P500 Cracks in air intake to airbox bond

[GreatNorth]

While removing rear prop shaft for failed pinion joint, I noticed the glue/sealant (Honda bond?) between air intake and airbox is all cracking. Does this matter? If so, what's the fix?

 

[DRZRon1]

it matters, it is hard to tell if its superficial cracking that means nothing or if the seal is kinda broken, either way if there is a small leak it will suck in dust after the filter.
no so familiar If thats bolted in or not to the back of the airbag, but either way if you are concerned, take it apart and reseal it with some silicone.

 

[lee]

It dose not matter (sort of).
The air filter attaches directly to the air intake hose (Conn tube in honda speak).
So if air dose leak in at the joint in the picture it leaks in to the dirty side of the filter.
Pull the air box lid and look for yourself, the structure should be easy to understand.

Also, that is a rubber boot with a lip on both sides of the air cleaner box.
So the rubber / plastic interface should seal based on the structure.
Putting a specially formulated rubber glue on the joint is belt and suspenders engineering.
Probably some honda R&D engineer way back in the day did this to appease his boss and every engineer since has copied it to avoid getting yelled at (by his boss who also copied it when he was the engineer designing the parts).

 

[GreatNorth]

It dose not matter (sort of).
The air filter attaches directly to the air intake hose (Conn tube in honda speak).

I thought it looked this way, but figured I'd check if I was missing something. Thanks, @lee!

 

[GreatNorth]

Along with the parts for rear pinion replacement, we picked up a new air filter element so we could swap out immediately and prep the old one for next swap, rather than removing, washing, drying, oiling, and replacing (which makes every time seem like the wrong time to do it for a utility machine that gets frequent use). The air intake to filter connection appears to be well-sealed, and Honda definitely takes a belt and suspenders approach. It looks unlikely anything would leak even if the band clamp was left off with brackets to hold the filter in place and a very tight fit.

What's the square tube with foam in it below intake duct for? The PDF service manual dealer got for me is missing the air intake section. Does this foam piece need to be washed and oiled too?

It looks like it is designed to press firmly against filter element of main filter--and suck filtered air from it? Or?

Factory assembly was a little careless so rubber shoulder of element was caught against the square tube so square tube wasn't sealed tight to filter.

New filter element is installed with rubber shoulder pulled past the square tube so square tube is pressed only against foam element.

 

[lee]

The square opening is connected to the crank case breather.
There is a rubber hose on the outside of the air box leading to the engine.
Blow by, fumes and whatever are drawn through the filter and burned.

The little foam block keeps stuff from falling back in to the crank case when you are changing the filter.
I have never thought to clean it but if I saw that it was caked up with filter oil I would probably wash it.

 

[Mudder]

I also just buy new filters and have a spray can of filter oil if needed. Glad others clarified no problem with the housing crack, but as I keep a tube of black Shoo Goo handy, it might be good for a cleaner look/peace of mind if interested.

If your 520 was purchased new from a dealer, I would send them that photo of the deformed filter from factory installation with a request for free filter (would not hurt to ask). Best of luck @GreatNorth from the Great South. 🤣

 

[GreatNorth]

Thanks, @Mudder! Shoo Goo does seem like it would hold up well on something like this.

Jack Carter Powersports in Calgary was kind enough to cover a new filter element coming with my next parts order (just a tailgate cable and the bolt, nut, & washer for it that we'll probably find on the ground around here right after we get the parts 😂).