engine problem with vf500

Hi have a 84 vf500 and last summer the fuel pump went out. i was told it would run with out one but i recently noticed that the beck right cylnder is not heating up like the rest. so im guessing its not geting gas it has spark my question is. could this be from not haveing a fuel pump in it? and is not geting enough gas over the that carb.

 

I'd change the spark plug first. If one carb gets gas to it, they all do. Unless the carb for that cyl is all gunked up. Does it run ok? or rough?

 

As EVT mentioned, if the other carbs are getting gas, the rear one is as well, the line coming from the fuel pump feeds all 4 carbs the same. So the problem might be with that carb/cyl alone (clogged jet? float height? bad carb sync). If all the other cyls are running fine, I don't think running no pump is at the problem.

I know the '86 VF500s were changed to run non pumped, but I don't know if all Honda did was run the gas straight from the tank to the carbs or added some other mechanism instead.

By "Not heating up like the rest" do you mean it's not heating up at all or only minimally compared to the other cyls?

 

thats what i was thinking but wanted a nother opion b4 i send it in to get the carbs cleaned and syced the cylinder does not heat up at all in my opinion. it finally slowly gets warm after a while but i think its just from the heat transfer it doenst ever get to hot to touch all the others do. and if you listen close it donst sound right like its just moving and not geting a good fire.

 

I'd still change the spark plug with a new one or a plug from one of the other clys before anything else. See if that helps and it won't cost you a thing, but a little time and might save you some $$$ if you find you only have a bad plug.

 

The amount of money you'd pay to have someone else clean/sync your carbs would probably be 5 times the cost of tools to do it yourself, just an FYI. But yeah, I'd try a new plug first, they're cheap enough.

 

changing the plugs was the first thing i tried thats not the problem i put 3 diffent plags in there so i hope thats not the prob. and how hard is it to sync the carbs myself ill worn you im not that good at mechanics i can do it but hate it i asked a honda dealership how much it would cast me they said 240 to clean and sync the carbs ajust the valves and change oil and plugs is that a good price?

 

240 for all that work from a Honda dealer? Carb cleaning, syncing, valve adjustment, oil and plugs...... seems a little low to me.

 

thats what i thought but i wont complain bad part is i have to hual the bike little over 100 miles to get it there
but yeah if its not as hard as it seems to do that id do it but i dont have the tool to ajust the vavles and carbs seem really complicated to me even more when theres 4 of them
240 was just laber didnt include plugs geskets or oil

 

240 for labor is still really good IMO.

 

At $80/hr, that's 3 hours - if they knew what they were doing. I don't think I could even do it in that amount of time. Bet once you bring it in, they are going to up the cost of labor (unless it's a mom & pop type place).

If nothing needs to be replaced, you can rebuild the carbs yourself for $20 about 6 hours for a newbie and high attention to detail.
http://www.autozone.com/selectedZip...il/initialR,NONAPP6811/shopping/selectZip.htm

You can use this http://users.rcn.com/kochc/moto/carb/carb.html as a guide. Your carbs are a bit different, but the essential components are the same. Just do one carb at a time and you'll do just fine.

Note: don't remove the throttle-shaft butterfly staked screws. The felt washer won't be hurt by the carb dip.

 

well it sounds like i just better get of my butt and bring it in. the shop im brining it to is huge and probly have a few guys all jump on it i think there slow on work last time i was there they looked pretty bored and they said what price i get qouted is what i pay except for parts if i need them.

 

Expect the price to rise substantially, the shims for the valve adjustment (if needed) are pretty expensive and your bike has 16 of them. Though, they'll probably need to replace the head cover gaskets and float bowl gaskets as well... parts will add up pretty quick.

 

Get A New Fuel Pump> Jim

 

The price sounds great for all that work, IF they are honest.

Sounds to me like a dirty carb jet, so try the Sea Foam carb cleaning treatment first, before going to a shop.

 

yeah i was thinking of buying the parts myself then giving it to them because i know most places jump the price up if you buy from them. Were can i get shims from i found some gaskets for 16 bucks

 

DO NOT worry about the shims since most of them either won't need changing or can be moved around from one valve to another, costing zero. Besides, you can't know what shims you might need until after measurements of valve clearance are made.

WAIT!!.......does this bike have shims or screw-adjusters???

 

www.bikebandit.com they have a parts fiche that's got just about every consumable part for the VF500, if you have problems finding stuff, I can help; parts aren't listed where you think they'd be most of the time, but they're there.

 

Good point! I forgot that part! :doh:

 

cool so all i need is valve cover gaskets and the float bowl gaskets?