Help me with my VF500!

That was me - and it will get you pretty damn close...

If the carb was rebuilt badly, the tiny cotter pins on the linkage ends could come loose and the linkage won't be attached - but that should be obvious.

Here's an auction showing a pic of the backside of VF500F carbs. Doesn't look like any linkages are missing. Should give you a good idea of what it should look like: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/84-H...008QQitemZ180223227969QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

 

Ok, got back from my track meet this evening and went back to the carbs, i'll try to explain everything and I have pictures to go with it I believe...

1. I had removed the carbs from the air chamber (didn't have to bend anything because the last guy had evidently removed them too)... I'm missing one of the rings that seals the carbs to the air chamber, so I would need one of those...

2. This is the spring that fell off, I can't find anywhere for a spring of that size, although I am missing one of the very small much tighter springs. You can see the missing one in #3, it also may be missing a screw like the one right next to it...


3. In the center of this picture, to the right of the flat head screw and to the left of the big spring on the throttle thing. (sorry for improper terms) There should be a spring there, but it isn't the one that fell off, I've searched everywhere and can't find a place for the one that fell off, so i'm thinking the last guy put it in place of this one, even though it really wouldn't make much since... So that spring and maybe screw would be something I need.

4. One of my carb boots is shot like no other... If you have one of those that would be something I need, otherwise where would I be able to get one?


Thanks again for any help, I think I am starting to get these carbs figured out, works a lot better with more light than what I have in my garage...

Also, for the syncing of the carbs, are the syncing screws shown in any of my pictures, or are they on what is still connected to the frame?

Anyways, here are the pics, I'm leaving for home tomorrow and will probably be leaving the carbs in the garage here at school, i'll get back to them after the spring break...

 

You can get carb boots from www.bikebandit.com, they have 'em in stock and ready to go pretty much, I just got a set of 4 from there. The carb/air chamber gasket can be obtained from them as well.

I'll have to get the spare carbs I bought out of the garage and see if they have the stuff you need, I'll let you know tomorrow.

 

I'm used to larger CC carbs, but this should get you headed in the right direction.

The big spring is placed horizontally between the throttle shafts. This helps dampen out throttle vibration. There should be one on each side of the carb bank.

The small spring goes where the throttle linkages overlap each other and under the sync screws(3).

 

okay, i as beginning to think those were the syncing screws. When syncing the goal is to get all 4 carbs to open at the exact same twist right? I think i'm going to work on this, in a min... I've got into all of my float bowls excecpt for one because the last guy stripped the screw, but i'm running to walmart for some vice grips to try to deal with that problem...


I'll let you guys know hot it goes, Thanks for the help everyone! I'm starting to get places!

 

Yeah, you are missing sync screws. But I have some of those for you if you want. I'm not experienced enough to off the cusp say what you're missing, but here's a pic of what I have. You're free to any number of parts (Not all the stuff is pictured though).

 

couple quick questions again. I'm off for spring break so I can't do any work with it but I wanted to know 2 things...

1. You've got the Main Jet, and The Idle Jet, What is the circle next to the idle jet?

Reason for asking is that one of my idle jets has 1 side broke off of the top so it won't unscrew unless I use vice grips or something like that, of course that will harm it and it will need replaced, but what if I harm the circle next to it? can that be replaced? Should I just leave it in and clean it there?

2. How hot does your VF500 Run? There have been times where it sounds like the radiator is boiling after a decently long ride, it never has boiled over or anythling like that, but it seems like it is running hot, what could cause this to happen?


Thanks again for all the help! I'm ready to get this thing put back together and running strong!

 

1. Actually, you have the terminology incorrect.
-The large Hex Head jet is the MAIN jet. What the Main Jet screws into is the "Jet Holder"(Emulsion Tube).
-The flat-head jet is the SLOW jet and is one piece. Both the Main jet, Jet Holder, and Slow jet are removable.
-The small brass jet is the IDLE jet and is NOT removable - it is pressed in. I believe the Chilton Manual says to remove this jet(WRONG).

The boiling you hear is the coolant boiling away. You have an air leak somewhere in your coolant system which is de-pressurizing the system. Pressurizing the coolant raises the boiling point of the coolant - which allows proper cooling.

Here are the coolant points where a typical leak occurs:
A. Bad radiator cap seal
B. Plastic elbow where the radiator overflow hose routes to the coolant reservoir bottle.
C. Temp sender on the Thermostat housing
D. Thermostat housing O-ring.

There are several automotive caps that will replace the Honda one. Just make sure you don't go over 14 psi. Here are some I've collected that work on most Hondas:
Murray Ultra 7513 for a 96 Altima
Stant # 11327 for a 96 Altima
Stant # 10227 for a 96 Altima
CST 7513
Perolator RR-27
If the radiator cap is close to the frame, you may have to cut off one or both cap tabs to fully turn it

You can use teflon tape on the threads of the temp sensor to seal the threads and prevent leakage.

If your reservoir bottle is past the high mark after a ride, then "B" is the culprit - or one of the culprits. Either fix the connection or get a longer hose and route it directly into the bottom of the bottle. And check the radiator. Bet the exact amount of coolant it takes to get the bottle back to normal is how much the radiator is missing,

Replace the thermostat housing O-ring if you doubt it's integrity.

 

Okay, I'm back from spring breaks, I think I have them clean, although I don't know for sure how to know if the Idle Jet (the one that is non-removable) is actually clean. I have been spraying the parts with carb cleaner like crazy, letting them soak, cleaning them off, spraying them again, over and over, all of the removable jets are cleaned as I can see light through them. What is a good way to know if the non removable jets are clean?

I checked the float hight with a regular ruler, and they were all just a touch over 1/4", and all were at almost the exact same height. So I assume they are good to go.

The carbs all seem to be in perfect sync, I found the missing spring I had and that did the trick.

All in all I think everything is good, except the idle jets which I'm unsure of.


Next things next, I'm getting ready to put the bike back together, and I have a couple of tubes that I have no idea where they go. I took pictures and will explain what I'm talking about in each.

Ok, the 2 lines with blue tape on the ends are the ones i'm looking at. I know they each connect to one of the black plastic things in the center of the carbs. One of them is marked top and one is marked bottom, so I know where they come out of the carbs. Where do they go after the carbs is my problem. Can anyone shed some light on this for me?




Final thing I am looking at. I need to know whether I need to put a cap on this line that is shooting oil or not. I don't want to do something to harm the bike, but someone had said that I need to put a plug in it.



The line runs from the air box into this little box listed below, and comes out into the clear tube shown. The clear tube is the one that i'm not real sure
about, and I really don't want to plug it and it supposed to be open...




Thanks again for any help, sorry about the lengthy post, hope I can get some help for later tonight

 

The two tubes that go nowhere are just that, they go nowhere. The longer one goes to the attachment on the front Cyl carbs (There are two of them on the whole assy., It's a black tube with a hose fitting). The ends route in front of the breather box area.

The other line that you mention needs to be plugged, I don't believe is supposed to, unless I'm thinking of the wrong one. I'll elaborate.

There's a DRAIN hose that comes from the breather box so that as oil and other junk builds up, you open the plug on the end of the line and oil/gunk spills out. The other part of this is the crankcase breather system, which goes from the crank case, to the breather box, which then routes to your air box.

See this diagram

 

The jets aren't your problem. The key area(s) to clean are the passages inside the carb body, especially the idle circuit as those are the smallest. The only real way to do this is by spraying the carb cleaner through them until they flow freely. Compressed air helps get things going if they are really clogged, as does a very small piece of wire.

One thing that I noticed that made me TOTALLY CRINGE was that you removed the carbs from the airbox base plate. NEVER DO THIS!!! You have likely broken some of the plastic fuel lines. If not then it's nothing short of a miracle. I've never been able to do this without breaking the tubes. Only remove them from the base plate if you have a reason to (i.e. replacing a carb body)
.

 

Yea, i figured out that I was not supposed to do this very soon after doing it... don't know why I did, i just thought it was part of the process...

Also, how would I know now that it is back togather if I broke any fuel lines, and how would they be replaced?

 

See, to me it looks like the clear tube is the one coming out of the breather separator, so it should have a drain plug in it... Unless i'm thinking of a different tube...

 

The clear tube should be plugged into your battery vent.

I'll go grab some pics for you.



Yellow is the separator drain tube (with plug installed)
Red is the battery vent tube


Yellow is the Crank Case to Separator tube
Blue arrow is one of the purge lines that comes from the carbs (there's TWO of the, I just took this one out of the way to show you, It's the same ones you have marked with blue tape, They don't plug into anything, except for the carb end)


Just showing where the clear tube should be going.

 

I went out and got it started, drove it a few blocks and thats it, when I went to clutch in to shift, the rpm's dropped extremely fast, I had to rev the engine to keep it from dieing (what i figured would be dieing, didn't want to check it and push it home)

When I arrived home I just held the clutch to put it into neutral and didn't give it any gas, and it died very fast... It may not have been warm yet, i let it run on the choke for a min or two, then drove with it under 5K and hardly ever over 4K for the few blocks, so it may have still been cold and needing the choke... If it starts easily in the morning I will drive it to class and see how it works...


Thanks a ton VeryFunRide, you have been a HUGE help during this process!!

 

I don't recall you saying you ever fixed your carb linkages and missing hardware? Did you just put them back on the bike as is?

 

I found the missing spring, got everything back togather, the carbs all work in sync, everything has been cleaned, float height checked, and I believe all is in order... i'm going to go take some pics of my clear tube, and figure out if it is the same one you are talking about, i'm pretty sure it is coming from a different area tho...

Edit for pics:

Here we go, I think my bike is set up slightly different than the pics on yours I saw. I'll start by saying that i sent both of the carb tubes that lead to nowhere on the left side of the bike, so you won't see them in any pics here...

Here is what I have by my battery,

This tube does not run out the bottom like on yours, but instead runs to here, I am not sure if this is the same tube or not...


Now here is where the clear tube runs from



And here are the 2 tubes that run into where the clear tube comes out of...




Now this may all seem like a cluster ****, and it also does to me... I really want to get this all figured out and make this thing purr like a kitten... Any help would be great!

Would it make since for a battery tube to have smoke and oil blowing out of it?

 

tjwor

I rode an 85 VF500 for about 15 years, the main problems that I had was fuel. Crap in the tank, condition of the tank and fuel lines. Your right, carbies are a problem for a number of reasons, sync, needle jets wear out but can be replaced and crap in the bowls will cause erratic revs. The top end sounds loud , I'd make sure enough oil is being delivered to you top end as well.

Cheers mate

 

I'm fairly confident now that your bike just doesn't have a battery vent tube. It looks like the guy before you did some serious changes. I know those Ignition wires aren't stock, etc. Look at the sticker on the battery retention bracket, it shows where the tube should be routed. The tube does not plug into the negative TERMINAL, it plugs into the little nipple on the battery itself, so that overflow acid drips out onto the floor instead of corroding the metal parts around it.

The one you have marked as "Where the clear tube starts" in the third pic is the separator drain, that end should be plugged. I'm guessing the guy before you replaced it at some point.

 

so should I go ahead and plug this tube? it seemed like there was more smoke coming out of there now that the bike is running again...

is this the correct product number for carb boots?
SKU: 16211-MJ8-000