Vacuum hose refresh - Down the rabbit hole...

Discussion in '5th Generation 1998-2001' started by DaHose, Nov 20, 2017.

  1. DaHose

    DaHose New Member

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    So I was just trying to replace my throttle cables with some longer ones when a weird error started occurring. My FI light would go out indicating it was ready to start, but the bike would not idle. If I cycled the ignition, then revved the engine on startup, the FI light would eventually glow to indicate a failure of the FI system, but the bike would start idling nicely. After some troubleshooting, it looks like I knocked a vacuum hose loose off the sensor at the back end of the airbox, and that caused a vacuum leak. I think that was messing with the FPR, resulting in the idle issue. At any rate, when I looked at that hose it was all cracked. That led to checking some of the other hoses, and they were equally worn out. As many of us know, changing out those damned hoses requires removing the entire throttle body assembly. So I drain the fule, remove the fuel line, loosen the TB connectors and pop off the whole assembly, which of course reveals that the now almost 20 years old rubber connectors are rock hard.

    End result? What should have been a quick 30 minute job of replacing the throttle cables, is now a TB assembly refresh including new vacuum hoses, rebuild of the WAX unit, new throttle body connector boots, and replacing the thermostat o-rings since the whole damned thing is apart and trying to do those o-rings later will require all this teardown again. I sourced the metric vacuum hose, but need to order the boots and o-rings from a local shop tomorrow. Blah....

    Jose
     
  2. RllwJoe

    RllwJoe Insider

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    Too bad you aren’t anticipating a long winter lay off in your part of California. This would make a great winter project.
     
  3. DaHose

    DaHose New Member

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    Yeah, Joe. I thought about breaking it all down and cleaning everything up like some others have done. I just have a boat load of projects, including rebuilding a car, working on the RV and getting the hot tub up and running. I just need the old girl to be ok when I put her away for the wet season. Maybe next winter I can do a full clean-up, valve lash adjustment, and finally weld up and repaint the front cowl. It could use some love for sure. So many projects, so little time, right?

    Jose
     
  4. RllwJoe

    RllwJoe Insider

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    At times like this, I often wonder if we own our machines/ toys, or if they own us.
     
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  5. NorcalBoy

    NorcalBoy Member

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    Well, when you keep them for anything over 5 years, this is what they become...motorcycles aren't as cheap to operate as you might think.
     
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  6. carlgustav

    carlgustav New Member

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    Make no mistake, your toys own you ...

    ACE
     
  7. VFR4Lee

    VFR4Lee Member

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    The things you own end up owning you.
    They sure do. Is why I am going to 1 newish bike instead of 3 old ones.
     
  8. DaHose

    DaHose New Member

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    Well I got all the parts yesterday, and finished putting her all back together today. Fresh TB connector boots, all new vacuum hoses, opened and cleaned the WAX unit, and replaced the thermostat (since it was open anyway) and no more FI problem. Since it was open anyway, I replace the thermostat for good measure. Once I added fresh coolant, the bike started at about 2100 RPM, then dropped down to about 1500 rpm idle when it's warm. Let it cool and tried again with the same result. She should be ready to ride again.

    I have to say that it also looks like I didn't do a single thing to it. Funny how so much of the really important work you do on a vehicle is never seen. At least I know everything under the air filter is new, and ready for another LONG stretch of use.

    Jose
     
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