Checking valve clearance on B&W 150 - need to drain coolant?

[heypete]

Hi folks,

The service manual for my B&W 150 says that "The cylinder head can be serviced with the engine installed in the frame. Coolant in the radiator and water jacket must be drained first."

If I'm checking the valve clearance, I need only remove the cylinder head cover, not the head itself. Do I still need to drain the coolant?

Cheers!
-Pete

Update: The quote above was from the preamble of the "Cylinder Head/Valves" section of the service manual. Further down, it has sections for the head cover removal (no mention of draining coolant) and for removal of the head itself (which does mention removing coolant).

Update #2: Removing the head cover does not require draining coolant. Huzzah. However, getting feeler gauges into those tiny gaps for checking valve clearance is a Royal Pain In The Butt. Same thing with finding Top Dead Center without a T mark on the flywheel. Did they not put one in or what? Also, not re-connecting the air intake hose to the little plastic tank (what's the purpose of that tank anyway?) and having it partially blocked causes all sorts of Fun Happy Issues (really low power when accelerating, for one). Once cleared, everything works fine.

[zombie]

Now THAT'S a post! Question, and answer all in one! Which "tank" are you referring to? There should be a P.C.V. set up to vent any blowby.

[heypete]

zombie: Thanks!

As for the "tank", there's a small, translucent, white plastic tank under the center cover (just forward of the seat, between where one's feet would be while riding).

Stadium Yamaha calls it a " SKU: 83605-KHD8-900, CHAMBER AIR/C", and it's visible in the bottom-left of the picture here, where it's marked by tag number 83605.

Basically, the tank has a hole in the front through which air is admitted, and is then drawn out by the main air duct. The duct leads back to the air filter, and from there to the engine. I honestly have no idea what the purpose of the tank is.

[Shaka]

That tank might be just to keep water from being sucked in, sure is a heck of snorkel!

[zombie]

Ok. Yes! It is one heck of a snorkel! The entire air intake system is relying on the "tank" If ANYTHING gets "pluGGed" up your scoot will not run right! I think you already figured that one out! I believe the reason for the tank would accurately  be called a silencer/ resonator. I think this link will give you a service manual for your scoot. If not please post back, and I will try to find one for you. If you do not mind a little extra noise; all of that set up can be eliminated, and a free flow air filter can be installed. A little Carb. jetting will be needed as well. Kymco installed that entire set-up to make the scoot as QUITE as possible. ME... I like NOISE!!! On a Ps note. You can buy a set of feeler gauges that have a 45% offset on the tip to make life a little easier! Post back w/ ANY questions, and I am sure you will get enough Info. to help! Best of luck...     http://www.scribd.com/

[heypete]

I've got the service manual for this scoot, but if you've got a newer one with less-bad Engrish, I'd be very much obliged if you had a link to it.

Also, any suggestions for a better air filter would be great. The existing setup is fine, but I'm curious about the possibility of a different filter. It'd also be fantastic if there was some way to add an oil filter. Running without an oil filter just seems silly to me, particularly for extended intervals. (Naturally, I use a quality synthetic oil, but there's still a lot of gunk that gets into the oil with extended drain intervals.)

[zombie]

Hi heypete, Here's a link to k&n air filters. You can find the style you need there, and shop around for the best price. The only way I could think to add an oil filter would involve machining the block to accept fittings for an external pump, and filter. Not an easy fix. The link to a manual that may have some different info is in orange on my previous post. Here's the one for k&n    http://www.knfilters.com/      Hope some of this helps!