1986 VF500F Refuses to run without carb cleaner/starting fluid

Hello,

I recently purchased an 86 VF500F, that according to the previous owner, ran fine before the throttle cable broke.

When I started to take it apart, the cables were fine, but the throttle tube was broken where the cable goes in, and the choke cable was missing.

Installed a new throttle tube and choke cable, and noticed one of the sync springs was missing causing the throttle blades to be way out of alignment, I got a new spring, did a bench sync with a feeler gauge and got the throttle blades all lined up again.

I haven't disassembled the carbs at all yet, but I did spray them down as best I could with carb cleaner.

Despite my best efforts the bike still will not run, it will fire off just fine if you spray carb cleaner into the carbs, but will die as soon as it runs out.

I even tried bypassing the fuel tank/filter with putting fresh gas in a funnel and putting this on the fuel supply line, in case there was an issue with the petcock.

Also, the aluminum manifold plate that all the carbs are attatched to has 2 small pieces broke out of it where it would seal against the airbox.. if anyone has one laying around I may be interested in purchasing it.

Whats my next step? Complete carb rebuild? Would really like to get this running soon as it seems like a very cool bike

Thanks for all the help in advance.



TLDR: Carbs seem to be at least bench synced properly, refuses too run at all without continually spraying carb cleaner into the carbs, not the petcock either. Do I need to rebuild?

 

Pull the carbs and clean the jets, it has had fuel left in the carbs and it has turned to varnish

 

+1 Jets need cleaning. When you thin out the fuel, it runs well. Definitely a dirty jet. Have fun!

 

Starting fluid can damage pistons, rings, and cylinders, so take care !

You need to clean the slow jets using a wire to poke through the small hole. Not a carb rebuild, just clean the jets.

Don't bother cleaning carbs until after you drain, flush, and coat the fuel tank (if necessary) to eliminate all signs of rust. New fuel filter is a must !

 

I've done my fair share of work on small engines, so I understand the risk, but thank you.

Alright I will go through and clean out the carbs hopefully tomorrow or the next day. I have read in other places that using a small wire to clean the jets is a bad idea because it can gouge the inside of the jet and adversely affect its flow characteristics, is this true or something that doesn't need to be worried about?

 

I have always used a strand off a wire brush and gently clean every hole, never had any problems. Also read up on removing the carbs, don't remove them from the base plate. And when you get them cleaned get yourself a fuel bottle so you can run it without having to put the tank back on and you can also easily see what is going on with the carbs

 

I already have the carbs off, not as hard as most people to make it out to be. As I stated with my first post, I was already using a fuel bottle. Thank you for the help.

 

Went thru the carbs and cleaned all the jets, and got all the float valves unstuck and it runs like a champ now! thanks for the help.