cyber you will know this....

[bigbike-r]

i have recently swapped heads on a gsx600f pre 98

now it is really stiff and the starter motor struggles to turn it......

i have checked the cam timing 4 times now and they are deffinately correct...
i thought maybe it was the camchain been too tight wich i have also checked....
so then i thought perhaps it was the valve clearences wich are also correct!

now a friend has told me that the cam caps (the caps that bolt the cams down that is ) are not interchangeable because they are made specifically for the engine they came out of as they are bored straight through seperately on each engine and this could be causing the stiffnesss because if i have changed some they will be out of linement to the others??

i did change 1 as the thread was stripped for the rocker cover!

is my friend correct in this or are they interchangeable, and if so is there anything you can think of that could be causing the engine to turn over so stiff........ i cant even push it off as the whheel locks up and the starter motor will only just turn but then struggles and gets hot!

hope anybody reading this can put some valuble input into this one as me and my friends are baffled!!!

[Black_peter]

I think at the very least the cam caps get "lapped" or worn to match the cam. If you swapped around cam caps from one position to another or one bike to another or even put them in 180 degrees off, this could very well be the problem. On something as stiff as a cam shaft and as long and with as many caps a tiny alignment difference on them could lock it up solid!

What if you remove all the caps then turn the engine over by hand?
Or remove half and try it. If it turns over easy then replace them one at a time until you find the offenders..

solutions? Got me. If you relap the caps they might end up with too much slop or not enough contact for good operation. I wonder what the solution is for fixing a motor that has over worn caps? What does the book say? (Left mine in Texas) Maybe you can replace all the caps and then lap them to match?
I'm thinking the rebuild section of the manual has some clues..

[damic]

Originally Posted by bigbike-r

now a friend has told me that the cam caps (the caps that bolt the cams down that is ) are not interchangeable because they are made specifically for the engine they came out of as they are bored straight through seperately on each engine and this could be causing the stiffnesss because if i have changed some they will be out of linement to the others??

i did change 1 as the thread was stripped for the rocker cover!

They are not so much specifically for the engine as they are for the head. They are machined as a unit and are not interchangable. That is why they have markings on the top so you don't get them mixed up. Your best bet might be to helicoil the old cap making sure you don't block the oil passage in the process.

[bigbike-r]

the motor turns fine without the cams in and easier when the intake cam was out they look fine and seem to go down straight

i will dig out the manual again and look up what to do with worn caps though im not too sure it does tell you...

[arsenic]

I'm rebuilding my Katana engine, and I'm swapping to NEW GSXR cams. I will reuse the cam caps, but will I run into a problem if those caps are worn to the old cams? Sorry didm't mean to hijack your thread, nevermind I already found my answer.

[md86]

Originally Posted by arsenic13

nevermind I already found my answer.

Then share .

[arsenic]

I got ahold of court93kat, who's done that same mod. He said he did a lot of research before hand, and he hasn't had a problem since he's done the swap, so I should be fine.

[bigbike-r]

so my cam caps may not be causing the prob??? before i rip them out again........ COURT get the hell ova ere n explain ya self

[Black_peter]

Originally Posted by bigbike-r

so my cam caps may not be causing the prob???

I think maybe he meant changing the cam isn't a problem..

Swapping the caps around? I think is a problem..

[tzortn]

Originally Posted by Black_peter

I think maybe he meant changing the cam isn't a problem..

Swapping the caps around? I think is a problem..

I agree, but I wonder if you can lap the new caps to match the cams instead of throwing out the head. Another option would be to overbore all the cam journals and use oversize bearings (assuming the Kat uses cam bearings).