MSGJONES
New Member
I've always been able to search forums to solve issues I was having without asking questions but after searching for a week I'm still no closer to solving my problem, so here it goes. I recently bought a 2000 VMAX with 7081 miles, cosmetically in fantastic condition. It hadn't been ridden for seven years because 2nd gear was out. I've worked on and rebuilt all kinds of engines over the years so I was not worried about tearing into this one. I put a new battery in it, changed the oil, put in fresh gas, and it started immediately. After it warmed up I took it off choke and it settled in around 1000 RPM. I put about 170 miles on bike tiptoeing around 2nd gear. The bikes motor was running perfect, vboost worked as it should and throttle response was great. All I'm trying to convey is the bike was running perfect before I tore it apart. I pulled the motor, turned it upside, and pulled the bottom off exposing the transmission. I didn't break any electrical connectors, hoses, or bolts. The gears looked really good but the shift drum was badly worn in the 2nd gear grove so I found a nice used one on eBay and I just had 2nd gear undercut for good measure. I reassembled the engine with new gaskets and reinstalled it. I used dielectric grease on all connections. The bike started right away, I let it warm up then took it off choke. It tried to idle but then went up to 4000 RPMs, I burped the throttle and it came down briefly then shot back up. The bike coughs through the carbs and pops out the exhaust. Immediately I assumed an air leak causing a lean condition so I checked to see if any clamps were loose, they weren't. I used starting fluid to check of leaks but found none. I checked all electrical connections and found nothing. I synchronized the carbs which made no difference. I ordered all 8 rubber boots for the carbs and vboost, installed them, paying attention to their orientation with no change. I then pulled the carbs off, inspected for bent rods or damage, cleaned them, reinstalled, and synchronized again (carbs were spotless inside all jets were open) but made no difference and remember the bike was running perfect before I tore it apart. I installed new sparkplugs and the plastic coolant bolt has the OFF pointed at the 2 o'clock position after bleeding. It has new coolant and is toped off. The latest condition is the left front chrome header is turning blue from what I think is a lean condition on that cylinder. If you start the bike from cold and hold onto the headers the left one heats up much faster its also the cylinder with the hose going to the Intake Pressure Sensor. On a good note I did take the bike for a ride and as hard as I tried I could not get it to jump out of 2nd gear so I think the trans is fixed. I don't understand what I did to cause the bike to run this way, any ideas would be greatly appreciate.
