Oh God. So I was reinstalling the exhaust camshaft after a valve adjustment, and was tightening down the camshaft support bolts, and one of them broke.... :sad:
(http://i555.photobucket.com/albums/jj449/JJackson742/DSCF7017.jpg)
Question is, can I ride on this? I dont plan on having the bike for more than 5,000 more miles, going into the Army this fall and will be selling it. I really hope that I don't have to get that broken screw out of the bottom. Please give me good news. If I start riding it in this condition, is it a ticking timebomb waiting to happen???
Hi there,
No, you can't ride it that way.
And no, you shouldn't even think of selling it that way.
Why do some people think they can do such things?
Fix it.
Now you'll have to remove the cam or at least the cam cap and get in there to use an easy-out or whatever. Maybe you will be lucky and you can grab the broken bolt remnant and turn it out with a needle nose pliers or a vice grips.
When you tightened the bolt, did you use a torque wrench? If not, you should have. Bolts break if you over-torque them.
What were you in there for anyway?
You don't have to remove the cams to adjust the valves.
I'm not sure why some people make a valve adjustment check so complicated by removing the cams.
You can fix this and do the ethical thing and do it right.
That cam cap is delicate and if it breaks (and it will if it is only stressed by one bolt) you will be in for costly repairs. It is not sold separately from the cylinder head. They are line-bored when the head is built.
Your own safety is important here, so you must fix this problem before riding it again.
Good luck.
Let us know how it is going.
Best wishes,
Trwhouse :)
Yea there's no way I would sell a bike that is waiting to just break into a bunch of pieces. Taking it to Suzuki tomorrow.
from your pic, it looks as though if you remove the cap, you SHOULD have enough bolt remnant to get a grip on to remove. can probably do this yourself, and save some $$
same thing happened to me, except I broke my exhaust valves in the process. I had a buddy of mine extract it on a bridgeport. See if you have more luck than me and drill it out yourself. Otherwise you're taking it to a professional. Its not that bad, just dont break anything else
good luck mang
I feel your pain
think alot of peeps have done this matey, (myself included :cookoo:) very easy fix,your halfway through fixing it at the moment.
once you get the bolt out,take the other one which isnt broken to a local hardware place and get a matching bolt and washer if need be :thumb:
I just got a call from the Suzi dealer. They got it all fixed up and finished the valve adjustment for me. And it was only $210. Not too bad.