1986 Vmax
My left rear cylinder is not working. I have spark on all of the cylinders. I took the wire off each cylinder and the motor almost died or rpm went way down every time except the left rear. I hear the spark when i take the wire off but it doesn't have any effect on the motor. I replaced the spark plugs as well, switched the coils, etc.
What else can I do? what could be the problem?
I was thinking TCI unit but why would I be getting fire and it still not work?

Please help?!

kevin

Welcome to the site! You probably have a clogged carb.. Time for disassembly and further look into the problem..

I had all of my carbs completely rebuilt last year and when the problem started, the bike hadn't sat long. The carbs was an idea, but hoped that wouldn't be the problem.

Hi

This is a Generation 2 VMAX forum. 2009 onwards
You might have more luck here: www.vmaxforum.net/ where the bulk of Gen I owners are members

VmaxOZ wrote:
As stated on the home page "This community is all about the Next Generation VMax", but as it turns out, a great number of Gen II owners were/are also Gen I owners. So... we see a lot of Gen I questions here and folks have had pretty insightful feedback from our community.

As suggested, another site may be more helpful, but don't underestimate the knowledge you can find here. Also don't be surprised if you get limited feedback on Gen I topics.

My suggestion for a 3 cylinder Gen I is to go buy a new/used Gen II. You'll be glad you did,


Mike

Im not sure you problem is carb related, but I can say that with the 10% ethanol gas my 85 Vmax carbs would clog up with in just a matter of 2 weeks from sitting.

From your description it definitely sounds like a fuel/carb problem. Could be as simple as a stuck float. Take a rubber mallett and smack the dead cylinders carb good several times.

I prefer the simplest approach first.

I'd check the Plug Cap on the #1 Cylinder. Undo it and you can turn it simply off the Wire.

When you look into it from the Plug Side, you'll see a Slot in which you place the Tip of a flat Screwdriver and unscrew the Brass Piece.

There will be a Spring and a Resistor coming out. Clean everything with a Contact Cleaner, remount them Parts and also check the upper End of the Cap which is like a wooden Thread.

Put it back in place it check if it starts to fire.

Report back

Could be a dirty carb. But, in the spirit of keeping things simple. While your carb thumping, Check the voltage on your battery when it's off and when it's running. The gen I's don't like low voltage and tend to do weird things. Maybe a newer updated R/R might be in order.
A peashooter or shotgun cleaning technique might help too.

Run a compresion check on that cylinder. The bike dosent have one of those goofy switches on it that turn the v-boost on at 3000 rpms by chance. If so check the wire where tapped into the the coil.