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Fuel leak


PeteTW

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If this is somewhere else in a thread...apols I couldn't find it.

 

I just managed to get to a petrol station yesterday out in the country, had a cough and splutter. Filled up phew!

 

Went ot my business meeting came out and there wasa steady drip that looked like it was coming fron the fuel level sensor on the LH underside of the tank. It was getting dark, I only had a few tools so I ended up calling breakdown beacuse I didn't want to go up in a fireball.

 

I have not yet removed the tank. It there anything reall obvious that I should be aware of before I start.

 

Thanks all and Happy 2012.

 

By the way I got the usual 'It's a Guzzi, that's what your problem is' remarks from smart arsed breakdown truck driver who (like everybody) claimed he 'used to ride bikes' and then rattled of a long list of exotic superbikes that he'd only ever heard of in magazines LOL. Then when we got home and he saw that my car is an ALfa ROMeo GTV he rolled his eyes and said 'you're a glutton for punishment'. Perhaps, or I just love fine italian engineering and design.

 

Regards

 

Pete

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I agree with G that it is probably the overflow and what has happened is the hose has pulled off the nipple (it is just a push-on). k

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I agree with G that it is probably the overflow and what has happened is the hose has pulled off the nipple (it is just a push-on). k

Mines a 2003 registeres 2002 model no internal fuel pump. I've been crazy busy so all I've been able to do is remove the tank. I couldn't tell immediately if there was a leak, but the hose popped off from the nipple :grin: as I was removing the tank and petrol squited out. DOn't know if hose was attached or not couldn't see. There are 2 nipples :grin: but only one has a hose. Is this correct?

 

Pete

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It seems that in the UK only 1 drain has a pipe attached ,mine did and I'm sure others here have mentioned this before.

One drain is the tank breather(inside the filler seal) the other is for rainwater/spilt fuel(the well outside the seal), it may be that the hose is on the wrong one?

I made a Y joint so that both can drain safely to the bottom of the bike rather than run another hose as it means I can leave the Y attached to the tank and just deal with the one hose when removing/replacing the tank.

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  • 2 months later...

I agree with G that it is probably the overflow and what has happened is the hose has pulled off the nipple (it is just a push-on). k

as I was removing the tank and petrol squited out.

You did close fuel tap when removing the tank Pete? Dont ask me how I know this :homer:

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Yes I closed the tap!

 

OK I've now cleaned out both nipples and fitted new rubber washers. I put the tank on my workbench with rubber hoses from the nipples :lol: into clear bottles filled 5 litres of fuel and decided to time it and see what happened.

 

What happened was...it had nothing to do with the nipples after all :doh: The fuel is infact leaking from the fuel level sensor.

 

This has gunky horrible orange coloured sealant/gasket and an o ring. I scraped the gasket off cleaned the o ring and replaced it nice and tight. It still leaks but not as quickly.

 

I assume (perhaps wrongly) that all I need to put some new sealant on, but what is it?

 

Thanks for you patience. This is now a pain especially as its getting warm dry and sunny in these parts!

 

Pete

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I don't think Hylomar is made for your intended purpose. New 0-rings & silicone sealant I think is what you need.Make SURE there are no cracks or warped surfaces. Can you post pics?

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I've been warned of silicone based sealant beacuse they're not good with petrol. I've got some Hylomar Universal Blue which is fuel resistant and the local old school motor factors bloke said it's just the stuff. I'll take some pics and let everyone know how I get on. It seems odd that I can't find other posts about this problem.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

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OK all 'Bella' is back on the road and leak free. I'm pretty satisfied that fuel was leaking from the screw threads of the fuel tank level sensor. The old red/orange hard gunk had crack and crumbled so I cleaned it all off and used non-setting, fuel resistant Hylomar Blue on reccommendation for a local shop. A tube cost me £4.45. I also fitted a new O ring just to be sure . I smeared Blue on all ethe contact points on both sides of the joints and a tiny smear in the o ring channel. Most importantly i smeared some on the allen bolt threds and reassembled. I popped it on my workbench on top of some bone dry white tissue paper added 5 litres of fuel and... nothing! the last time i'd tried this with just a new O ring, fuel was leaking quickly within seconds. I left the tak like this for 8 hours...bone dry tissue paper. So after 2 months of faffing around I simply re-connected and replaced the tank and thought I'd charge the battery when it failed to start. I was wrong...lovelt 'bella' fired straight to life and settled to idle as if already warm. I let her run for about 20 mins with the odd revving...

 

Life is good! :thing:

 

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and even the missus is happy!

 

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Thanks

 

Pete

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