Just bought an 82 V45 Sabre Please help me get it started!
ozark
owned a couple of F model 750's which I really liked but when I rode a
new V45 in 82 I was hooked. Lack of money and a couple of children
kept me from owning one. After a few years the lust just became a dull
ache.
Last week I was talking to my mailman and mentioned the difficult time
I had been having finding a good inexpensive used Honda for my
girlfriend. He mentioned that he had a 750 Honda that had been sitting
in his garage for a couple of years that he would sell for $500. I
drove to his house with my trailer last Sunday and there was a cherry
V45 sitting in his garage!
I bought it, brought it home and started to work:
Step one;clean about a pound of rust out of the tank.
Step two;change oil
Step three;change plugs
Step four;add a see through fuel filter
Step five;run fuel injector/carb cleaner through the carbs
Step six;install new battery
Step seven; add new fuel
I'm a pretty meticulus guy when it comes to working on motor cycles,
this all took about twenty hours.
Then I put it in neutral, turned on the key, pushed the starter button
and not a damn thing happened! The horn doesn't work, the turn signals
don't work, the brake light doesn't work and the head lights don't
work. The clock works and the parking light works. All fuses checked
good, including the main fuse, when I jump the selenoid the starter
spins good but no gas is reaching the filter.
I suspect that I have a bad connection somewhere and I'm guessing that
the vacume activated fuel valve is not operating. I gave every thing a
through visual inspection and took the fuel shutoff apart, the spring
and diafram looked good and as part of the fuel tank cleaning process
I ran about six ounces of carb cleaner back through the petcock (it
flowed freely both directions).
Can anyone give me any tips as to where to start looking for the bad
connection and if nessasary how to bypass the automatic fuel shutoff?
For what it is worth, I checked the Sabmag links and allthough it is a
great source of info I could not find an answer to this exact problem.
Please help an old man live his dream.
Ozark
Calgary
I owned a V-45 Sabre a few years back and had trouble with the vacuum
line for the fuel. If memory serves the line connected on the left
side of the engine to a very small threaded fitting. The threads were
stripped on my bike and the best I could do was push fit the line to
what was left of the fitting. The damn thing kept falling off and
killing the engine.
It sounds like you have more serious electrical problems though. It
might take a while to work out the bugs but they are a strong running
bike. Mine didn't handle very well, but I suspect it had been wrecked
and repaired long before I owned it.
Good Luck
84 - Virago 1000
http://www3.telus.net/public/dbinns/
"Daniel Hopgood"
Jim Williamson
Hmmm - perhaps - more serious electrical problems - did you test for spark
at the plugs?
Pull a plug wire, insert a screwdriver into the plug boot and hold the bare
shaft of the screwdriver near the engine case - about 1/8" air gap - and
try to start the thing. Notice if any spark jumps across that air gap. If
you don't get anything electrical may be one of the first places to start
with. Alternatively you could take a new plug and insert it into the plug
boot and hold the side of the plug to the engine case and look for spark
across the spark plug's gap.
Also, after a bit of cranking to try and start it, you could pull the plugs
and see if any of them are visibly wet from fuel.
As for checking fuses - does this bike have two fuse box locations (main
near the battery and the rest below the headlight?). Perhaps start to
check for +12V at both sides of each fuse?
Clymer has a Honda V45/V65 book that covers 1982 - 1986. #M327, ISBN
0-89287-384-1 to which mine shows a Third Edition, Second Printing on Aug
1987.
FWIW,
Jim
mtm
Slow down O, let's take it a step at a time.
At least you sound like you know something about bikes. That helps.
1) You can't get the starter to crank with the button, right?
That's your first project. It's gotta be a major 'break' in the system,
and should Not be hard to find. Yank the headlite out and see what kind
shape the spaghetti in there is.
You're already on the other wiring, right?
2) Next, those vacuum P/Cs are a bitch.
a)What happens on Prime? Any fuel getting thru?
b)All that tank cleanin' you did? Didja yank the petcock to Ck it After
you did all the tank cleanin'?
c) Didja do a spark to the plugs check yet? If you got spark there,
screw the rest ignition details, they can wait.
Spark & fuel. Somthin' should happen. good luck.
lemme know if you get hung up...
mtm
'95 750 Nighthawk (big red)
'95 Helix (little red)
David Hill
<snip>
> Then I put it in neutral, turned on the key, pushed the starter button
> and not a damn thing happened! The horn doesn't work, the turn signals
> don't work, the brake light doesn't work and the head lights don't
> work. The clock works and the parking light works. All fuses checked
> good, including the main fuse, when I jump the selenoid the starter
> spins good but no gas is reaching the filter.
First, when you say "all fuses checked good", how did you determine
that? The main fuse, the one that looks like a little wrench, is
notorious for appearing to be good, but having a hairline crack that
produces all sorts of weird symptoms. Physically remove the fuse and be
sure it is in one piece and solid before anything else. Many Sabre and
Magna owners replace the 'fusible link' with a 30 amp inline fuse.
Second, I see you installed a new battery. When Sabres and old Magnas
have electrical problems, that's the first thing to check. Dying
batteries also produce all sorts of weird symptoms. But you've already
eliminated that.
Next place to look is the fuse block. The fuses can be good, but the
fuse block may have bad connections, cracks, etc. Remove the fuse block
(I know, it's a PITA) and check it thoroughly.
Usually the next place to look is the ignition switch. They get old and
sloppy and develop intermittent connections.
After that, it's just a process of elimination using your trusty
multimeter and a wiring diagram.
> I suspect that I have a bad connection somewhere and I'm guessing that
> the vacume activated fuel valve is not operating.
Until you have the other electrical problems resolved, it's fruitless to
try to determine the fuel pump problem.
If I remember correctly, the fuel pump will not run unless the spark
boxes are sparking. In other words, you have to at least be cranking
the engine with the ignition on before the pump operates.
> I gave every thing a
> through visual inspection and took the fuel shutoff apart, the spring
> and diafram looked good and as part of the fuel tank cleaning process
> I ran about six ounces of carb cleaner back through the petcock (it
> flowed freely both directions).
> Can anyone give me any tips as to where to start looking for the bad
> connection
See above.
> and if nessasary how to bypass the automatic fuel shutoff?
Why would you want to do that? Fix all the other problems first, then
decide if you really need to do this.
> For what it is worth, I checked the Sabmag links and allthough it is a
> great source of info I could not find an answer to this exact problem.
> Please help an old man live his dream.
>
> Ozark
Did I miss anything, Road Dog?
--
David Hill, sabmag.org webmaster
david at hillREMOVETHISfamily.org
Sautee-Nacoochee, GA, USA
Jack Hunt
<da...@hillREMOVETHISfamily.org> wrote:
>Did I miss anything, Road Dog?
That'll do for now. I'm betting it's either his main fuse at the
starter relay, or a stuck kill or starter switch, or it could be the
ignition switch.
With a name like Ozark, he probably lives somewhere near Dave Berkey
in Mountain Home. Dave could probably pinpoint his problem in a few
minutes.
--
Road Dog
IBA#12795
'99 ST1100
ozark
> On 7 Oct 2003 19:21:49 -0700, ozar...@my-deja.com (ozark) wrote:
>
> >I have lusted for a V45 since Honda started building them.
> >
>Snip
The vacuum line was a little loose. I cut about a 1/4 inch off and put
it back on. One less problem after I get it running! Thanks for the
feedback.
ozark
Yes to all of the above. I'm ploding on tonight I'll check the wiring
and remove the main fuse for a physical inspection.
Thanks for the reply.
Ozark
ozark
> ozark wrote:
> <snip>
> > Then I put it in neutral, turned on the key, pushed the starter button
> > and not a damn thing happened! The horn doesn't work, the turn signals
> > don't work, the brake light doesn't work and the head lights don't
> > work. The clock works and the parking light works. All fuses checked
> > good, including the main fuse, when I jump the selenoid the starter
> > spins good but no gas is reaching the filter.
>
> First, when you say "all fuses checked good", how did you determine
> that? The main fuse, the one that looks like a little wrench, is
> notorious for appearing to be good, but having a hairline crack that
> produces all sorts of weird symptoms. Physically remove the fuse and be
> sure it is in one piece and solid before anything else. Many Sabre and
> Magna owners replace the 'fusible link' with a 30 amp inline fuse.
I checked the fuses by running a continuity test. I'll remove the main
fuse and examine it. The 30 amp inline sounds like a good idea judging
from the number of posts I've seen regarding that little bugger.
>
> Second, I see you installed a new battery. When Sabres and old Magnas
> have electrical problems, that's the first thing to check. Dying
> batteries also produce all sorts of weird symptoms. But you've already
> eliminated that.
>
> Next place to look is the fuse block. The fuses can be good, but the
> fuse block may have bad connections, cracks, etc. Remove the fuse block
> (I know, it's a PITA) and check it thoroughly.
>
> Usually the next place to look is the ignition switch. They get old and
> sloppy and develop intermittent connections.
>
> After that, it's just a process of elimination using your trusty
> multimeter and a wiring diagram.
I found a wiring diagram in the Sabmag site. The people in that group
put a lot of effort into the site.
>
> > I suspect that I have a bad connection somewhere and I'm guessing that
> > the vacume activated fuel valve is not operating.
>
> Until you have the other electrical problems resolved, it's fruitless to
> try to determine the fuel pump problem.
>
> If I remember correctly, the fuel pump will not run unless the spark
> boxes are sparking. In other words, you have to at least be cranking
> the engine with the ignition on before the pump operates.
>
> > I gave every thing a
> > through visual inspection and took the fuel shutoff apart, the spring
> > and diafram looked good and as part of the fuel tank cleaning process
> > I ran about six ounces of carb cleaner back through the petcock (it
> > flowed freely both directions).
> > Can anyone give me any tips as to where to start looking for the bad
> > connection
>
> See above.
>
> > and if nessasary how to bypass the automatic fuel shutoff?
>
> Why would you want to do that? Fix all the other problems first, then
> decide if you really need to do this.
> Will do
Lori
>I found a wiring diagram in the Sabmag site. The people in that group
>put a lot of effort into the site.
You did realize there is a mailing list associated with that site,
didn't you? Plug into that group, and you will find out everything
there is to know about your bike, and probably somebody nearby who
would be willing to help you work on it.
_________
Lori
1985 V65 Magna - Jezebel
Small herd of CB200T's
Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
ozark
I live in House Springs but spend most of my time in Iron and Reynolds
county where I buy and sell land, build cabins and attempt to make a
living.
I worked on the bike tonight, checked the main fuse; it was OK.
Cleaned a few contectors and finaly just screwed around with the
ignition switch. Some combination of wiggling the wires that appeared
to go to the switch and turning the key several times got the lights,
horn and started working. You called it right it was the ignition
switch.
The engine turns over pretty fast but it is not starting. I checked
the spark on one cylinder and got a pretty good spark. So far, no
start but a big step forward.
I suspect that I am not getting enough gas but I'm not sure. I install
a see-through filter whenever I try to start up a bike that has set
for a few years. I am seeing very little flow through the filter, I
primed one carb but couldn't get the filter cover off the other side
(striped screws) she didn't hit so I called it a night.
My unscientific method for testing for fuel supply to the cylinders
when the motor is not hitting is to put a little gas in each carb and
turn the engine over, if it hits you know you are not getting gas
through the carbs. Do you know a better way to check to see if the
carbs are feeding gas to the cylinders?
By the way a manual for this bike is next on my list.
I really appreciate the replies to my questions if you good folks can
put up with me I'll probably have plenty more.
Ozark
Jack Hunt <jhu...@earthlink.net> wrote in message news:<bfi8ovkl72qvq0d54...@4ax.com>...
ozark
I'm not exactly sure how a mailing list works. You are right, the
Sabmag group seems to have a lot of helpfull people. I'll get hooked
up soon.
Ozark
Lori <lori.lovej...@earthlink.net> wrote in message news:<2ug9ovoji5a51rce6...@4ax.com>...