Air drier in the air pump

[Guest]

Hey, Hawk...

I bought the factory dessicant from my local Honda dealer for $7.97 in April. Part no. is 527A2-MB9-870.

[The Hawk]

Thanks Keener, at that kind of price, why worry about it?? I'll get it today and be done with it. Thanks much.

[RustyTheDog]

The desiccant part has been discontinued, so I searched Ebay.

Here's a listing with a good description, but too expensive:
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Here's the same stuff with a poor description, but it's cheaper and this is what I bought:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360008247442">http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... 0008247442</a><!-- m -->

So I'll be getting a quart of the stuff, and obviously I'll have to put it into a bag of some kind (perhaps the original dessiccant bag) but it didn't cost much and I won't have to worry about color changing or microwaving it.

[vleighty]

Hey RustyTheDog. I took my compressor out tonight, and yes it was a pita. If you'd like to recoup some of your cash I'll take some of the dessicant off your hands. I certainly don't need a quart. Just enough to do the job. Let me know if you're interested.

So this takes care of everything above the 4 way plug. What about below it? Do the lines to the shocks need to be cleaned, what about the shocks themselves? Some oil came out of the lines when I disconnected them under the fairing. I assume this is normal and the shocks are oil filled, with pressure supplied by the compressor. Is this right?

I'm usually good about searching before I ask questions, but I haven't thought about this until now.

What say you?

Thanks

[SIR tricky]

The air and oil are actually in the same container (front forks) and there is no none return valve to prevent oil seeping into the tubes, if it isn't normal then I am in the same boat as you I had oil in the lines albeit very little.

[RustyTheDog]

I'll PM you vlighty. I definitely have too much of the stuff.

Regarding your other questions, I hope you aren't directing them to me because I don't know jack. ;-)

[Ranch55]

Hey Tricky,
I tried what you suggested and I cant get the desicant to turn back to blue.
It turns blue when it is hot but as soon as it cools down it turns back to yellow/amber. No moisture is coming out on the paper towel either.
Am I correct in assuming that the desicant needs to be replaced??
If so any idea where to purchase it most cost effectively???

I put mine in an aluminum pie pan, then put in the oven on low heat, maxumum 150 F degrees. They dry out and turn a pretty blue. I take out of oven and let them cool off on the countertop for awhile. then reassemble everything.
Works great.
Microwaving them, can get it too hot and then can split into pieces.

[RustyTheDog]

I agree... Use a regular oven not a microwave. I went with 250 degrees for 2 hours which worked well, although some of the beads seemed to get "overcooked"... They turned dark green.

On the same day they were cooked, my quart of blue desiccant arrived by UPS so I used that.

[WingMan71]

All,

I just replaced my desiccant this past weekend. All went pretty well until I got to the step that says “remove the compressor/air drier rubber housing from the fairing”. Oh really!!! HOW?????

The factory Honda service manual does not tell you how, nor does the Haynes manual that I have. They both just say remove it!

I offer up these instructions to others as testament to my busted knuckles and newly invented foul words having now successfully performed this procedure!

COMPRESSOR/AIR DRIER HOUSING REMOVAL:

The big rubber housing that holds the compressor and air drier is held in place in the fairing by two pencil eraser sized rubber nipples located at the top of the rubber housing. Look at the picture in Tricky’s post dated January 20th at 8:05pm. At the bottom left hand side of that picture you can see the left half of the rubber housing and the two nipples in question near the top of it.

Those two nipples poke through two matching holes in the inside of the fairing just to the right of the right front fork (front suspension) and under and to the right of the stereo. The problem is that you can only see the aft of the two holes and the nipple poking through it. You cannot see the forward of the two holes at all, nor access it from the back.

I was lucky and found a way to access it. At the time I was also replacing my headlight bulb, so I had my headlight assembly removed. There is a hole in the right front side of the fairing behind the headlight assembly through which you can both see and access the forward hole with a long screwdriver.

(Note: There might be one other way to access that forward hole. If you remove the entire stereo unit and the shroud underneath the right side of it, you may be able to get to that second hole. I did not try this so don’t know for sure.) Both access methods are a lot of work, so choose your poison!

Back to the removal method. If you were actually able to just pull really hard on the top of the compressor/air drier rubber housing you might be able to pull these two nipples out through the two holes, but not likely. There is not enough room to pull the housing away from the fairing inner wall, only back and toward the right fairing pocket opening. You will also need pretty small hands to get in there and reach that spot at all.

The trick to getting these nipples out without ripping them off of the rubber housing is to spray them with a lubricant (I used WD40) to make them slippery. Then, you can pull on the rubber housing while your able assistant pushes the nipples from the other side with a long screwdriver, or better yet squeezes them/pushes them with a long needle nose pliers. Between those two simultaneous actions, you can get the nipples out of the holes. Do the aft of the two first. Then do the forward one working your screwdriver through the aforementioned hole behind the headlight assembly.

This is not easy, but do-able. Take your time and say a few foul words if necessary, but DON’T rip either of those nipples off of the rubber housing! If you do, the compressor/drier assembly cannot be reinstalled properly and will rattle around inside your fairing and make you crazy!

When reinstalling, it is a real pain trying to get both of those nipples lined up and started into the two holes. Before you start, spray the heck out of them with WD40 again to get them slippery. Do the forward one first. You really need a spotter to do this. While one person is pushing the big rubber housing around inside the fairing, your able assistant needs to watch and help you get the nipple lined up with the holes. You can push the forward one in using a long screwdriver through that hole in the front fairing behind the headlight. Then do the aft one. That one is a bit easier. A small-handed person can push the housing from the inside while another pulls the nipple through the hole with a needle nose pliers.

Hope this helps someone accomplish this critical task in considerably less time than I did.

[Guest]

Hi guys , this is Pauls (1st post) brother Dave , thanks for all the advice and tips about the compressor unit , sounds like a tricky little operation but with all the advise you have given me at least I know its not impossible . Hope its also helped other wing owners . Thanks again and thanks Paul for posting the question for me . Dave

[catman]

dessicant is very plentiful in the electronics world-- See if you can find someone that either works in the hosptial system or at BB or Circ city If they get in equipment regularly they will be happy to give you a couple of packs-- I got 2 big bags and it should last me for a long time- I have used the microwave to dry out the stuff.- glass bowl witha cut off sock draped over the top- pour the desicant on top of the sock- dry for 2-3 minutes-- it worked fine for me

[Guest]

Hi guys first post here. I am going to do this job soon on my 84 aspy. I found dessicant at the honda dealer for the 1500 part# 527a2-mn5-003 ,about $8.00.

[Guest]

getting ready to do this plus check compressor, it does not currently work.
Friendly bump :YMHUG:

[roscoepc]

Friendly "Hi, How are ya!!" :mrgreen:

Does your compressor not work period Ray or run but not pump air??

[Guest]

Doing good actually and you? :mrgreen:
My compressor does not work at all, so I will be checking everything.
I'll be to ask more questions most likely and give an update when I get around to working on it.
Thanks, Ray