how bad

[woodchuck5515]

Alright  my 89 gs500 is having major issues. it cant rev above idle and smoke pours out of the intake side of the cylinder and carb after i turn it off. i have cleaned and rebuilt the carb a couple of times and checked and rechecked the valve clearances. i am thinking a bent valve but am not sure. anybody have any other ideas and a ballpark about how much a shop might charge to fix them.

[werase643]

do a compression check to see if low compression

[woodchuck5515]

Woops ya having a brain fart. forgot to check compression. i shall check in the morning if i can find my darn tester

[bobthebiker]

this sounds a lot like your valve timing is off.  break out the manual and find TDC to determine if the cams are timed properly.  this is my thought on the issue. 

[woodchuck5515]

Not a bad idea at all. Now why didn't I think of that? It looks like I'll be errand running today ,but I'll report back as soon as I have  a chance to check it out.

[woodchuck5515]

Ok maybe a dumb question as I don't have my manual in front of me at the moment but... After I find TDC how do I tell if the timing is off or not.

[bobthebiker]

Two ways particularly. firstly, the cam lobes on the #2 cylinder's intake and exhaust should point upward and away from each other, and there are two lines on each cam sprocket that should be level with the top of the head.   very simple cam timing system to me.

[woodchuck5515]

Alright checked timing and its fine. still cant find the darn compression tester i guess it got lost in the move time for a new one i guess. however i rechecked valve clearances and rh intake is way tight . could this be my problem and how can i pull the shim without the special tool?

[bobthebiker]

a tight intake valve will do it.  too tight and they dont close all the way, causing the issue you describe. not sure if theres any way to pull it without the tool, but hey. worth askin right?

[beRto]

how can i pull the shim without the special tool?

Some people wedge a screwdriver where the tool would normally go. In my experience, you are better off buying the tool and saving yourself some grief. Anyways, here are some threads:
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=35746.0
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=44343.msg497016#msg497016

If you need more info, a search will turn up many more threads.

[natedawg120]

I got good with the screwdriver method and then couldn't use the damn tool 

[woodchuck5515]

Alright after i tracked down a the valve shim tool, cursed the thing for a hour, and figured out that a couple of screwdrivers work much better for me, i finally got the dern shim out. one odd thing though absolutely no size markings on it. not a huge deal i will just measure tomorrow when i can get my calipers back but odd none the less.

[fred]

Alright after i tracked down a the valve shim tool, cursed the thing for a hour, and figured out that a couple of screwdrivers work much better for me, i finally got the dern shim out. one odd thing though absolutely no size markings on it. not a huge deal i will just measure tomorrow when i can get my calipers back but odd none the less.

The markings are printed in ink and it seems like they wear off. I just did my valves and half the shims didn't have any markings on them... Even the ones that were marked weren't exactly the size marked when I measured them...

[gsJack]

Ok maybe a dumb question as I don't have my manual in front of me at the moment but... After I find TDC how do I tell if the timing is off or not.

Crank the engine over via the signal generator until you line the R-T mark up to the forward pickup.  With arrow 1 on the exhaust cam gear pointing at the cyl head top finish line there should be 18 chain pins between arrows 2 and 3 on the exhaust and intake cam gears.  The notches on the ends of the camshafts should be pointing in towards each other.

Woops ya having a brain fart. forgot to check compression. i shall check in the morning if i can find my darn tester

Finger in the hole compression test is good enough, don't need a guage.

[woodchuck5515]

Oh ink that makes sense i just assumed it was enscribed