Z900 A4 sticking clutch

[Gray17]

Hi Guys,
Right well stripped clutch cover off and drained oil, decided will change it anyway now as done 300 miles wudv changed it at 500 anyway after rebore.
Rob was spot on with his assesment! the push rod has indeed spot welded itself to Ball (see photo) so question rod looks ok apart from weld can i just cut ball off and get new ball bearing grind rod flat mushroom looks ok too but ball bearing has ground flat on part that touches mushroom as well as where its welded, must have got bloody hot to do that. On the plus side no particles in oil and grittyness i could feel was as it was,welded. So more work to do now
Thanks Guys

[kev edwards]

Don't penny pinch on this as the hardened surface of rod and ball will now be compromised due to the heat weld, others may say it'll be alright, but I would renew both

[Gray17]

Fair comment Kev, thinking that myself the ball came away from rod fairly easily, it was 1 tiny spot weld on the edge of rod, but as you say it may have damaged the rod itself or at least the hardening the ball bearing is scrap anyway, mushroom looks fine though?
So now more parts to add to my growing list inc a new gasket set and rod seal too.

[kev edwards]

Rod and ball about £30-00 posted from zpower.

[gray]

Mushroom looks ok.

[gray]

might be worthwhile while its in bits anyway, put a clean rag against the pushrod hole at the clutch side and skoosh ( Technical Scottish engineering term) some WD40 or the like into the pushrod hole from the other side- in case there's some debris there . Maybe not from the pushrod or ball, but maybe from the central channel in the gearbox input shaft - it felt stiff to you, so something was rubbing, so there's the change of a little debris.

[Gray17]

Cheers Guys yes will do and got several bits in my watch at mo, but not ordering until im certain ive got everything i need.
Thanks

[Gray17]

Afternoon Guys, right well got full clutch stripped, measured all 8 playrs all at 3.69mm workshop manual says 3.7mm new 3.4mm wear limit and can still see all the indents on both sides of plates no burn marks so think clutch itself all within wear tollerence limits, however did find 1 plate sticking, will have to check for burrs on the lugs. All plain plates look fine without any wear.
The springs are all same length as each other so again look ok, the main issue i believe was the welded ball bearing on push rod,xwhich will be replaced along with new 5/16" ball bearing. Think issue was at somepoint in its life was incorrectly adjusted, when i originally stripped it i thought thats how push rod was supposed to be with ball welded to top? Should have checked back then andcreplaced it, then wouldnt have to do it again. This is problem with old bikes they have been messed with many times so your not sure what is a bodge, a fault or as it should be.
Anyway hopefully the new parts will solve that particular issue.
The tank is currently away getting re painted, so thats another job out of the way.
The poor running, ive found particles in the fuel, so thinking thats clogged the slow running jets up, so getting them re cleaned, will also flush out tank on return from painters and maybe get a couple of inline fuel filters too. Anyone fitted these as doesnt look much room under tank with hoses, carbs etc?
Which just leaves the camchain. Im very concerned about this for several reasons. First off re setting the cam timing, i did it exactly as per the manual counted the 28 links numerous times to confirm, did 2 rotations then re checked it looked spot on, but when Rob checked it was still out, hes of course corrected it, but im going to be disturbing that again when i replace the chain, then theres the full engine strip, lot of work, yet more chances of damaging rings etc when putting back together. Or try the open chain where you can drag the new one in attached to the old one then pein over the ends, or buy the clamp tool.
May go this route, otherwise wont get done and that could be disasterous it it chooses to snap.
Luckily got until spring to sort. So no real rush!
Least i feel im getting somewhere now!

[Gray17]

Quick question Guys from someone whos done this, new Did camchain arrived, ground off heads on 2 pins then pushed old link out, attached new chain then pulled new one through, so now go new soft link with the 2 ends, assumed top plate would fit onto link then pein over protruding ends, but the new top plate refuses to go over pins, compared to old link, def longer so and no lips but plate refuses ut go on. Contacted seller they say you press top plate it on, but thought the link should be snug fit but its feels as though it too small to fit pins even before its peined.
Comments please

[Hard Road]

Quick question Guys from someone whos done this, new Did camchain arrived, ground off heads on 2 pins then pushed old link out, attached new chain then pulled new one through, so now go new soft link with the 2 ends, assumed top plate would fit onto link then pein over protruding ends, but the new top plate refuses to go over pins, compared to old link, def longer so and no lips but plate refuses ut go on. Contacted seller they say you press top plate it on, but thought the link should be snug fit but its feels as though it too small to fit pins even before its peined.
Comments please

the end plate is an interference fit and needs to be pressed on with the correct tool, then you pein the ends over.

[Gray17]

Thanks for reply, thats, exactly what seller said too, just wanted to verify before proceeding, now managed to press plate onto pins ready for peining, my friend is making a plate that bolts onto head with a large mass so you can pein against it, he uses it on Hodnas but re drilling it to suit Z900.
Many thanks for your quick reply.

[kev edwards]

Done a fair few cam chins like this over the years, 1 club hammer and 1 small ball pein hammer, never a problem.

[Gray17]

Afternoon Guys, thanks for all the comments they helped
Friend made a solid steel plate 5" x 1" suitably drilled to match cylinder head cam cover holes, then bolted down tightly, this had 2 clamps 1 at either end to hold camchain tight against the plate so as not to move. Then the top link plate was pressed on, then making sure nice and loose peined over using a drift, perfect whilst im sure this can be done with 2 hammers it was much easier with the plate.
Checked camchain all perfect so re fitted cam shafts. Now chain is new theres not so much slack so making sure chain tight at exhaust cam, made sure mark perfectly aligned with top head casting as per workshop diagram made sure the chain was tight on that side then bolted the 2 front caps down.
Next inlet counted 28 pins and fitted inlet cam, re checked ok. Next fitted top cam roller, then tensioner.
Rotated engine 2 full turns back to TDC still perfectly aligned, not like last time where cam was well below casting so hoping thats all correct now.
Decided clutch almost on limit so bit the bullet and bought new one whilst apart, should arrive today, carbs have all been cleaned ultrasonically and floats set up again, apparently issue was the rubber feed pipes depositing small bits of rubber blocking carbs, these have been replaced with E10 compatible.
So hopefully once back together will run well again?

[zed1015]

Next inlet counted 28 pins and fitted inlet cam, re checked ok. Next fitted top cam roller, then tensioner.

The pin aligned on the exhaust cam mark which is level with the head was counted as zero i hope ?

[Gray17]

Yes thanks Rob i did remember, counted from next after mark, cant believe how much original chain had stretched. Realky surprised me! Measured both, new one nearly 1/2 " shorter then old one yet appeared to be no play in links themselves, so guessing extra is every part has stretched a small ammount. Have left cam chain tensioner as you left it as it still contracts enough on the new position as you left it, plus you'd peined grub screw in place. Its also now apparent why i got it wrong originally as it was so much out, when aligned with cover, whereas now its spot on when at tdc. How much does a new chain stretch initially, ie should i re check tensioner after 500 miles or so?