Destructo

yeah thats right.... and my fingers are too fat and short to reach the little buggers to line them up haha. i can get the cover down all the way but the rods miss the rockers

i installed the cam as per the manual with the little line level with the head while at TDC. the cam is offset on the head and the rods are super tiny. Do the pushrods suction to the rocker before i set it down? the followers can really only go in one way with the cup side up and the flat side down or else they'd just get jammed up on the cam lobes.

2003 trx500FA Finished getting all the new parts and started to slap this thing together but I am stuck at the push rods. For whatever reason i can't get them to line up with both the rocker arms and the followers. I followed the manual and when I place the pushrods on the follower they push the follower all the way down to the cam, and then fall over pushing the gaskets little pushrod holder bit downward. When I place the valve cover on the pushrods don't line up with the rockers ( due to the gasket not being super strong and not holding them where they need to be) the manual says to line them up with my finger. But my finger prevents the cover from sliding down enough to meet the rods. I can't fit my fingers deep enough in the adjustment cover hole to even touch them. I browsed around and it seems I'm the only one in the world who's got this issue. What am I missing here ?

awesome i will try to track some down

also, thanks!

I am in fort mcmurray, alberta. it would likely be VERY expensive to send the head down to them 😞 our government has made accomplishing pretty much anything extremely costly. I did not try that yet, I'm not sure if my compound is coarse... it could be fine, it doesn't say on the tub. Ill give that a shot though on my next days off.

Ive lapped the valves for a VERY long time and i still have very poor contact between valves and seats. I think the seats need to be cut. No light comes through but i didnt do a leak down test on it yet as i dont have the time after work to assemble some makeshift means to do so. The manual has 6 different cutters required, 2 sizes of each- 32 degrees, 45 degrees and 60 degrees, with a 5.5mm shaft. I can find nowhere that sells the required sized cutters so I'm stuck asking you guys: What tool kit do you guys use to cut your valve seats? or do yall just simply outsource it to a machine shop and they do the typical 30/45/70 that most places do without referring to the manufacturer spec. Does it make much of a difference if the cutter is a couple mm to big? if i recall correctly its 32 mm intake and 35mm exhaust. 32 degrees is a very odd angle and ive never seen an engine with such a valve seat angle. the closest i can find is this: https://www.amazon.ca/Valve-SEAT-Cutter-Carbide-Tipped/dp/B07X3RJ74S/ref=sr_1_6?crid=1RCKXLS95LWTY&keywords=honda+valve+seat+cutter&qid=1653225195&sprefix=honda+valve+seat+cutte%2Caps%2C130&sr=8-6 and even thats not the correct kit for the trx500... its just "Close" but the sizes are slightly wrong and it doesnt have a 32 degree. ....it should not take 2 hours of lapping to be left with a patchy surface after being blued...

yes its a 500 rubi es ... I too hate the hondamatic shenanigans but i couldn't resist 2 working quads for 4k this far in the north.. typically a broken one that needs a ton of work is that price. i set it on the correct stroke. however thank you, i have a chain on the way anyways and a brand new oil pump ( the upgraded one) so i guess i may as well pull the bottom end and slap that all in there before the deer season opens up haha just glad that this cam isn't toast.

@shadetree I'm sure you've seen a zillion of these... what do you think? Is this how its supposed to operate, or does it need to be replaced/chopped off etc. A Little pre info- the motor made a somewhat loud ticking noise as if the valves were slappin' but i set them correctly as per the manual, the crank has about .0005 play in it and the piston wrist pin was good, also no pertinent play in any direction. my cylinder hone broke, so i ordered a new one... the new valves are taking forever to lap but once that's done and the cylinder is honed id like to slap this baby back together. Just cant seem to find a whole pile of info on this decompressor cam other than the uber-rudimentary-lack-luster instruction in the manual. Sorry to bug, but please consider it a sign of respect to your experience and knowledge base.

Decided to rip down the top end, clean everything up and inspect every part along the way. Got to the cam and noticed the decompressor does some strange things however I'm new to these little motors and haven't had the glory of inspecting a decompressor cam like this before. I have attached a video, could somebody let me know if this is how this cam is supposed to work or is it "loose"? If i push on it as told to by the honda manual and its not perfectly normal in orientation it gets blocked from its closed position unless i tap it slightly to either side...as seen in video. The springs feel VERY soft it takes very little force to push the decomp down. 20220518_070759_77760405069241.mp4

I just used the headlight polish kit on both my 2003 and 2004 meters last week. Before they were unable to be used, you literally couldn't even see the image on the screen. After polish they are now totally clear as new. We bought the kit for its specified use because my headlights on my suv were utter trash, and since the kit was laying around we decided to try it on the ATV meters. Couldn't be happier for the whole 10 minutes of work and it cost us the change we had sitting in our cup holder.

I have the updated oil pump on its way in the mail right now. ill install it when one of these ones fail me. as for the hondamatic the new ones are less than 3500 to my door so im still WAY less than even the crappiest chinese quad in my area lol. before i even get that far id be engine swapping and turning both of these into a single one. its not really that "cash is not a problem" but i can come up with a decent chunk when needed if needed ( i work in a broken old oil refinery that's entering turnaround season so its not hard to pull an extra 40 double time hours out of a hat when needed however i do have a limit of how deep ill go before i upsell these for a profit or micro-loss with a box full of brand new parts.) both of these quads shift great in ES and auto modes and the trans sound fine so far. the only 2 issues ive got right now is noise in the lifter/valve area, and the one sprayed oil out the timing hole at the back right of the bike and didnt know if these do that or if a seal is toast in there. Knowing the answer to the latter dictates which one will get the new piston and gasket kit, the new valves, the refacing and numerous other small parts ive got in the mail on the way, while the other will be completely dismantled and inspected then either rebuild or become parts depending what's going on inside it. this far up north anything that runs without issue is 10k or more regardless of age, anything less in price has issues or unobtainable parts. MOST people up here have so much credit and so little brains that fixing small problems becomes a throw money at it and buy brand new on credit ( instead of adjusting a valve you buy a new bike like a fool) I on the other hand dont mind having a 7 grand cap on a pair of excellent learning experience for my wife/10year old/14 year old as well as myself and still being a grand or 5 less than the lowest quality tao tao at canadian tire in the 500cc range lol and thats IF they have one in stock. ive seen a couple 500 CC bikes up here between 2500 and 5k with the seller claiming "mint" but upon further inspection they ALL have been dunked in the muskeg and we all know what that means. only one of these had any issues and it was a roll over so the body is toast and the overheat light came on but once i cleaned the rad and oil cooler of the muskeg-turned-into-cement it hasent done that again. now i gotta hunt down the reason for the tick, inspect the oil pressure relief, replace a diff seal,and find whats not stopping oil from coming out the timing hole and then ill have 2 ugly hondas to beat up for a year or 2 before i have enough free cash to buy a 2020+ from edmonton or something plus the truck and trailer required to tow the thing around. Where i live now i can rip junk into the woods and hunt without issue but i gotta get at least one of these to a trustable level. The most important part of it all is the wife/kids getting their hands greasy and nobodys tearing down a brand new bike for no reason but they would be wise to learn how before getting their hands on something brand new and destroying things due to not knowing the ins and outs.

I'm well aware that autos suck and why I got them cheap, 2 of 4 people in my household other than myself don't do manual shift, and have no experience with off road vehicles, the cost of these 2 bikes and a single Hondamatic shipped internationally cost me far less than a single average manual bike in great condition where I live. (I can afford to dump 2k beyond all that and still be cheaper by a couple thousand dollars than one of the Chinese cheapo bikes brand new) Anyways, so judging by your comment, the 2003 that spits oil out the timing inspection hole needs some seal replaced but the 2004 is proper? simple enough, thanks if that's the case. It does it regardless if I'm pulling the recoil starter by hand or with the electric starter. oil pressure is good on both while cold and warm at both rpm levels. I'm aware what it takes to deal with the pump issues and have one in the mail anyways for future protection, measly 250$ CDN for the upgraded part and splitting the case is nothing given that these motors weigh very little compared to the 550+ lb cast iron inline sixes I'm used to. its a mere couple bolts nuts and clamps to remove. However not being used to what these particular vehicles commonly sound like I'm trying to get them both sorted out to where i trust them enough for the 3 or 4 hunting trips and odd rip around the feild by the kids they will get used for per year. not overly concerned about the Hondamatic whatsoever given I have 2 of them and a brand new one ready to be shipped out in a moments notice and the extreme ease of replacing them. I'm more concerned with replacing all the seals, and check valves, and ensuring everything is being oiled how its supposed to then the valve seats handled and reface the surface. just wasn't sure which bike is in the correct situation either the one that oils me or the one that doesn't and the service manuals oil flow diagram is pretty poor quality lol Thank you kindly!

Hello! I recently purchased a pair of atv's for a great price and have been doing some inspection/repair/maintenance etc before i go beat them too badly. ATV1 is a 2003 TRX500FA ATV2 is a 2004 TRX500FGA Both tick while running, and have many small issues so here's the issues and question I have as a newbie to ATV mechanics (long time car/jeep guy). ATV 2 ran pretty well so wife and I changed the oil, diff fluid and some minor stuff like greased the brake pedal and such to unjam it. we took it for a short slow test run in the back field, now it ticks rather badly and found out that the differential seal leaks when it gets warm( we found out by the whining sound it started to make while parking it, checked fluid level and it was nearly empty) I got the service manual for 2001-2003 ( there isn't one for 2004 for some reason the next set starts at 2005) I adjusted the valve clearance to IN-0.006 EX-0.009 on both, now the 2003 runs much better but the 2004 ticks much louder than it did prior ( yes the adjustment was done correctly on the compression stroke with proper gauges, rechecked after completed and is perfect) When the timing inspection port is removed to set to top dead center, and i pull the recoil starter rope on the 2003 oil sprays out the hole at me. in the same situation on the 2004 there is no oil coming out of the same hole. My question is is which one is wrong? is the 2003 "leaking oil" or is the 2004 "plugged up" ? Both ATV's have proper oil pressure as far as i can tell ( my gauge isn't digital and looks like its between 21-23 psi at idle but its not easy to read perfectly due to parallax ) and pressure is good at both rpm levels as per manual. Both ATV's have oil coming onto the valve tops as per manual so they aren't dry, however a little oil pools at the bottom of the valve cover area, is this normal for these? Both ATV's still tick, the 2004 ticks worse than prior to me driving it ( I didn't drive it hard, we were just listen to joints to hear creaking and engine noises, gear change noises etc...basic test rip) The 2004 ticks harder than it did before test run and the valve adjustment. I am aware of how valve clearance works due to thermal expansion and that the specification on these is +/- 0.001 on the valves ( IN can be .005-.007 and EX can be .008-.010) and will be setting them later this week to .005/.008 and seeing if the noise goes away, and if not then both to .001 up and see the same. Also what kind of volume of oil is supposed to be coming out onto the valves? should it be a small drip or should it spray? Any advice would be appreciated on this, looking to find out which one i need to rip apart and either unplug oil channels, or purchase new seals and replace them on the one that doesn't spray oil out the hole lol The attached videos are Post-valve adjustment, post test run. Thank you in advance! 2004.3gp 2003.mp4