It doesn't move freely by hand, even with the crankshaft off. Would the bucket be too big, or do I have a problem with the valve underneath?

Quote from: Ry_Guy on March 30, 2008, 11:27:48 AM
It doesn't move freely by hand, even with the crankshaft off. Would the bucket be too big, or do I have a problem with the valve underneath?

You mean the "camshaft" right?

Is this a new bucket that you are putting in? Or is this the bucket that has been in the head for the life of the engine. I think GSJack had a stick bucket on the exhuast side before, so it could just be too big when the engine is cold?

I am not too sure why it would get stuck in there, but you should still be able to remove the bucket even if the valve was jacked up.

QuoteYou mean the "camshaft" right?

Yea, I meant camshaft. It's the original bucket as of 16K. It will budge with a hammer and chisel, but that's it. How am I supposed to get it outta there without removing the head?

I had a sticking exhaust valve bucket on my 02 GS which I discovered on my first valve clearance check at about 10k miles, I bought the bike used with about 4k on it.  It would stick cold but it loosened up and smoothed out in 30-60 seconds after startup most days as it warmed up a bit.  Since it didn't seem a big problem I decided to let it go and see if it loosened up with more wear.

One cold morning it stuck while cranking and stopped with a big bang.  It was just below freezing that morning and the bike had 21.5k miles on it by then.  Broke the valve so I had to pull the head to repair it.  I assume it came from the factory that way but can't be sure.  Yours is the only other case of a stuck bucket I've heard of so far so it must not be real common.

It's probably going to be hard to get that out without pulling the head, mine was real tight.  After I pulled the head I could drive the valve stem back up thru the guide with a long pin punch to push the bucket out.  The head of the valve was broke clear off.  Bike now has 57k miles on it since the repair with no further problems.  My broken exhaust valve:

I removed mine with a simple magnet. I don't think thats going to work for yours

You may need to head the area of the head up a little bit, it will help by allowing the aluminum to expand, and then maybe you can yoink it out of there. Otherwise you might have to pull the head.