| Author |
Message |
    
98s3t
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 09, 2010 - 03:36 am: | 
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Hi
I'm new to BWB and need some direction.
Recently picked up a 1998 S3T and immediately had full 20k service performed. As such, fluids, plugs, etc., are all new.
During first full tank of gas I ran since owning the bike, it stalled with only 160 miles on the trip odometer; kept stalling so I looked in the tank. Didn't look too low but I switched it over to reserve on a whim. Took off and had no further issues so I went to fill it up thinking it was in fact low on fuel. Specs say it's a 5.5 gallon tank (in theory, 0.6 gal. reserve). It only took 3.7 gallons to fill that first time.
Couple days later it stalled out again with very few miles (~135) on the tank and took 3.9 gallons the second fill-up. Once more, off to the races with no problems.
Been a LONG time since I worked on my own rigs and I'm rusty but trying to get back into it. I also don't know much about Buells. Thinking could be stuck valve, sediment or something choking things off when it hits a certain level. Or a filter that's toasted (although should've been new from service). Or something to do with the carb? Or a non-original tank that's actually smaller than 5.5 gallons. Or something else. Not really sure. Oh, also, it's getting like 30mpg, which I'd have to guess is abnormally low, especially after a full tune-up.
Any guidance would be appreciated. |
F_skinner
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 09, 2010 - 08:35 am: |
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Thinking could be stuck valve, sediment or something choking things off when it hits a certain level.
You are on the right track and I would guess it could be any of those things.
Check the easy things first. The is a hose that connects to the vent valve (on top of the gas tank around the gas fill ring), make sure that is not pinched. A lot of people, me included have pinched that hose by adding a tank bra or bag.
The valve it self may be bad but I do not know a good way to check it. I just replace one on my Thunderbolt for the same reason.
It may have water in it if it has been sitting for a while. Gas is lighter than water so it will stay in the bottom of the tank. I have also run into this problem.
After you have done all that you may want to rebuild the carb if it has not been done in a while. 5 to 8 years is usually the max time the rubber in a carb will last.
I am not that far from you so if you need any help let me know.
Here is a place on this site for other Colorado Buell Riders and we can always use another tuber rider on there. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/37/ 194028.html?1268062304
Frank |
Sparky
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 09, 2010 - 10:54 pm: |
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One thing some people, not everyone, have found is that the opening of the main fill tube on some petcocks may be quite high resulting in having to switch to reserve "sooner" than expected for a bike with such a large gas tank.
The only plus to this situation is that the amount of gas in reserve is greater than "normal".
This may or may not be your problem, but it is worth looking into anyway.
I can't, offhand, site any specs for the petcock main fill tube height vs that for the reserve fill tube but, perhaps, someone who knows what I'm talking about can offer some more insight as to what would be considered normal and what might need "fixing". |
98s3t
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - 11:39 am: |
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Thanks, gentlemen. I'll get after it some more this weekend. |
98s3t
| | Posted on Sunday, March 14, 2010 - 09:50 am: |
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Undertook a two-part approach over the past few days:
a) poured a bottle of iso-heet into the tank to absorb any water that may've been in there
b) I ran down the fuel (primary and reserve) as far as I thought was prudent to get another baseline reading
Of course the bike ran great with the heet in there. Also, I got 161 miles out of the primary tank and 41 more miles out of the reserve before I decided to fill up...even though there was still some gas sloshing around.
It went 202.8 miles on 4.2 gallons (~48mpg) and I still had -- in theory, anyway -- 1.3 gallons left in the tank..ostensibly in reserve.
Net-net, there may've been some water in there and the petcock fill tube height certainly appears to be a factor in the situation. I'm going to keep watching it and nail it down the specifics a bit more.
Thanks to both FSkinner and Sparky for the guidance... |
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S3T stalling - potential fuel delivery issue?