87 V-Max Motor Q

velocity · Post by **velocity** » Mon Sep 21, 2009 11:19 am

Hi There,

I picked up a close to mint 87 V-Max a few weeks ago. It was not run in years. I goit it running and the motor sounded strong until it blew a gas line. I shut it down and I know I need to go through everything which I plan to do. I did a compression test after it was running and it had 120 lbs in each cylinder. I then dropped my tester and now it doesn't work but that's another story. I went back to the sled yesteday and when I went to pull it over it was locked solid.... I was like WTF?? I put some fogging oil in it and tried to turn the motor by the clutch but she wouldn't budge. After a 1/2 hr of working it it broke free. I put some more oil and just kept pulling her over and it sounds fine. I am not starting it up until I figure this one out. I didn't plan on tearing the motor down but now I am starting to re-think that.

Do you foilks have any ideas on what I should be looking for? When it did run it smoked but not the level that I would have expected so I think the oil pump is out of adjust; I may just pre-mix. The locking of the motor has me puzzled. It only ran for one minute or so.

Any ideas out there???

Post by **Vmax540** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 11:35 am

Could be a lean condition from blocked jets or passage ways in the carb, cracked or loose carb to cylinder rubber boot or maybe a crank case PTO seal leaking. Going to have to do some investigating. Check, the crankcase oil lines while you have the carbs off.

Post by **tyler440** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 5:57 pm

hmmm that is kinda strange....
1 you had it running
2 you shut it off on purpose
3 you checked compression and it was 120 (therefore you pulled the rope)
4 now it wont trun over....

will it turn over with the plugs out?
maybe get a light and try to look at the pistons....

i dont know what the heck that could be... you didnt suck a rag in or something stupid did you?

awe hell i just re read your post and i guess you got it turning again

duh...

now i really dont know what the problem was... weird.... almost like a bearing is junk or something

maybe your pull starter was not disengaging?

Bob Vehring · Post by **Bob Vehring** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 8:27 pm

Not sure if I follow all the correct series of events. If it was running, and you had a gas line issue, causing one side to run out of gas and more importantly, oil, its possible that that side stuck, even at idle where it should have been minor but could have caused damage.
I would pull the pipe off on that side and look, you should see the trust side of the piston and the back wall. A mirror small enough to go in should let you see the front side of the wall. Look for damage on the ring faces

velocity · Post by **velocity** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 8:17 am

Thanks for all of your replies.

Like I said, it ran for less than a minute as I shut it off when I noticed the line shooting gas out. It did have a very high idle and I contributed that to one carb running extremely lean. I checked the compression immediately after and it was 120 in both. It sat for 2 weeks and the motor that once moved freely was locked. I got it free, sprayed fogging oil down the cylinders and it pulled over fine. That was the series of events.

I went out to it on Friday and the damn thing was locked again. I got it free and poured some 30 wight oil and kept pulling it. There is no abmornal noise and no crank noises. I firmly beleive that the bearings are junk. I looked at the tops of the pistons and they look really lean, (Aluminum in color). Before I got it running I put new plugs in as I wanted to use the plugs to tell me if it was getting oil. I know an accurate plug reading nds to be at WOT but I checked them after i shut it down and they were light brown so i know there was oil in the mix, and both were the same color.

Regardless, I need to tear this thing down completely. My friend is a yamaha technician at a local dealership and he has been there since 1975 so he knows these things pretty well. I know it will cost some beans but I want it done right. I know I can do this on my own but I want the Peice of mind having it done right.

Thanks again for your replies.

hman · Post by **hman** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 10:19 am

In my honest opinion the only way to know if it was done write is to do it yourself, buy a manual and if you still get stuck ask the questions here and you will get the correct answers and you will be much more satisfied in the end than having paid the rent at a dealership, friend or no friend. Just my opinion though. hman

Post by **tyler440** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 1:50 pm

hman wrote:In my honest opinion the only way to know if it was done write is to do it yourself, buy a manual and if you still get stuck ask the questions here and you will get the correct answers and you will be much more satisfied in the end than having paid the rent at a dealership, friend or no friend. Just my opinion though. hman

yeah thats what i was thinking... just cause a dealer does it doesnt mean it was done right!... the only way to get some done right or at least in your mind is to do it yourself...... i rebuilt my first sled motor when i was 20... which doesnt seem like much to brag about but i didnt know ANYTHING!... and it still ran two strokes are simple... especially when they dont have a transmission!...

onebun · Post by **onebun** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 5:16 pm

the 540 is a good motor to learn on,no power valves not that there that complicated,get a manual and your buddy the technician over for a few cold ones and some guidence on the weekend and get er done.