Leaking gas from the air cleaner

[Espey]

Hello All,

 

I have a 2005 Royal Star Tour Deluxe that is leaking gas from the air cleaner. Last year I had this same issue but it was from the opposite side. The local shop said that they needed to put in a new needle and seat and then charged $700.00. Although, 45 days latter the same thing occurred again and they said that they had perform the same service, claiming bad fuel is the issue. So my riding season came to an end for the rest of the year because I did not want to spend an additional $700.

 

With that said, can anyone provide any tips or suggestion to resolve this ongoing problem? I am mechanically incline, never worked on a bike but I have built a 12 sec, in the 1/4 mile, Lincoln Towncar.

 

Thank you in advance!!!

[RedRider]

The only thing I can think of is to check the float levels in the carbs.

 

I am sure you will get inundated with advise (that will surely show my thought was silly) soon.

 

RR

[GeorgeS]

First thing to do, is 1/2 can of SEA-FOAM, fuel system cleaner in tank of fuel, run several tanks like this.

 

Also, Drain each Carb bowl, severa. times over a period of a week. Each Carb has a Drain line, you have to find the #2 Philips head Screw on each carb to open the drain.

 

Also, Valvoline Synthectic Fuel Injector Cleaner in the fuel, should do the trick.

But Sea-Foam is the agreed upon best product.

 

You might also, want to completly Drain the fuel tank, before you start useing the Sea-Foam. Just to be sure its clean.

[Espey]

When you say a half of can of Seafoam, does that mean 4oz or 8oz? I am concerned about running several tanks due to the "gasoline fall" that runs down the front flaring. Any thoughts?

[ToRide1]

I'm starting to get the Idea that most of the mechanics today don't know anything about carburetors and setting the float level while a pain in the butt once done it should be good for many years. Also we do have people that need to run their bikes more often and I'm not picking on you but I have seen a lot of people buy a motorcycle and its nothing but a recreational toy that gets ridden only once or twice a year.

[V7Goose]

I am sorry to hear that you got ripped off by a shyster shop who stole your money to "fix" a bike still under warranty. It hurts even worse now that you are faced with the evidence that they probably did nothing.

 

Your repair process should be fairly straight forward. First, pull the carbs - see the tech library for extensive instructions on how to do this. After you have them out, drain each carb into a glass jar to check for obvious contaminates in the fuel. If you find any, you need to change your fuel filter.

 

Now flip the carbs over on your bench and pull the float bowls. Once again check inside for contaminates. On an 05 you will probably see some very fine sediment that will wipe out, but that wouldn't have been causing any problem. On the three Royal Stars I have personally checked, all floats were set extremely high from the factory. I have also posted in detail about that. So now all you need to do is pull each float needle and inspect for damage to needle or seat, and make sure there is no foreign substance stuck in the orifice. Finally, follow the instruction in my post on setting the float levels correctly and put it all back together. Guaranteed Fix!

 

But make sure you have run sufficient fuel cleaner, like Sea Foam, through the bike to ensure no old varnish might be otherwise affecting how the carbs are working.

Goose

[Espey]

Thanks for the tips! It turns out to be the tank overflow and fuel is POURING out rapidly. Do your tips still apply?

Edited February 9, 2009 by Espey

[usnmustang]

Is it the tank overflow or the carb vent? Big differance. The only reason your tank overflow would have fuel coming out is if you overfill the tank or the gas expands in the sun/heat. Puring out is bad. Is it only doing it when it is running? If so, that is more than likely the carb vent and you have a stuck float, then you want to go with the above recommendations.

[Espey]

It must be the carb vent, the tank is almost empty.

[GeorgeS]

Each carb, has a hose running down toward the front of the rear wheel.

 

Find the ends of those 4 hoses, make sure they are not plugged.

 

Most likley the Float valve for one carb is stuck in the open position.

 

also, if tank is almost empty, its a good time to completly Drain the tank--- then , new gas, and Sea-Foam

[Espey]

The hose that's leaking is located at the front flaring on the right if your sitting on the bike.

[V7Goose]

Each carb, has a hose running down toward the front of the rear wheel.

 

Find the ends of those 4 hoses, make sure they are not plugged.

 

Most likley the Float valve for one carb is stuck in the open position.

 

also, if tank is almost empty, its a good time to completly Drain the tank--- then , new gas, and Sea-Foam

This is not correct, at least not for an RSV or RSTD (but I suppose it could be right for an older RS, I don't know those bikes as well). Each carb overflow is connected to a T - the two left carbs together and the two right ones together, and the hose from the T is routed to a little square clamp right in front of the air cleaner on the appropriate side. If a float is stuck, this is where the gas will show up (running down the inside of the lower fairing).

 

In addition to the carb bowl overflow vents I just described, the air intake plenum boxes ABOVE the carbes have a vent hose that runs down to the rear of the engine and can be seen hanging near the swingarm just to the left side of the front of the rear tire (about where the tip of the kick stand is when folded up). The crank case breather vents into the plenum boxes, and I think the tube that vents the plenums is for excess engine oil that collects from the crankcase vapors. This is why the end of an RSV kickstand gets all coated with crud after you do a lot of long hour high-speed riding! And it is the same reason why the outside of the left carbs gets gennerally oily and nasty after about 30,000 miles - just the left side since that is the down-side of the air plenums while bike is on side stand.

 

The four hoses that you see behind the engine include these two plenum box vents, the coolant overflow, and the tank vent. The ONLY time you should ever see any gas coming out of the tank vent hose is if you fill the tank to the very top and them park it in the sun.

 

And back to the original question - follow my post above to reset the float levels and inspect the float valves and all will be solved.

Goose

[ToRide1]

Good deal Goose, Now the carburetor vent hose's if they get clogged what will happen is when you are running the engine at road speed it will slowly lose power and may die and fuel pump will have a hard time filling the fuel bowl if the vent is clogged as the air in the fuel bowl can't escape to let fuel in and in the same turn the engine can't draw fuel from the fuel bowl because its now created a vacuum. Yes it sounds confusing but thats the deal with clogged carburetor vent lines and mud dubbers love to put their eggs in them.

[RSTD]

My 2006 Royal:mo money:star tour delux did this once and i didnt worry about. It stopped own its own and been running great.