Over this weekend had to sort out “reluctant” morning starting on the V1000, unusual for it not to fire up really.
Decided to pop off the tank and give the carbs a clean cos Annies Virago had similar problems due to crap in fuel last year.
Weeelll yep carbs had crap in them …the air filters (K&N) type were well gunged,OOOOps that one is certainly my fault.
Then on a whim I tought "Not checked the “breather” for a while, Now with the K&N’s I have a Le Mans breather box that throws the fumes into what was origionally The Convert Tourque oil box sat behind the left hand side panel… OOOOh it was well full of gunge oil and water, maybe from last years wet spell as the filler top has to be left off for it to B R E A T H E.
I usually empty it yearly and it often has some of the breather type sludge in it, but this year OH BOY it almost filled an "Utterly Butterly container.
Have to say it is a good use for a redundant part as it has 2 threaded holed that take banjo bolts for the breathers to go to the filler 'ole to allow the heavy breathing to get out and a drain hole at the bottom, well it was the feed so has a banjo bolt and acts as the drain.
Any road up went to it this mornin’ and touched the starter it fited up right off.
I think it was more due to carb clean and the K&N’s being gunged up, but hey
So any funny running/starting issues check out the fuel first
I have the fuel filters in the Carb banjos AND in line fuel filters (Mind you so does the Virago) and there was still what looks like fine red dust in the float bowls…
Cheers GBGreat idea to go for a whole carb/filer/breather sort out rather than messing about with one thing at a time.A case of more is moreAll the bestSteve
Well yeah BUt when you know your own bike and know what you haven’t looked at for a while it does kinda reduce the guess work.
Mind you as I often say a good look around before worrying is often time well spent, many faults have a basis in something simple really.
I KNEW I hadn’t looked at the filters for a good while and the symptoms of worse and worse starting then lower fuel consumption were a bit of a giveaway really
Well I would use the hoses taken away from every thing and flush it with a pressure bottle one of those pump up garden ones and some white spirit as White spirit does not leave residue. Then blow through with an air line. guzzibear2013-02-18 11:57:42
Had that with the V50 the filters had some sort of beige furry stuff on them, in the end bought a pair of taps which include filters…Once that growth gets in the filters , no idea what it is, but you just can’t shift it.
I tried :-
Petrol
petrol with diesel
Paint thinners
It just came back and clogged the filters
Further to your first posting about fine red dust in the filters i’m of the opinion after studying mine BEFORE i treated the inside of my petrol tank with por15 tank sealer was that the red dust was rust from inside the guzzi’s petrol tank because of the ethonol in the fuel.However thinking about it if the guzzi’s tank is sealed with the por15 it should’ent have any rust dust in the filters BUT what about the petrol stations storage tanks!
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Had that with the V50 the filters had some sort of beige furry stuff on them, in the end bought a pair of taps which include filters…Once that growth gets in the filters , no idea what it is, but you just can’t shift it.
Â
I tried :-
Petrol
petrol with diesel
Paint thinners
It just came back and clogged the filters[/QUOTE]
I had a similar problem with of all things a DARE I SAY IT A Volvo .The windscreen and headlight washer system had a ( may have been more than one )very fine mesh filter in its pipework everthing worked electricly but no screen wash would get through the filters .I tried celly thinners ,white spirit ,petrol all to no avail then after removeing the washer bottle i noticed growth like mold on the inside of the bottle so out came the domestos bleach i soaked everything in the bleach and 100% problem solved.
No it is certainly not rust it is most certainly red ie crimson red and like very fine sand once the fuel has evapourated.
I did use bleach on the fuel filters but the furry growth came back. it was beige and furry and kinda sludge like. …
Tell you what, went to bike this morning …“she a no wanna startup noway, starter she spin good but she a no fire a uuuup. !!”
So I take the big Red Nasty one…get home tonight …go into the garage… put fuel on…key in… thumbed starter … “She a fire up a strayt away…an she a go badda boom baddaboom and speak a to me all nice likea laydee”
I think “What the …!!!” …Annie ses it is “Just being Italian, wanted a lay in she no a wanna go early!”
mine had a similar dusty beige / red substance with black lumps… set like clay when dryended up filling tank with phosphoric acid and using electrolysis to get it clean… watch out for hydrogen production… made a nice little flame when provoked.even after a week of acid and elictrickery i still get some residue past all the fiters and into the tank
Black bits in Annies were established as bits of fuel pipe flaking due to the Ethanol sorted with newer ethanol proof fuel hose but the red dust and fuzz is still a mystery… Especially as the red stuff gets by 3 lots of different filters, ok the gauze on the fuel banjo and one on fuel tap I can understand BUT the in line filters are very fine…
’
'Ere I wonder if it is very finely ground 'orse!guzzibear2013-02-19 12:02:19
to be fair more likely to be ground luigi…never got to the bottom of what in my tank… still get bit past all 3 filters and into the float chambers… not a big issue as i only did 450 miles last year I just clean the carbs every 3 months when she is on the road
Just by the way, we have a paraffin heater (have used this kind of thing for years), had cause to clean its fuel filter this week and was reminded how much brown sludge precipitates out of paraffin these days, well, over some period of time, if you dried it out I think it would be very like the fine sand type powder as per petrol. Just a different colour
Took off the fuel taps today and the "filters inside the tube was eaten away I kid you not they had all but vanished.
I had 2 new filters that were on new fuel taps bought for the V50 but never used, so I popped these in with new “tubes”, they are the same length luckily. the actual tubes that go up from the fuel tap were also hard and brittle, important these are in and correct as they set the "reserve level in the tank.
I know they have been in there some time but never seen that before doncha just love modern fuel
I wonder just how much damage this crap is doing to cars and bikes out there. When it is fuel systems I would not like an older car to start dribbling fuel with 70+ litres in the tank, imagine THAT parked over night on a road and someone chucks down a burning ciggarette end…