I just installed an Andrews ev27 and ez adjustable pushrods, it had been a month of finding time to wrench on my bike so I was pretty thrilled to get it all done tonight. I pressed on the stock cam gear to the Andrews shaft and matched the timing marks to where the groove is on the andrews camshaft.

I put everything back together, turned the pushrods 24 flats while the valves were closed, waited for them to bleed down properly between doing each cyclinder... Thought I was good to go.

I put the bike in 5th gear and turned the engine from the rear wheel with the spark plugs removed. Instead of hearing a "chug" out of the spark plug holes, I'm getting a long, loud hissing out of the carb. Where did I go wrong?? Does this mean the intake vales are open during the compression stroke?

 

I am not sure how you are hearing much of anything with the plugs out.

 

I put the bike on a stand, pulled the spark plugs out, put the transmission in 5th and turned the rear wheel by hand, the engine wasn't running. The carb made a sound like "chh" every compression stroke.

I put the spark plugs back in and tried running the bike. It runs on choke, but no matter how I turned the ignition sensor plate it would die. One cylinder was much louder than the other. I'll try readjusting the pushrods but I think I did those right.

Does anyone have experience with degreeing or swapping a cam gear? Anyone know if the groove on the Andrews camshaft in the same spot as the stock one?

 

I am not sure where to start-
I think a test to verify your valves are seating, and or not bent.
Once that is verified you can move to the next item.

 

Would a compression test verify the valves are seating properly?

I have new lifters in but old valve springs (50k no). Could the lifters be overpowering the valve springs? When I was installing the pushrods I did the front cylinder first, waited until I could spin them before doing the rear. I figured once they could spin the valve would be closed.

 

If you have an air compressor, a quick and dirty test goes like this:

Rear wheel off the ground, fifth gear, both spark plugs out, timing plug on the crankcase removed, rotate the wheel until the TDC mark appears on the flywheel. Take your rubber tipped compressed air nozzle and stuff it into the front sparkplug hole and give it a squirt of air.

You have a 50/50 chance that you landed on the compression stroke when you rotated the engine. If you did, and if the valve train is correctly timed to the crank, you'll drive the piston downward.

If the air blows through the engine without moving it, rotate the rear wheel such that the crank rotates 360 degrees, back to the TDC mark. Do the compressed air test again.

If the air drives the piston downward that time, odds are you're good. OTOH, if the air still blows through the engine (ie, without driving the piston downward), you're screwed and the whole business is coming back apart.

Did you rotate the engine by hand (ie, with the rear tire) through at least 720 degrees of crank rotation before you tried turning it over with the starter?

 

I don't have my notes in front of me, but going from vague memory, I don't think you can do it that way. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

I know JIMS makes a fancy tool for aligning those gears (instruction PDF here). It indexes off the notch on the end of the cam, which is what matters: That notch has to be precision indexed to the timing marks on the cam gear.

If your motor fails the air compressor test above, pull the cam chest cover. Rotate the engine to where the cam gear timing mark is aligned with the pinion gear timing mark. The notch on the end of the cam should be positioned at about 3:30 like this. If it isn't, you've found your problem.



If it's way off, you're going to have to pull everything apart. As soon as you've removed the pushrods, do the compressed air test again, on both front and back cylinders this time. All the valves should be closed, and the air should drive the piston to the bottom. Hopefully that's what happens. If it doesn't, that means you bent a valve and you're pulling the heads.

 

Yes, do the above with an air compressor or a compression gauge.
Either will start you off in the right direction.
Let us know.

 

Were you on the cam base circle when you did the first cylinder? Did you rotate the crank before doing the second cylinder?

 

When i put an andrews cam in my shovelhead, i had to use a degree wheel to get it just right.
beforen the bike ran like crap, becsuse the gear was off a bit on the turd sifton cam, and it never did rub right, ever. But after the time consuming process of using a degree wheel, and taking the gear off and on a few times, it ran like a top.
as for the push rods...no idea. I'm still afraid to mess with mine, cause the bike is running as -is