Overheating / Vapor lock?

[jcroom]

So I went for a drive this morning and there was a lot of traffic and ended up going about 15 miles and then my bike started over heating (or vapor lock not sure which). I let it sit in the shade for about 20 minutes and it still wouldnt crank back up, so my friend came and blew some of that canned air stuff on the carbs (that stuff is really really cold) and we got the bike to crank drove home, still not running well due to being hot.

Some of you might remember my post a while back about replacing the engine, well when the engine came in Fedex had shipped it upside down (even though clearly marked which side up.) And so the engine was filled with oil... I had some issues with it overheating at first and a little bit of smokeing but that seemed to go away. I have put atleast 250 miles on the bike since the engine was replaced.


Do you think something is seriously wrong? or maybe just still some oil in the engine making it run hotter.

[Big Rich]

That displaced oil should be a non issue by now. Sounds like it may be a vacuum problem with your gas tank (or carbs). And does your fuel line go straight from the tank to the carbs (no loops for air bubbles to get trapped)?

[mister]

#1 - As soon as the engine arrived upside you Should have contacted the seller to let them know and ask them if they want the engine back. Then they could have taken it back and charged FedEx for screwing up. If you accepted it as is and Now try to claim you are Sh!t out of luck.

#2 - Do you have enough gas in the gas tank? How far before you hit reserve?

#3 - Check all your fuel lines for kinks.

Michael

[jcroom]

My mechanic said the engine would be fine. Also the gas tank was pretty much full. I have also been getting really low gas mileage (38.4 MPG) But at the time I mostly thought it was because most of the driving i had been doing was in the twisties...

[jcroom]

So I may be confused but, is this the fuel line you guys are talking about



If so, it runs to the petcock 'on' position and there doesnt appear to be any loops or anything like that, part of it runs behind the frame so I can't see if it has a kink in it or not though.

[Paulcet]

So I may be confused but, is this the fuel line you guys are talking about

Yes, that's the one

If so, it runs to the petcock 'on' position and there doesnt appear to be any loops or anything like that, part of it runs behind the frame so I can't see if it has a kink in it or not though.

It's your bike, right?  LOOK by what ever means necessary to see if it is kinked!

These motors rarely overheat.  I'm not sure what the boiling point of gasoline is, but with low octane anti-knock compound additives I don't think it is low enough for vapor lock.   How hot is the motor getting?  Paint smoking hot?  Melting front fender?

[werase643]

next time you stall out..... open the gas cap then try to re-start   the vent in the cap clogs sometimes

[ben2go]

Sounds like either a bad vacuum petcock or a plugged fuel cap vent.

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=41061.0

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=56352.0

[jcroom]

Well, I just took apart the gas cap, looked pretty clean to me. Also tried running it with the gas cap open and it didnt really help anything. I guess I am going to take it up to my mechanic next week and have him look at it, if the petcock needs to be replaced I'll let him do it...  I just dropped a lot of $$ on replacing the engine so I really don't want to mess up anything else on the bike and make it worse....

(I should also note the gas cap on my 06 is much different in internal design than the one you had in the pics)

[bassman]

I've been reading this post today with interest because I've been having what appears to be a hanging idle/idle slowing/difficult start. This occurred all of sudden after the bike sat for a week. The bike is 11 years old, has done 23,000 miles and I have recently synched the carbs. It has never had a problem like this before. After checking the throttle cable slack and checking the sparkplug tightness (one was a little loose) I drained the float bowls by undoing the drain plugs (the gas began to melt the little hamster water bowl I was collecting the gas in!). After draining and then refilling by setting the petcock to 'prime' the bike appears to be idling OK again. I won't know for sure until I ride to work Monday but I think it will now be OK. Some dirt or something may have got into the float mechanism and it may have got hung-up or something. I'm going to explore fuel additives to see if there is anything out there that might give it a clean (I don't really fancy taking the carbs apart).

Bassman

[jcroom]

I've been reading this post today with interest because I've been having what appears to be a hanging idle/idle slowing/difficult start. This occurred all of sudden after the bike sat for a week. The bike is 11 years old, has done 23,000 miles and I have recently synched the carbs. It has never had a problem like this before. After checking the throttle cable slack and checking the sparkplug tightness (one was a little loose) I drained the float bowls by undoing the drain plugs (the gas began to melt the little hamster water bowl I was collecting the gas in!). After draining and then refilling by setting the petcock to 'prime' the bike appears to be idling OK again. I won't know for sure until I ride to work Monday but I think it will now be OK. Some dirt or something may have got into the float mechanism and it may have got hung-up or something. I'm going to explore fuel additives to see if there is anything out there that might give it a clean (I don't really fancy taking the carbs apart).

Bassman

I think we may have had the same problem draining the float bowls it seems to be running fine again...

Thanks!

[ben2go]

Well, I just took apart the gas cap, looked pretty clean to me. Also tried running it with the gas cap open and it didnt really help anything. I guess I am going to take it up to my mechanic next week and have him look at it, if the petcock needs to be replaced I'll let him do it...  I just dropped a lot of $$ on replacing the engine so I really don't want to mess up anything else on the bike and make it worse....

(I should also note the gas cap on my 06 is much different in internal design than the one you had in the pics)

Your bike must be a California model.All GS suck air in through the fuel cap.The emission crap,or evap,handles the fumes that are expelled when the tank warms up.

[ben2go]

I've been reading this post today with interest because I've been having what appears to be a hanging idle/idle slowing/difficult start. This occurred all of sudden after the bike sat for a week. The bike is 11 years old, has done 23,000 miles and I have recently synched the carbs. It has never had a problem like this before. After checking the throttle cable slack and checking the sparkplug tightness (one was a little loose) I drained the float bowls by undoing the drain plugs (the gas began to melt the little hamster water bowl I was collecting the gas in!). After draining and then refilling by setting the petcock to 'prime' the bike appears to be idling OK again. I won't know for sure until I ride to work Monday but I think it will now be OK. Some dirt or something may have got into the float mechanism and it may have got hung-up or something. I'm going to explore fuel additives to see if there is anything out there that might give it a clean (I don't really fancy taking the carbs apart).

Bassman

Your issue sounds like the valves are starting to tighten up.When was the last valve adjustment?If it has been over 3000 miles,I would check them again.

[jcroom]

Your bike must be a California model.All GS suck air in through the fuel cap.The emission crap,or evap,handles the fumes that are expelled when the tank warms up.

Well, I know it was purchased in GA. My mechanic did tell me he 'de-californiaized' the carbs (but im not sure if they are like that for all models).

[ben2go]

Your bike must be a California model.All GS suck air in through the fuel cap.The emission crap,or evap,handles the fumes that are expelled when the tank warms up.

Well, I know it was purchased in GA. My mechanic did tell me he 'de-californiaized' the carbs (but im not sure if they are like that for all models).

I'm not sure after 02,if the tanks are like your.All off the bikes with emissions equipment would be.

[bassman]

I've been reading this post today with interest because I've been having what appears to be a hanging idle/idle slowing/difficult start. This occurred all of sudden after the bike sat for a week. The bike is 11 years old, has done 23,000 miles and I have recently synched the carbs. It has never had a problem like this before. After checking the throttle cable slack and checking the sparkplug tightness (one was a little loose) I drained the float bowls by undoing the drain plugs (the gas began to melt the little hamster water bowl I was collecting the gas in!). After draining and then refilling by setting the petcock to 'prime' the bike appears to be idling OK again. I won't know for sure until I ride to work Monday but I think it will now be OK. Some dirt or something may have got into the float mechanism and it may have got hung-up or something. I'm going to explore fuel additives to see if there is anything out there that might give it a clean (I don't really fancy taking the carbs apart).

Bassman

Your issue sounds like the valves are starting to tighten up.When was the last valve adjustment?If it has been over 3000 miles,I would check them again.

Bike runs fine now - draining the float bowl definitely did the trick  . I'd use some seafoam if I could get it over here in Blighty!

Bassman