some deposits on the top of the valve. Is this considered normal for 11,000 miles? And if not is there an additive I can use (that works) to eliminate it?
 

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I don't know if it is normal or not. I would use some seafoam.

Glad everything was in spec for you and you didn't have to pull the cams.
 
Techron by Chevron is pretty much the only fuel treatment product that can clean deposits from intake valves. Blasting them with crushed walnut shells is the immediate fix.
Techron isn't cheap so I add 1/4 of the bottle about every few thousand miles. I've been using the fuel treatment in all my vehicles since '88 while working at a BMW shop. Those old 5 series cars with the "e" 6cyl engines would get buildup on the valves so bad it looked like 1/4 inch of chocolate cake. Those engines had valve guide seals with a small design defect, they leaked a tiny amount of oil that mixed with the fuel spraying from the injectors to create a huge mess. It could get so bad that the deposits actually absorbed the fuel like a sponge and caused all kinds of running problems.

When they got that bad the only fix was the walnut shells, but using the Techron every 3,000 miles at the oil service prevented the deposits and actually cleaned away the deposits if they weren't too bad already.

Seeing yours with buildup already at 10k is a little worrisome, I wonder if they all look like that or not. Any one else looked at their valves, did they have deposits too? And does anybody know if the valves are designed to rotate or not? ... his deposits look like they don't.
 
I wish i was that smart
I have to pay for everything
 
If I were smart, I might be able to afford the service. I have more time than money at this point in my life. And don't forget if a mistake is made, it can get very costly!!
 
Hellfire, regarding the additive, have you visually checked valves after using the additive and found the deposits gone?
 
Hellfire, regarding the additive, have you visually checked valves after using the additive and found the deposits gone?
Not on a Rocket engine, but I've seen it work on the BMW's and my cars I've done work on. My Cooper S valves were spotless at 60K when new cyl head was installed. A Raider with 2.6L Mitsubishi engine, Nissan NX2000, Fiat X19 and Yamaha Seca 750 all had spotless valves when they were opened up. I've been using it for along time since seeing how it worked on the BMW's, so I've never had deposits build up on my valves. I have seen it work wonders over time in customer cars. The ones who didn't want to pay for the walnut blasting, some tried the techron instead ... it did a great job but took time to work and had to be added to the fuel often when the buildup was bad. It totally cleaned valves spotless when the deposits were light like yours.
You guys who live where they have Quick Trip convenience stores are lucky, QT adds it to all their grades of gasoline. That's why they have their fuel system guarantee.
 
Didn't know that Hellfire, i live in the hearth of QT, they are based here in Tulsa, from now on im using qt
 
Didn't know that Hellfire, i live in the hearth of QT, they are based here in Tulsa, from now on im using qt
I miss QT, I still have a couple Big Gulp Lamar mugs. Every time they came out with a new refillable squeeze bottle I had to have one. lol