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RE: Valve shim check intervals T-bird 900

1K views 7 replies 7 participants last post by  Gone in 60 
#1 ·
RE: Valve shim check intervals T-bird 900

I have a 2001 Thunderbird 900. I am getting ready to turn 12K miles. Has anyone had experience with the valve adjustment recommended interval of 12K? My motor sounds the same as it did when new. Is it really necessary to have it checked at 12K if everything seems okay?

I appreciate the advice.

Ron
 
#2 ·
I would do it. Normal wear won't make the engine noisier, on the contrary, it will actually get quieter. Unfortunately, after 12K miles you would not notice one tight valve, until it burns...

If everything checks good this time you might make a case to skip the next one, but you couldn't convince me to do the same. It's not that big of a job.

JMO, YMMV...
 
#3 ·
All the valve clearances on the Bird were in spec at 12k miles. It did however have three tight valves at 24k miles, 2 exhaust and one intake. Like WSC stated it isn’t a big job, just take your time.
 
#7 ·
I have a 2001 Thunderbird 900. I am getting ready to turn 12K miles. Has anyone had experience with the valve adjustment recommended interval of 12K? My motor sounds the same as it did when new. Is it really necessary to have it checked at 12K if everything seems okay?
I have a 2002 Thunderbird with about 13.5k miles. I had the valve adjustment checked around October 2018 and all the clearances were pretty much in spec - no new shims / adjustment needed.
The previous owner had used it as his daily rider / commuter.
 
#8 ·
I recently did my valve check at 12k. Two of my exhaust valves were tight, one of them just .20mm. Definitely glad I caught that.

Just don't make my mistake - cover all of the openings in the top of the engine if you remove your cams for shim replacement - one of the cam cap guides went into the engine and it took days of fishing with various magnet tools to get it out.
 
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