Scan 'em if you got 'em - VF500F Head Gasket Patterns

Discussion in '1st & 2nd Generation 1983-1989' started by invisible cities, Jun 13, 2010.

  1. WGREGT

    WGREGT New Member

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    from their site:

    Cylinder Head Gaskets :

    Multi Layered Steel (MLS)
    Single Layered Steel (SLS)
    Sandwiched Material
    Steel Backbone
    Exfoliated Graphite-Metal reinforced


    All sounds good!
     
  2. jrodrims27

    jrodrims27 New Member

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    Where'd you get that cover for the tank between the seat and tank? I could most definitely use one of those before my seat wears a hole in the tank.
     
  3. jrodrims27

    jrodrims27 New Member

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    I know there's a little bit of confusion about using the valve timing marks. The line you need to find (looking through the port) is to the left of where it says TR (where the R is actually below the T). Like it says in the FSM, you time both heads with that mark.
    Of course the picture just shows where it is, you'd actually be seeing it from the little port at the top of the cover you unscrew which is obviously removed in this picture.
    IMG_1918.jpg
     
  4. WGREGT

    WGREGT New Member

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    The half tank bra?

    Well, I looked for one on ebay for....about 3+ years. No joke. Never saw a single one, so I'm not even sure anyone made them in 84/85/86. (Maybe Lockhart or Targa did? I don't know.) Anyhow, I ended up making it myself. It's only felt-backed black vinyl. Super cheap @ fabric stores. I have them on my other bikes, so I just eyed them and made/sewed it myself. I like 'em. Completes the 80s look...I bet if you took a newer one for a more modern bike to an auto upholstery shop, along with the 500 gas tank, they could make you one.

     
  5. WGREGT

    WGREGT New Member

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    Ok. I'll take note of this. Thanks.

     
  6. jrodrims27

    jrodrims27 New Member

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    cool, the tank half-bra, no wonder I'd never seen one before.
     
  7. jrodrims27

    jrodrims27 New Member

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    Hey Greg, before you pull everything apart, are you absolutely sure it's not coming from the coolant pipe leading out of the rear head? It looks like the leak is exactly underneath the head coolant pipe outlet. That's an easy $2 fix, you just need new o-rings for that pipe.
     
  8. WGREGT

    WGREGT New Member

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    From what I saw earlier it looked like it was coming from the seam in the head, but I had not thought of that. I'll double check today when I get home...
     
  9. jrodrims27

    jrodrims27 New Member

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    did you get the head gasket yet? If not, you should be getting it today or tomorrow at the latest. The wife sent it off Friday a.m.
     
  10. WGREGT

    WGREGT New Member

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    Yep, got it while I was out of town for a bit. Thanks again. Ppal headed your way right now...
     
  11. WGREGT

    WGREGT New Member

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    I checked again, and that leak *might* be coming from that coolant pipe. I can definitely see where it DID come out, and I was thinking it came out of the pipe, ran down to the seam, then ran along the seam to where I see it dripping off the seam at the the other end, but then again it still also looks like it's coming out of the seam itself. Hard to tell for sure until I rip into it this week sometime.

    Say it was the coolant pipe and o-ring...how is that pipe held to the head? Does the valve cover come off to fix it? I'm sure it's not just held on by snapping in/tension, right? You've got yours apart....how does it connect?


     
  12. Captain 80s

    Captain 80s Member

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    The coolant pipes are 0-ring sealed and held in place by half circle keepers that are bolted to the head. They are usually the culprit for coolant leaks in that area.

    Removing/reinstalling the carbs will be the biggest pain. Do the o-rings on the center pipe in the V of the motor while you're there.
     
  13. jrodrims27

    jrodrims27 New Member

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    Captain is right on. You can get the o-rings though partzilla if you don't want to spend time trying to figure out the exact sizes. You'll need only 2 but Captain is right, if one started to leak, you might as well replace all of them including the cap seals unless pulling the carbs is not a big deal for you, it was for me at first but after about 3 or 4 times, it's not so bad. Once you take off the bolt from the ring/holder, you might have to pry/pull each side carefully to get it out, it's just pushed in there, no weld or anything but since its been in there for 30 years, it could be little stuck, the tubes aren't very durable so be careful but if you do mess them up, I can hook you up with a brand new looking set.
     
  14. jrodrims27

    jrodrims27 New Member

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    ready for re-entry.... one more week maybe

    have the engine all ready... (notice the empty beer bottles on the left) and I just left that extra little loop on the head gasket hanging off the front head from using TWO rear head gaskets for the job. It'll be a reminder of all the hours it took me to get that there, maybe i'll hang something off of it... hoping the damn thing will run now exactly like before without the overheating at high speeds... I attached a picture of what the "TR" mark looks like peering through the black hole. IMG_20150927_130429.jpg timing mark.jpg IMG_20150926_131228.jpg
     
  15. WGREGT

    WGREGT New Member

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    2 head gaskets? Oh...that's right. Didn't you try the copper one first that failed? Wasn't that you?
     
  16. jrodrims27

    jrodrims27 New Member

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    no, luckily, I read through as much as I could before I started so I didn't even try to go with copper thanks to somebody else having horrific results. I wasn't really sure which head gasket went bad (probably the rear) so I just took the opportunity to change both on top of replacing a few valves, all new valve springs for both heads and stem seals as well as cleaning all the valves and head ports.
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2015
  17. WGREGT

    WGREGT New Member

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    You, my friend, have yourself a brand new engine, sounds like. I'm interested to hear how it runs...I know that the valve springs are hard to come by especially.
     
  18. jrodrims27

    jrodrims27 New Member

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    Valve springs for the 84/85 seem to be readily available at the moment from CMS-NL. Don't know how many they might have left but luckily they had enough for me.
     
  19. WGREGT

    WGREGT New Member

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    I just got off it and "fixed" one thing: the pilot jet (s) being plugged. It has sat too long since I rode it last, and would not idle (if you just left it idle it would surge....than fall, surge, then fall) and would die when you took it off choke. I drained all but about half a gallon of tank, poured in some Seafoam, and let it idle more, then went for a ride to the PureGas station near me, and put in a gallon of non-ethanol 91 octane. The whole time there and back I'd kick it into neutral at stoplights, and see if it would idle, but it would not. I was riding home after talking to the tech at the dealer about it (just for fun, really) , and resigned myself to the fact that I'd have to pull the carb bank apart on the way to fixing the coolant leak.

    When I got to the house, I decided to open the choke again in order to let it idle while I opened up the garage and got out of my gear and moved a few things around before putting it away. When I came back it had burped coolant on the ground thru the overflow hose by my footpeg, and I noticed: no surging engine speed. I closed the choke lever off again, and...it idled. Rode it around the 'hood, and stopped now & then, and...it idled. No need for throttle to keep it running. Came back, cut it off and on a few times, and...it idled perfectly.

    So, though this never happens, it seems it pushed past whatever varnish was blocking the pilot jet. I know...I can't believe it either. I'm gonna let it sit a few hours and then go and re-check it. But, it seems 100% OK now.

    But here's why I'm really writing: Any of you guys with this same bike run into overheating issues? Seems like mine, even when constantly moving, no stop & go, at a constant 55 MPH or so, is always about 90% on the temp gauge, maybe more. I installed a manual fan on/off switch on the fan a while ago, so I can turn the fan on myself and get ahead of the heat, but now with the coolant leak and the coolant burp today I wondering/thinking that maybe the thermostat is not working? Man, I listened when I cut this thing off to the coolant right at the thermostat junction just flat-out boiling. I mean a full-on, rolling boil for 5 minutes or more. And the air is only about 80F here, and the bike was moving the entire time at freeway (plus!) speeds most of the ride. I do have that aftermarket Spec II full fairing on it (as shown above), but it's fairly light fiberglass and the whole leading edge by the radiator is open.

    Captain (especially)... what's your thoughts on this? Full fairing is the cause of the overheating and possibly the initial coolant leak (which is next up on my list this weekend or next week nights.)?
    I think you have the same fairing on your 86, am I right? Any overheating issues crop up after you installed that? These things are open though on the front to let airflow over the sides, etc and out. Hmmm.

    I suppose a thermostat is a cheap, easy fix to see, though. I could check the working condition of the one I have, but they must be cheap enough to just swap out maybe.
     
  20. jrodrims27

    jrodrims27 New Member

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    Are we still talking about the vf500f? I'm not the captain, but seeing as you're already seeping coolant from the head, you might have either a bad head gasket or a warped or cracked head or block. You can go through the whole, clogged radiator, thermostat, fan, radiator cap, water pump, air circulation things first but the seeping coolant from the head seam (if it wasn't the water pipe oring) is a pretty good clue that your rear head gasket is toast. Have the coolant tested for exhaust gases, run a compression test, do a leak-down test...but unfortunately you have bad head gasket symptoms.
     
    Last edited: Oct 15, 2015
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