Not fully understanding what they do... What are the characteristics if they are out of sync? Are they only operational until normal engine temperatures exist (and I push off the fast idle lever - '98 model) My bike runs fine...just wondering. Thanks, Bryan
Generally when the starter valves are out of sync the power at lower RPMs (3k to 6k) is kinda weak and the idle is rough. Plus the sound is different. I would say it kinda sounds like there's a penny stuck in a cylinder where you hear some dinging. A sync'ed up bike has good power from 3K rpm to beyond plus the sound is more "badass" in that you can hear the explosions and there isn't that dinging sound. In case you're curious on how to do it, you can do it really cheap and it's kinda fun too. Check out this forum thread on how to do it: VFRD > Homemade Manometer I did a similar setup getting parts from Ace hardware store and vegetable oil for the "indicator": Before I did the adjustment I noticed that at low RPMs it didn't feel quite as powerful as it used to and after doing it I can definitely notice stronger power.
I found a bunch of info (maybe too much) on the starter valves here: Link to SV info Are most people syncing all 3 the same as #1 (on 5th gen) or dropping the vacuum -10mm and -20 mm Hg as listed in the manual for #4 and #3 respectively As Mercury is 14 times the density of water (and more for 2 cycle or ATF mediums) and they only indicate differences in vacuum. I guess it would be difficult to estimate 10 and 20 mm Hg on a home made manometer and you need a Morgan "Carb Tune" or similar. It seems the adjustments are more critical on a VTEC than a 5th gen. My bike runs fine, but...I'll end up tweaking them as I can't leave these things alone!
The service manual isn't really clear and actually leaves out cylinder #2 entirely. What's worked for me is to have the levels like so: It's impossible to get all of them at the same level. To be more exact here is what I did to get them synced: 1. Keep increasing the #2 cylinder vacuum until it's above #1. Obviously this is off but this gives me a starting point to start decreasing. 2. Decrease the #2 cylinder until it's just below #1. One thing to notice is that the adjustment screws are EXTREMELY sensitive. They have little teeth on them that lock the adjustment in place. If you move one tick you'll definitely see a change in levels. Anyway with the decreasing the #2 cylinder what I did was keep decreasing until it's below #2 and then just to confirm I increase the #2 level and it should go above #1. That's the breaking point where if I decrease it will be below #1. And for #3 I try to make it as same as #1. Then once #3 and #1 are at the same level I change #4 so it's just below #3. I know it doesn't tell you the 10 and 20 mmHcg differences but this is good enough for me since I can notice a difference in power and idle.
