Yamaha TRX850 Enthusiasts Forum

Been doing valve clearances, when i took the curved water pipe off the head there was a fair old bit of corrosion around the base of it. Any good methods of cleaning it up without dropping crap into the head, got it plugged with tissue paper at the moment

I too would love to know if there is a trick to this, I've done the clearances twice now and both times the middle exhaust valve directly underneath the crud has been covered in the stuff. It's baked on so you have to scrape it off but then it immediately crumbles into little granules and goes everywhere, total nightmare! I just turned the motor over a few times by hand and cleaned out as much as I could until the cam lobe stopped scrunching..

It's handy to use compressed air. If you don't have your own compressor, it could be found at most of mechanical shops, maybe gas stations. You can soak it in penetrating lubricant and then apply air.

I have a compressor but not sure blowing the dirt away is a good idea think I might use a hoover

YEP, vacuum while scraping. The crevice tool (oooer!) with gaffer taped on piece of hose does the trick a treat.