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Thread: Dumped Fuel

  1. #1

    Dumped Fuel

    I hope someone out there in Buell land can throw some light on my issue.

    Went for an awesome 200km ride yesterday. Fuelled up just before I got home to be ready for the next one. I noticed some fuel discharge out of the overflow pipe (left side next to the foot peg on the inside of the swing arm) but put it down to overflow as I put the bike on front and rear tyre stands.

    Today went out for a ride and after 15 mins the fuel light came on. Stopped to check out why and fuel was coming out of the discharge. Close to home, so I went home with no issues - just the fuel light on. Decided to fuel up as well and noticed a discharge of fuel at the browser after filling up. This got worse with a rev of the motor. Shut down and investigated again, nothing obvious. Got home and all seems good.

    I lost a tank of fuel, why?..

    Appreciate any help and direction. Possible Fuel Pump earth issue?

    Thank you.

  2. #2
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    doubt you "lost" a tank of fuel. how do i know that? it can only get "lost' in 2 places: into the motor or onto ground. if a tank of fuel went into the motor your post would be titled along the lines of "HELP!!!! started motor and both connecting rods blew out thru the crankcase assembly." your motor would have suffered hydraulic-lock and permanent terminal damage.
    other "lost" fuel area? the ground. four gallons of fuel under the bike noticeable to put it mildly. highly doubt that happened.
    here's what's going on and NO on the "possible fuel pump earth issue".
    1-your frame/tank was very warm. you filled it with gasoline that averages about 50 degrees fahrenheit when it's pumped out of the in-ground tank. the fuel expanded rapidly and quickly and the venting system admirably performed its job puking said fuel onto the ground as you rode home.
    2-your cap vent not functioning properly. check it.
    3-fuel pump twin O-rings leaking.....fuel seeping out of lower left frame spar at pump. check it.
    4-tank vent failing which is EXTREMELY rare. if faulty replace with factory part # P011502A8B
    5-refine your fill-up procedure. either fill up at home from container AFTER both motor and frame have cooled to room temp.....OR fill-up when first leaving on a ride prior to motor and frame heating up.
    and think of it in these terms: look at a conventional bike gas tank.....it's steel, a poor conductor of heat....and ABOVE the cylinder heads. virtually no heat transfer from motor to tank hence minimal fuel expansion upon fill-up. now consider the XB tank which is the frame: it's aluminum, it's huge, it transfers heat easily and it encapsulates the hottest parts of the motor....the cylinder heads. in all honesty it's amazing they don't puke more fuel on a summer day fill-up than what they do.

  3. #3
    Thanks for the feed back and yes the fuel was obviously dumped on the deck.
    Noted about fuelling up but I think you may be onto something with the o rings. Just checked a cold bike and the bucket I put in place to capture any fuel has fuel in it.
    Further investigation regarding the o rings needed I think.
    Thanks again for the feedback.

  4. #4
    Just a thought, why did fuel discharge increase when the revs were raised?

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ferris Buell R View Post
    Just a thought, why did fuel discharge increase when the revs were raised?
    no idea.....coincidental????.....but i'll tell you this son: you have a SERIOUS SITUATION there that needs immediate attention and i would NOT ride it any further till it is resolved. why? clearly your fuel is being released in the vicinity of the muffler. no need for me to explain the explosive possibilities of that scenario. you need to ISOLATE the source of this leak. i'm assuming here that your "bucket" was placed under the left rear lower frame spar where the tank vent hose terminates? correct??
    3 sources there: the pump....the vent tube....the drain plug. resolve as follows:
    1-move the vent tube into a dedicated container. ROOM TEMP.....fill tank. replace cap. do NOT start/run motor. fuel found in container? faulty gas cap vent.
    2-drain plug on pump housing. check if it's weeping fuel. if so it must be addressed.
    3-weeping around pump housing. if so it must be removed and resealed. TWO o-rings...list $6.50 each. i keep them in stock and sell to members for $6.50 the pair.

  6. #6
    Thanks for the info. Great places to start, much appreciated.

  7. #7
    Senior Member Cooter's Avatar
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    If you have 3.5 gallons of any fluid on the ground, it is a pool about 6-10 FEET around.

    Are you saying you have a 10 FOOT wide pool of gas under your bike? Or is it just spitting drops out of the overflow?

  8. #8
    Hi Cooter, it appears to be only when the engine is running or immediately after shutting down.
    Faulty petrol cap as suggested?
    Thanks

  9. #9
    I should also add that it streams out when revved during fault finding. Higher the revs the greater the flow

  10. #10
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    Streams out !, You can't see where it's streaming out from ? It runs o.k. but is losing a large amount of fuel ? You have to trace your entire fuel system if it's not evident where it's coming from.

    Keep us posted on your progress, you can also down load the shop manual, for free.

    P.S. if your name is Ferris, cool screen name.


    Last edited by njloco; 06-11-2018 at 12:58 PM.

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