General Fuel System Question thread

[elementxero]

Hi guys, (disclaimer: first post, first bike, and first time doing anything mechanical  )

I picked up a 1995 GS500E with 1900 original miles a couple weeks ago, rode it for a week (rode rough and stalled a lot), then it finally refused to start.  I read up and figured that since it clearly sat for a long time it probably has some gunk/rust in the carbs/fuel system.

Sure enough I took out the carbs and there's some rust in the float bowls.  Figured if there's rust in the float bowls there's rust in the tank.  I peered in with a flashlight and there's definitely some brown gunk in there...it's not horrible but I want to clean it out. 

So I am trying to drain the remaining gas out of the tank, and with the tank petcock turned from --- to |, NO GAS COMES OUT!

Is my petcock clogged?  Or am I missing something (should it take a siphon to drain?)

Thanks so much!  This forum has been an amazing guide to this project for a 27 year old whose never touched so much as a lawnmower before!

[ryott52]

From what I understand the tanks are built in such a way that there will always be a bit of gas left, around half a gallon. Apparently the only thing to do is to drain it as much as it will drain, then siphon the rest and let the tank air out the remaining fumes.

[elementxero]

hmm, ok....

so should I just prop the tank cap open and leave it outside for a while?

[adidasguy]

Remove the 4 bolts for the fuel cap and turn the tank upside down to drain or remove the fuel petcock.
Good idea to then throw in some fresh gas or cleaner of proper type... slosh around... then drain again.

Taking off petcock will let you examine the screen on it and clean it. Manuals show you how to do that. Get a new o-ring gasket and the two gaskets for the bolts for putting it back on.

Might as well get some good fuel hose and fix up everything while you're at it. Old hoses will tend to leak once you start moving them because they're stiff.

[gs500e]

No need to get all the gas out if you just want to pull the petcock/screenFilter to check it.

You just have to have less than half a tank or so (really could do with about 3/4 tank, but the emptier the better; since gas is heavier than ya think).

Pull the tank off (including shutting of the petcock).  Then set it on it's right side (if you start getting fuel out of the 'overflow' tube, then ya... you maybe had too much fuel in there.  From that position you can remove the petcock, it will be well above the level of gasoline in the tank.

(maybe before you do all that, take it for a ride with the tank open... in case your issue is the tank isn't venting through the cap.)

[elementxero]

thanks guys.  I was avoiding that because the haynes manual recommends leaving it alone


new problem, and im horrified:

looking down at teh top of teh carb, theres 2 clips per side for teh piston guide...mine is stuck--FUSED to the carb body--tried holding those clips together with a small flathead as I pushed the piston guide up from the bottom, and one of the clips broke.

is that it?  did i embarrass myself and end this whole project in one moronic throe of idiocy?

[elementxero]

i dont even see them on bikebandit


I don't know why I get it in my head I can do anything right    f%$king bummed out!

[Big Rich]

What clips are you talking about? Can you take a picture?

[elementxero]

What clips are you talking about? Can you take a picture?

I can't find a place where I could get a replacement anywhere.  Also---how is it that no guides mention how JAMMED in these things are?  Mine might as well be welded!  EDIT-- apparently this is due to fouled gas sealing them in and doesn't seem very common as I can only find one other person in the history of this forum with the same issue and he broke his even worse!

[elementxero]

I'll wait for the morning to see if anyone knows if this will matter or not.  Looks like you can't buy those guides anywhere but scrap yards off old carbs.

I'm either ordering a new carb ( ) or another carb repair kit, because I only got one thinking it would have two sets of gaskets and both definitely need replacing.

Just don't want to throw away the money on a repair kit if I need to replace the carb anyways...since it's so tight I can't see that clip making that much of a difference, but obviously they are there for a reason and any instability in the guide would sort of go against the point of it in the first place...

I dunno, I'm done for the night, appreciate the good info in this thread!

[The Buddha]

What clips are you talking about? Can you take a picture?

I can't find a place where I could get a replacement anywhere.  Also---how is it that no guides mention how JAMMED in these things are?  Mine might as well be welded!  EDIT-- apparently this is due to fouled gas sealing them in and doesn't seem very common as I can only find one other person in the history of this forum with the same issue and he broke his even worse!

OK dude, I have no idea WTF that thing does and I damn well tell you that is just about the dumbest thing I ... OK sorry I take that back, you're allowed 1 sec of insanity, that is all it took for that thing to snap off.

Now here is the good news ...
Since I have killed 20 banks of carbs raiding em for parts, and only sold 2 of these ever (yea that dude ran it with a very very very dirty filter in the west texas desert for year after year and wore the guide and the slide ... and beat you to the stupid grand prix. Just cos he had to do it for years to cause that sorta damage.

So You can have it for $5 and mailing ($5) or $10 to GStwin and $5 mailing (essentially) pay $5 or donate $10, and mail ... its better you donate its called stupidity fee ... screw that, donate $5 and send me mail $5.

Cool.
Buddha.

[elementxero]

^---lol, PM sent!

[The Buddha]

BTW O ring pack I can add in $8 but the float gaskets are not in it, the float retaining O ring I have had fitting problems so may not be useable, but the other 3 which are much more important, the top, the float spigot, the bottom of that white guide - those 3 are good.
But well if you got a kit, forget it.
I think I get discouraged easy. The float O ring is a poor fit, I go dammm, this whole thing is a mess, I give up. I dont go to the great big O ring place in the sky and find the O ring for me.
Cool.
Buddha.

[elementxero]

BTW O ring pack I can add in $8 but the float gaskets are not in it, the float retaining O ring I have had fitting problems so may not be useable, but the other 3 which are much more important, the top, the float spigot, the bottom of that white guide - those 3 are good.
But well if you got a kit, forget it.
I think I get discouraged easy. The float O ring is a poor fit, I go dammm, this whole thing is a mess, I give up. I dont go to the great big O ring place in the sky and find the O ring for me.
Cool.
Buddha.

lol, yeah I already have 2 K+N carb repair kits with all the gaskets + float needle/seat

My O rings were all dried out so I wanted to replace them all anyways.

thanks again man you're a god damn lifesaver!

[ben2go]

Make sure you take the main jets out before removing the slide guides and emulsion tubes. http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=24036.0

Cleaning the fuel cap vent. http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=41061.0

And it's just a matter of time before the petcock fails you,if it hasn't already. http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=56352.0