Countershaft seal replacement on a VF500F

Watch out for copper gaskets as these are a no go for the VF500F.

 

More intel on VF500F head gaskets can be found here:

http://vfrworld.com/forums/1st-2nd-generation-1983-1989/31074-scan-em-if-you-got-em-vf500f-head-gasket-patterns.html

 

Too bad you did all of this for nothing.

You did not even say how many miles were on the bike.

The countershaft seal IF damaged would have squirted all of the oil out of the engine in seconds!
First you should have cleaned all of the chain oil and grease off of the engine case around the countershaft. Then you would have seen the oil seal.
The oil seal can be removed from the outside of the case.


BTW This Honda engine design is ONE of the ONLY motorcycle engines that have horizontally split cases so that you can work on the transmission without taking the top of the engine apart.

Almost ALL motorcycles have vertically split cases.
Also...
What happened here? look like the tappet adjustments have been beat on.

Look at the bottom of the photo.
You have backed ALL of the nuts off on the tappet adjusters. WHY? there is no reason to do this even if you are completely rebuilding the engine,
The rocker arms need to be put back in the same position. Don't get them mixed up.

 

Okay thanks for pissing on my cheerios but that is not what my new countershaft seal looks like.

The oil was squirting out alot...which i could visible observe coming out from the countershaft seal...I appreciate you infering I'm a moron...u could be right but not alot of help.

 

N both the FSM manual and clymers said to loosen the load on the rocker arms by loosening adjusters

 

And if u look at some of my early photos you can see that I did try to remove from the outside, but this countershaft seal has an inner lip which prevented me from accomplishing this.

Was also told that despite the seem which would allow the cases to come apart that you won't be able to put them back together however without the cylinders heads coming because how the cam chain are positioned at the bottom of the case....both the FSM and the clymer's say the cylinders heads need to come off...hmmm asked this question about 2 months ago....but please don't feel the need to comment if this is how u help.

 

Stay the course using the FSM as your guide.

Respectfully, I don't believe donald b has logged in a lot of VF500F bench time.

On a side note, tappet adjusters look A-OK.

For reference, here is a photo of the stock tappets on a '85 head, that I have on the spare parts shelf:

 

Some of the countershaft seals on that model had the lip, and some did not.
I do not know if that lip is steel with rubber coating or just steel.
It is EXTREMELY rare for a countershaft seal to go bad.

I was under the impression that the oil pan comes off, and then
the lower case with crank bearings comes off, then all the transmission parts are in that lower case so the cam chains and rod bearings&caps will hold the crankshaft from dropping out.

Anyway good luck with your rebuild.

 

Thanks for the good wishes...and thanks keeping me steady invisible...well, my hissy fit is over so and here is my cases split:

top engine (upside down)


Bottom


Big bonus points to the gentlemen who earlier is this thread predicted that the countershaft bearing would be messed up cuz I believe it is...as you turn it feels like sand is inside, probably the bearings out of whack. A financial set back but seems directly related to the seal failure...heck, I think all this might be related to oil screen being plugged with crap.

...but, intial inspection of transmission gears, shift drum, forks, all looking good.

Here's the promised land...tranny out, new seal shown with old seal and old pushrod seal (also being replaced)

Clean goo of the crankcases now...till later...thanks!

 

You can get that metric ball bearing and seal for the countershaft from any bearing supply house.
Much less cost than buying it from HONDA.
Of coarse you will cut out about 15 middlemen.

 

Respectfully, unless you can verify the quality, I would stick with OEM parts. Too much labor involved here.

IMO it is not worth the risk of installing subpar aftermarket parts that may fail prematurely.

 

When you go to the bearing supply house you can ask for different brands and grades of ball bearings.

Timken, NSK, Fafnir, RBC, anything you want.
If you want to pay $100 for a $15.00 ball bearing and wait for two weeks go ahead.

Look at the brand name and number on the ball bearing you took out.

 

Will give it a try...I contacted a supplier called Ichiban and will look into some of the others you have listed.

I would think about buying OEM too but I'm not sure it is available. From the fiche it appears to be sold as an assembly as part of the countershaft...and, of course, its not available anymore...so???

...that means buying a countershaft assembly used off of ebay or trying to find the right bearing (and quality) and then I guess I would have my motorcycle shop guys press fit it in.

...well, any other suggestions welcome....thanks all.

 

Just take your bearing to a bearing supply house, and they will match it up for you.

 

I'm with Donald.

Nothing wrong with using other bearings that are not OEM so long as they will match the OEM standard for their use.

I see guys doing this with their two stroke race bikes and they have no issues.

BZ

 

I don't disagree here. I'm simply pointing out that while bargains are great there are caveats. If you can verify the country of manufacture and the industry standard to which the item was made I'm on board, if not, OEM is a better choice given the amount of labor involved.

 

Sorry invisiable, I should also have added that if you are going for OEM quality in the replacement bearing you won't always save money. Bearings have a 'standard' for their use and just because you get the same size and type bearing doesn't mean it can be used for what you want.

BZ

 

5x5, BZ, thanks for the post.

 

Autos and motorcycles usually use grade #5 bearings.
The highest grades of bearings are used in ... Printing presses! Believe it or not.
I know you would have thought it was jet engines.

Sometimes grade #10 bearings are available but not in every size.

You can always trust TIMKEN bearings.

 

Did you know that POLAND makes the most machine tools?