Posted in the VROC forum Aug. 7, 2008...
Hi all, it's been a long, strange year,
and the Vulcan is still ailing. In my last posting many weeks ago, I
mentioned that the oil pump had jammed up due to a foreign object. I
disassembled the engine again entirely, and found the little rascal. It
was one of 3 small steel balls that live in the shifter drum. There are
six holes, and the balls must be put in the correct ones. Put one in the
wrong hole, and it comes out while the engine is running. In my case, it
found its way into the oil pump and wrecked it, plus my brand new steel
gear.
Well, my bad. This stuff happens. But now the odyssey begins.
I bought a new oil pump, steel gear, needle bearing, and assorted other
stuff, and reassembled the engine. Yes, it's real simple and you can do it
between lunch and dinner. :-) [Evil laugh]
With everything back together, I started it up. No oil pressure!! Not a
twitch on the needle (I have a pressure gauge on the bike). The red light
stays on faithfully.
Not feeling like disassembling the engine for a third time (or is it the
fourth now?), I took it out of the frame again and turned it over to the
Bike Shop in Royston, Georgia. They are confidence-inspiring and work on a
lot of metric cruisers. Megasports in Toccoa, the Kawasaki dealer, didn't
want to work on the engine alone.
David at the Bike Shop disassembled the engine, looked everything over, it
all checked out OK. The suspicion was that I didn't let it idle long
enough to build up oil pressure. Well, fine. I took the completed engine
back home ($750 poorer), installed it in the frame, and took the complete
bike back to Royston. We fire up the engine: starter clutch won't
disengage. Sticks stubbornly.
I leave the bike there, David takes the subframe off and opens the clutch
housing, finds some scoring in the starter clutch, replaces parts as
needed. Puts everything back together. Starts up the bike. No oil
pressure. NONE!!!
He tries the usual remedies, filling the engine with oil to prime the
pump, etc. etc. ... nothing.
Both he and his Kawasaki dealer colleague agree that the problem must then
be a faulty oil pump. That's the one I bought as a Kawi OEM part from
bikebandit.com.
So, I'm at the crossroads. Have him take the engine out of the frame,
disassemble it again, install an oil pump that he orders himself? It would
cost another grand or so, but if it works, I'll have the bike again in a
few days.
Or take it home, do it slowly, disassemble the engine again over the fall
and winter, and try my luck again next year? I'd save money but I'm
getting really tired of working on this same thing for months.
Selling the whole bike isn't a good option because I like my Vulcan (or
used to, at least), and there's a lot of work in it. I finally have it
looking the way I've wanted it -- see a current picture at http://www.bagsforbikes.com/RocDoc/Verena10.htm
(That's not a baby engine in the frame angle where the seat goes, it's my
old Honda Shadow behind the Vulcan).
I'm leaning toward just kissing the money goodbye and letting David
install another oil pump, and hope for the best.
Any opinions?
Best,
RocDoc
~V121~ 1997 Vulcan 1500 Classic
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