Honda ATV Forum banner

Runs rough after valve adjustment

13217 Views 10 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  bostthehause
I have a 1984 Honda TRX 200. It was running fine until I decided to adjust the valves on it because it hadn't been done in forever. I consulted the owner's manual and followed the valve adjustment procedures step for step. I aligned the two timing marks to make sure that the engine was at the top of the compression stroke. Once I had the marks aligned, I then wiggled the rocker arms by hand and they were loose, which would mean that the engine was indeed at the top of the compression stroke. I then adjusted both the intake and exhaust valves to the specs recommended by the manual, which was .05mm(.002in). After I put the quad back together, it was difficult to crank. I did eventually get it cranked and it idled fine. It also runs fine at lower rpms, but at upper rpms it loses power and runs extremely rough! It spits a lot of white smoke out of the tailpipe when it is running. Also, the quad has a compression release lever, which is supposed to make it easier to pull crank. After the valve adjustment the compression release lever no longer works. The lever won't stick at the top like it is supposed to. Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong with it? I am out of ideas. Any help will be greatly appreciated! Thanks.
1 - 4 of 11 Posts
No, I am not sure that it was on the compression stroke. I wondered about this myself. The only way the manual stated to ensure that it was on the compression stroke was to wiggle the rocker arms to see if they were loose when the "T" mark was lined up. I did wiggle the rocker arms and they were loose. Is there any other way to differentiate between the engine being on the compression versus the exhaust stroke? Thanks.
Potato Gun, I am also convinced that the compression release lever is directly related to my problem. However I don't know much about decompression systems in motors. My only understanding is that all a compression release lever does is hang a valve open during cranking...right? Is there a way that the lever could be jammed or something? Does anyone else know much about how these work or if it is related to my problem.

Also, the quad has not been flipped upside down lately and it was running fine before I tried to adjust the valves. Thanks.
Thanks for all the advice everyone! I have been out of town on vacation for the last week, so I haven't got to put in much wrench time on the quad yet. I'm planning working on it this weekend though. I will keep you all posted on the results.
1 - 4 of 11 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top