I replaced my fuel filter today. Very easy. However, I wanted to know if
there was more sediment and/or guck in the tank. With only about a litre and
a half in the tank I removed it from the bike and shook it every which way
possible for about a minute, then poured half it's contents into a large
tray covered with pure white paper towel. No sediment or guck came out.
Therefore all the stuff that plugged my fuel filter got into it at the
moment I switched the petcock to reserve when finishing my recent trip. I
guess the reserve tube leading into the gas tank must be at the very bottom
so that it collects all possible junk! Now I'll run on reserve every month
or two for a tank full just to keep the reserver tube clear.
Tom
>I just figured out what the problem is tonight ...
> After work I put the bike in the driveway and fired it up. It runs fine on
> idle, but as soon as you give it the gas, it coughs out and stalls. This
> happens whether it's on reserve or normal (at the petcock). So I reasoned
> that it is starving for fuel. This could be a bad fuel pump, plugged fuel
> filter, or partially plugged tube above the petcock (or in the petcock
> itself).
> So I undid the rubber tube from the petcock, and holding a wad of paper
> towels at the petcock output, opened it quickly on reserve and on normal
> (the tank is currently full with about 14 litres, so has lots of
> gravitational pressure). Clear gas came out in both cases in a very strong
> rapid stream. It left no residue on the paper towel.
> However, I then took the rubber tube leading to the fuel filter (including
> the fuel filter itself) and turned them upside down over a wad of clean
> paper towels. Out came the fuel and a large amount of pinkish silty
> particulate or silty goo (can't tell which). As the fuel was absorbed by
> the paper towel, the paper towel was left covered in this residue.
> Obviously my fuel filter is almost fully plugged. This all happened when I
> switched to reserve at the petcock several days ago, so it is obvious that
> the residue was in the shorter reserve tube which hasn't been used for
> several years at least.
> So on Saturday I will mostly drain the fuel tank, then shake it vigorously
> and drain to a tray with paper towel in it - examine for residue. Lather,
> rinse, repeat. When no more residue I'll change out the fuel filter and
> put everything back together. If the residue is rust then it is from water
> being in the tank and sitting on the bottom. But the residue could also
> have come from many repeated gas fills (I have 37,000 km on the bike and
> have never flushed the fuel tank or reserver tube, or changed the fuel
> filter - some things I should have done long ago).
> Hope this helps in your case because you said you had something similar
> happen. Don't wait to get abandoned on the side of a highway late at
> night - fix it now. I will also buy an extra fuel filter to keep in my
> saddle bag witht he spare headlight - just in case. There are no tools
> required to change the fuel filter - just your fingers.
> Tom
>>I have the same Bike, and I experienced the same problem. I've only had
>>the Bike for about 2 months now, and I asked the guy if he ever ran on the
>>reserve, and he said he NEVER ran the reserve. The problem was a little
>>sediment in the line or petcock. I cleaned it out by filling up, running
>>on the reserve tank until it was empty, switch back to main tank, go
>>directly to gas station, then fill up again, then run on the reserve tank.
>>I repeated this a few times and it cleaned out by itself. I also added a
>>little bit of fuel stabilizer to assist cleaning. Try this if it happens
>>again. If it clears up, you will know that was the problem. Good luck, and
>>please post your results.
>> ============================================
>>>I have a Honday 750 Shadow 2003. I had a problem yesterday but have seen
>>>this happen once before as well.
>>>
>>> The engine runs perfectly at all times (carbs, gravity feed gas line).
>>> When it sputters at about 200km I know it's going to reserve, which I
>>> understand to be the shorter of two tubes feeding up into the single gas
>>> tank from an aluminum petcock with a lever on it. I switch the lever to
>>> the reserve position, and the bike should normally catch it's breath and
>>> start running again - while I'm still flying down the highway.
>>>
>>> But last night when it sputtered (and I turned on the reserve) the
>>> engine died. I pulled over and couldn't start it for about 20 seconds.
>>> Then it started but sputtered horribly, finally catching on so that I
>>> could ride at about 10km/hr. It slowly gained strength as I hobbled up
>>> the side of the freeway, until I was going about 40km/hr, then 60. After
>>> another minute or two I was doing 80 km/hr but had no power. Then I
>>> realized I was running on one cylinder instead of two, because I could
>>> start the hear the 2cnd cylinder going on and off line, with associated
>>> power bursts. Then, after another minute or two I gradually regained
>>> full speed with just an occasional sputter. By that point I arrived at a
>>> gas station and filled up, and all sputtering stopped regardless of the
>>> petcock position (ie: on reserve, or not).
>>>
>>> Because this has happened several times now it leads me to the following
>>> ideas:
>>>
>>> 1) Because there's only about 1.25 litres left in the tank when hitting
>>> reserver, perhaps there's not enough weight of fuel to go through the
>>> tube to the carbs fast enough, consequently sputtering.
>>>
>>> 2) Perhaps sediment or gunk builds up in the short (ie: reserve) tube
>>> due to lack of use, because I almost never run low on fuel. So when I
>>> finally do run low, I get gunk going into my carbs initially.
>>>
>>> 3) Perhaps the reserve tube is plugged a little and doesn't feed gas
>>> fast enough?
>>>
>>> 4) Perhaps there is 'old' fuel going through the reserve tube?
>>>
>>> Can anyone suggest the most likely reason, or any other you can think
>>> of?
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>>
>>> Tom
>>>
>>
>
>I guess the reserve tube leading into the gas tank must
>be at the very bottom so that it collects all possible junk!
That's right. Probably designed with that in mind.
>Now I'll run on reserve every month or two for a tank full
>just to keep the reserver tube clear.
That's what I do. It works. I never had that problem again.
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> After work I put the bike in the driveway and fired it up. It runs fine on
> idle, but as soon as you give it the gas, it coughs out and stalls. This
> happens whether it's on reserve or normal (at the petcock). So I reasoned
> that it is starving for fuel. This could be a bad fuel pump, plugged fuel
> filter, or partially plugged tube above the petcock (or in the petcock
> itself).
> So I undid the rubber tube from the petcock, and holding a wad of paper
> towels at the petcock output, opened it quickly on reserve and on normal
> (the tank is currently full with about 14 litres, so has lots of
> gravitational pressure). Clear gas came out in both cases in a very strong
> rapid stream. It left no residue on the paper towel.
> However, I then took the rubber tube leading to the fuel filter (including
> the fuel filter itself) and turned them upside down over a wad of clean
> paper towels. Out came the fuel and a large amount of pinkish silty
> particulate or silty goo (can't tell which). As the fuel was absorbed by
> the paper towel, the paper towel was left covered in this residue.
> Obviously my fuel filter is almost fully plugged. This all happened when I
> switched to reserve at the petcock several days ago, so it is obvious that
> the residue was in the shorter reserve tube which hasn't been used for
> several years at least.
> So on Saturday I will mostly drain the fuel tank, then shake it vigorously
> and drain to a tray with paper towel in it - examine for residue. Lather,
> rinse, repeat. When no more residue I'll change out the fuel filter and
> put everything back together. If the residue is rust then it is from water
> being in the tank and sitting on the bottom. But the residue could also
> have come from many repeated gas fills (I have 37,000 km on the bike and
> have never flushed the fuel tank or reserver tube, or changed the fuel
> filter - some things I should have done long ago).
> Hope this helps in your case because you said you had something similar
> happen. Don't wait to get abandoned on the side of a highway late at
> night - fix it now. I will also buy an extra fuel filter to keep in my
> saddle bag witht he spare headlight - just in case. There are no tools
> required to change the fuel filter - just your fingers.
> Tom
>>I have the same Bike, and I experienced the same problem. I've only had
>>the Bike for about 2 months now, and I asked the guy if he ever ran on the
>>reserve, and he said he NEVER ran the reserve. The problem was a little
>>sediment in the line or petcock. I cleaned it out by filling up, running
>>on the reserve tank until it was empty, switch back to main tank, go
>>directly to gas station, then fill up again, then run on the reserve tank.
>>I repeated this a few times and it cleaned out by itself. I also added a
>>little bit of fuel stabilizer to assist cleaning. Try this if it happens
>>again. If it clears up, you will know that was the problem. Good luck, and
>>please post your results.
>> ============================================
>>>I have a Honday 750 Shadow 2003. I had a problem yesterday but have seen
>>>this happen once before as well.
>>>
>>> The engine runs perfectly at all times (carbs, gravity feed gas line).
>>> When it sputters at about 200km I know it's going to reserve, which I
>>> understand to be the shorter of two tubes feeding up into the single gas
>>> tank from an aluminum petcock with a lever on it. I switch the lever to
>>> the reserve position, and the bike should normally catch it's breath and
>>> start running again - while I'm still flying down the highway.
>>>
>>> But last night when it sputtered (and I turned on the reserve) the
>>> engine died. I pulled over and couldn't start it for about 20 seconds.
>>> Then it started but sputtered horribly, finally catching on so that I
>>> could ride at about 10km/hr. It slowly gained strength as I hobbled up
>>> the side of the freeway, until I was going about 40km/hr, then 60. After
>>> another minute or two I was doing 80 km/hr but had no power. Then I
>>> realized I was running on one cylinder instead of two, because I could
>>> start the hear the 2cnd cylinder going on and off line, with associated
>>> power bursts. Then, after another minute or two I gradually regained
>>> full speed with just an occasional sputter. By that point I arrived at a
>>> gas station and filled up, and all sputtering stopped regardless of the
>>> petcock position (ie: on reserve, or not).
>>>
>>> Because this has happened several times now it leads me to the following
>>> ideas:
>>>
>>> 1) Because there's only about 1.25 litres left in the tank when hitting
>>> reserver, perhaps there's not enough weight of fuel to go through the
>>> tube to the carbs fast enough, consequently sputtering.
>>>
>>> 2) Perhaps sediment or gunk builds up in the short (ie: reserve) tube
>>> due to lack of use, because I almost never run low on fuel. So when I
>>> finally do run low, I get gunk going into my carbs initially.
>>>
>>> 3) Perhaps the reserve tube is plugged a little and doesn't feed gas
>>> fast enough?
>>>
>>> 4) Perhaps there is 'old' fuel going through the reserve tube?
>>>
>>> Can anyone suggest the most likely reason, or any other you can think
>>> of?
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>>
>>> Tom
>>>
>>
>