2008 GS SE5 issues

I have a 2008 GS SE5 and cannot afford the dealership's 80-90 per hour. I live near Nashville.
Issues: rear squealing, miss/hesitation (rough idle), severe backfire when leaving off throttle.

Could any of these be solved by the canisterectomy? (miss/hesitation, severe backfire)
Don't know what/which muffler it has on it, it had a previous owner. Paperwork says racing exhaust.
Tried new plugs, wires and battery. Also tried oil change, pure gas, startron

Belt too tight or belt with teeth on both sides? (rear squealing) Just had rear tire replaced.

Suggestions please:sour::sour:

Did you just buy this or have you had it for awhile? In other words, did these problems just start or have they been there since you've had it?

Very curious by what you meant by "...belt with teeth on both sides". Full size teeth? Can you explain further or post a picture.

You've mentioned a lot of possibilities. Before I did a canisterectomy, I would replace the MAP sensor vacuum hoses. Left side of throttle body. A forum search will turn up a lot on that. Replace with silicon vacuum hose, 3mm ID, 85mm long each.




And does it have a fuel controller on it, i.e. Juicebox? If so, remove it. I would replace the fuel filter. If it's the original one, it's 10 years old and no telling what it's like inside. Air filter condition? Just go through the machine checking all the basics. Use a fuel system cleaner like Techron or B12. Yep, pure gas is always good. Once the miss and hesitation is resolved, I think the backfire issue takes care of itself. Yes, belt tension as well as belt alignment can cause squealing. You should check / get that in spec. As well as what teeth on both sides refers to. BajaRon can set you up with the Krikit tension gauge. He's a forum sponsor. If you are going to do all your own maintenance and repairs, you can purchase a shop manual for 20 bucks. Google will turn them up for you.

:agree: also check the Y gaskets... some belts were ribbed on the backside others smooth but only have the river teeth on one side. :thumbup:

:welcome:

Chupaca:
how do you check the Y gaskets without tools? I did replace the Y gaskets, a year back in
an attempt to fix backfire. Did not fix it. Do not know what previous owner did for farkles
or maint.

Snowbelt Spyder:
I have had Erik for just at 2 years and put 15,300 miles on him.
Noise may be since rear tire replacement. Miss and backfire since I've owned him.

I have an electronic copy of the shop manual.
I've attached a picture of the belt alignment on sprocket and a pic of belt to show both sides.
The belt was put on by a biker, certified, who works at a tire store.


No on the juice box. Did not know it had a fuel filter, will look at it. Will look at vacuum lines
at MAP and will replace.
Air filter had a little oil, but not much and is clean. Startron is a fuel cleaner to remove
ethanol and varnish, compares to SeaFoam.

Thanks for any and all help. Will update when I finish homework.
Tntherapy

Well, that's the standard OEM belt. We just call those things on the back side the ribs. You had me going there for a moment. Belt alignment - you should see an air gap between the right ride of the belt and that inner flange of the rear sprocket. You don’t have one. Spec is 1 - 5 mm of clearance. Don't try to cut it too close to 1mm. You need a gap to let the air escape from under the belt, also, otherwise you can get a howling sound. There is no spec for the front sprocket so don't worry about it. Just set the rear clearance and belt tension. Ron can set you up with the gauge and the proper numbers for wheel on the ground value using the Krikit. Suspect that the rear tire change threw off the clearance and possibly the tension. Look on the right hand side of the motor for the fuel filter. Can't miss it. Let's see how it runs after you do the vacuum lines and fuel filter.

Edit - BTW, the pressure in that fuel line is around 75#. So, just any old plastic or even metal fuel filter won't do. It will leak. Go with either the OEM part or equivalent.

The rear brake squealed a lot on the older models. Mine still does even with the newer pads that were supposed to correct it. Putting antisqueal stuff on the back of the pads did not help. I live with it as it goes away after maybe a few yards after using the brakes.

I have an 08 GS that was (and still is) having some of those problems. I solved the rough idle by replacing the Y gaskets with the Honda ones, performing a cannisterectomy and replacing the vacuum lines by the MAP. The "Race Exhaust" is probably a Hindle which is known to pop/backfire. Does it have the can am Symbol on the heat shield? Mine will backfire if i let off the throttle around 4k and then get back on it too quick.

I did replace:
vacuum lines, air breather and filter, Y-exhaust gaskets and cannisterectomy.
It seems to have made the backfire more acceptable. Seems to have more oomph.
BUT it is much noisier with the AF-1 breather. I am satisfied for now.:clap:

I have a 2008 GS manual and the belt used to make a lot of noise. I figured out you need to adjust the belt to have it right in the middle of the pulley, if it rests on the shoulder it makes noise, once adjusted so that it runs with a little space between the belt and the shoulder (maybe 1/16 to 1/8 inch) that noise will go away.