BillyDoc
0
The third time I couldn't start after a quick shopping stop and getting a MIL 19 convinced me that I needed to replace the crank position sensor. The only problem being that it looked like a horrendous job. I was wrong. It's actually far easier than the horrid ?valve check,? If you're willing to take a few shortcuts. I'm writing this to describe how I did the replacement.
First remove the right-side tupperware.
1. Remove the glove pocket covers.
2. Remove the three screws holding each glove pocket and loosen the two bolts under the handlebars about an eighth of an inch.
3. Remove the two screws in the dash plastic, and disengage the tabs. You should now be able to rotate this piece rearward from the top, slip it out from under the glove pockets and remove it. This works on my bike, but I have two custom-made risers which give me the clearance. You may need to remove the handlebar as well if you don't have enough clearance.
4. Remove the seat and seat-gasket (the rubber part between the seat and the gas tank).
5. Remove the plastic ?nose? in the front between the two side pieces (four bolts).
6. Remove the two remaining right-side plastic pieces.
Now the exhaust system.
The really good news here is that when the muffler is removed there is sufficient clearance to remove all the bolts around the clutch-cover and exchange the CKP sensor.
1. Remove three bolts from the exhaust heat shield, leaving the top-aft bolt in place, but loosened if possible. This should give you enough clearance for the next step.
2. Loosen and slide forward the two clamps holding the ?header? pipes in the muffler.
3. Spray the muffler joint and gaskets with penetrating oil of some kind and take a 30 minute break while it soaks in. BE VERY SURE THIS IS A PETROLIUM PRODUCT WITH NO SILICONE. Silicone will kill your oxygen sensor!
4. Disconnect the oxygen sensor lead and arrange it so it hangs free.
5. Place two empty cardboard boxes under the muffler to catch it when it drops. It is surprisingly heavy.
6. Remove two bolts that support the muffler.
7. From the rear of the bike, twist the muffler to rotate it slightly along it's long axis, back and forth, while pulling rearward. This flexes the headers enough to break them loose from the gaskets. I had 43,000 miles on mine, without ever disturbing it, and this technique got the muffler off. (I built my own lift table with ?drops? for both wheels, and found that I could change the rear tire when it was hanging from the bike by simply flexing the exhaust slightly.) Keep doing this until the muffler is free and drops on the boxes.
8. Take the last bolt out of the heat-shield and enlarge the opening that kept you from doing it in the first place with a file or other appropriate tool. You are now ready to change the crank position sensor.
Changing the sensor.
1. Drain the oil.
2. Clean the clutch-cover, with special attention to the joint. You want to be very careful about dropping foreign material into the engine, which is easy to do with the cover removed, or during removal.
3. Remove the cover bolts, a bracket on the upper left side, and disengage the clutch cable. Push the cable aside.
4. Pop off the cover. This cover is sealed with a ?formed? gasket, so is moderately ?glued? in place. There are two tabs where you can tap the cover from the other side of the bike with the help of a piece of wood and a hammer. There are also two ?dowel? sleeves in this cover, located roughly halfway up on the left and right sides, so you want to tap the cover out as perpendicularly as possible. Mine came off very easily.
5. Carefully clean off the old sealant on both joining faces. I used rags and 91% isopropyl alcohol with success. Do NOT use any metal for this job!
6. Swap the crank position sensor with a new one. You will see it to the right of a weird looking wheel with exaggerated teeth, attached with two bolts, with a wire lead exiting the cavity to the upper right. I could not find torque values for these bolts, so did it by feel, but also used ?blue? thread-locker on them, as well as the cover bolts.
7. Replace the cover. After everything is clean and dry, carefully run a roughly 3/32? bead of sealant (I used Permatex Ultra Grey) around the edge-face of the cover, splitting the bead to completely surround all bolt holes, and position the cover using the aligning dowels . . . then press the cover into place. I have an electric screwdriver with adjustable torque which I then used to replace the cover bolts (it's an eight mm bolt head) set on the lowest torque setting. This allowed me to replace all the bolts quickly. I did not worry about the clutch attachment or thread-locker at this time. If the oil cap is still in place, remove it so air can circulate inside the case.
8. Carefully inspect the seal. You should see a small bead of sealant that has squished out of the joint around the entire periphery of the joint.
9. Take a break for an hour. You want the sealant to harden slightly, and strengthen so bits on the inside remain attached to the cover and don't end up blocking an oil orifice somewhere.
10. Remove each bolt, add a small drop of thread-locker (blue) and replace along with the clutch cable and brace previously removed. Torque to final value, using a crossing pattern.
11. Wait at least 24 hours for the sealant to cure! Most of these sealants use the water from humidity as a curing agent, so make sure there is plenty available. I'm in Florida, so in summer these sealants cure nicely down here. If you're in Wisconsin and it's winter, you might want to put a humidifier next to the bike. You definitely don't want bits of sealant in your oil. While waiting for the sealant to cure you can certainly put the bike back together, though.
Reassembly.
1. Clean the header pipes where they insert into the muffler, and lubricate with a light coat of petroleum jelly (Vaseline). Again, don't use silicone products for this! The muffler gaskets on my bike somehow managed to survive disassembly, so I re-used them.
2. Position the muffler any way you can to enable you to slip it over the header pipes, and slip it on, again using a twisting motion. I used a cardboard box forward, and a scissor jack and some cardboard for a pad aft. Mine went on way easier than it came off. Bolt the muffler and the heat-shield back into place.
3. Clean the oxygen sensor and crank position sensor plugs. I have found that petroleum jelly is excellent for protecting electrical connections, so I ?filled? both plugs with this material before routing and connecting. You may want to use one of the commercial silicone-based materials for this, but I have found that they deteriorate over time. Your mileage may vary, to coin a unique platitude.
4. Reinstall the tupperware, replace the oil, clear the MIL errors and take her for a spin. Mine started on the first crank. I was delighted to find the process so (comparatively) easy!
First remove the right-side tupperware.
1. Remove the glove pocket covers.
2. Remove the three screws holding each glove pocket and loosen the two bolts under the handlebars about an eighth of an inch.
3. Remove the two screws in the dash plastic, and disengage the tabs. You should now be able to rotate this piece rearward from the top, slip it out from under the glove pockets and remove it. This works on my bike, but I have two custom-made risers which give me the clearance. You may need to remove the handlebar as well if you don't have enough clearance.
4. Remove the seat and seat-gasket (the rubber part between the seat and the gas tank).
5. Remove the plastic ?nose? in the front between the two side pieces (four bolts).
6. Remove the two remaining right-side plastic pieces.
Now the exhaust system.
The really good news here is that when the muffler is removed there is sufficient clearance to remove all the bolts around the clutch-cover and exchange the CKP sensor.
1. Remove three bolts from the exhaust heat shield, leaving the top-aft bolt in place, but loosened if possible. This should give you enough clearance for the next step.
2. Loosen and slide forward the two clamps holding the ?header? pipes in the muffler.
3. Spray the muffler joint and gaskets with penetrating oil of some kind and take a 30 minute break while it soaks in. BE VERY SURE THIS IS A PETROLIUM PRODUCT WITH NO SILICONE. Silicone will kill your oxygen sensor!
4. Disconnect the oxygen sensor lead and arrange it so it hangs free.
5. Place two empty cardboard boxes under the muffler to catch it when it drops. It is surprisingly heavy.
6. Remove two bolts that support the muffler.
7. From the rear of the bike, twist the muffler to rotate it slightly along it's long axis, back and forth, while pulling rearward. This flexes the headers enough to break them loose from the gaskets. I had 43,000 miles on mine, without ever disturbing it, and this technique got the muffler off. (I built my own lift table with ?drops? for both wheels, and found that I could change the rear tire when it was hanging from the bike by simply flexing the exhaust slightly.) Keep doing this until the muffler is free and drops on the boxes.
8. Take the last bolt out of the heat-shield and enlarge the opening that kept you from doing it in the first place with a file or other appropriate tool. You are now ready to change the crank position sensor.
Changing the sensor.
1. Drain the oil.
2. Clean the clutch-cover, with special attention to the joint. You want to be very careful about dropping foreign material into the engine, which is easy to do with the cover removed, or during removal.
3. Remove the cover bolts, a bracket on the upper left side, and disengage the clutch cable. Push the cable aside.
4. Pop off the cover. This cover is sealed with a ?formed? gasket, so is moderately ?glued? in place. There are two tabs where you can tap the cover from the other side of the bike with the help of a piece of wood and a hammer. There are also two ?dowel? sleeves in this cover, located roughly halfway up on the left and right sides, so you want to tap the cover out as perpendicularly as possible. Mine came off very easily.
5. Carefully clean off the old sealant on both joining faces. I used rags and 91% isopropyl alcohol with success. Do NOT use any metal for this job!
6. Swap the crank position sensor with a new one. You will see it to the right of a weird looking wheel with exaggerated teeth, attached with two bolts, with a wire lead exiting the cavity to the upper right. I could not find torque values for these bolts, so did it by feel, but also used ?blue? thread-locker on them, as well as the cover bolts.
7. Replace the cover. After everything is clean and dry, carefully run a roughly 3/32? bead of sealant (I used Permatex Ultra Grey) around the edge-face of the cover, splitting the bead to completely surround all bolt holes, and position the cover using the aligning dowels . . . then press the cover into place. I have an electric screwdriver with adjustable torque which I then used to replace the cover bolts (it's an eight mm bolt head) set on the lowest torque setting. This allowed me to replace all the bolts quickly. I did not worry about the clutch attachment or thread-locker at this time. If the oil cap is still in place, remove it so air can circulate inside the case.
8. Carefully inspect the seal. You should see a small bead of sealant that has squished out of the joint around the entire periphery of the joint.
9. Take a break for an hour. You want the sealant to harden slightly, and strengthen so bits on the inside remain attached to the cover and don't end up blocking an oil orifice somewhere.
10. Remove each bolt, add a small drop of thread-locker (blue) and replace along with the clutch cable and brace previously removed. Torque to final value, using a crossing pattern.
11. Wait at least 24 hours for the sealant to cure! Most of these sealants use the water from humidity as a curing agent, so make sure there is plenty available. I'm in Florida, so in summer these sealants cure nicely down here. If you're in Wisconsin and it's winter, you might want to put a humidifier next to the bike. You definitely don't want bits of sealant in your oil. While waiting for the sealant to cure you can certainly put the bike back together, though.
Reassembly.
1. Clean the header pipes where they insert into the muffler, and lubricate with a light coat of petroleum jelly (Vaseline). Again, don't use silicone products for this! The muffler gaskets on my bike somehow managed to survive disassembly, so I re-used them.
2. Position the muffler any way you can to enable you to slip it over the header pipes, and slip it on, again using a twisting motion. I used a cardboard box forward, and a scissor jack and some cardboard for a pad aft. Mine went on way easier than it came off. Bolt the muffler and the heat-shield back into place.
3. Clean the oxygen sensor and crank position sensor plugs. I have found that petroleum jelly is excellent for protecting electrical connections, so I ?filled? both plugs with this material before routing and connecting. You may want to use one of the commercial silicone-based materials for this, but I have found that they deteriorate over time. Your mileage may vary, to coin a unique platitude.
4. Reinstall the tupperware, replace the oil, clear the MIL errors and take her for a spin. Mine started on the first crank. I was delighted to find the process so (comparatively) easy!
