Gas shot out my exhaust!

[ken]

When I got to work last night I parked in the garage as normal. Several hours later I came in off the road and noticed the smell of gas. I look around my 2002 RSV and noticed a small wet spot under the left side. Well I thought it must have came from one of the overflow tubes. I decided to start her up. When I hit the start switch it turned over about three times and then just stopped!!! I hit the start switch a few more times and just got a thud. The third time I held it longer and it turned over and started shooting gas out the left side exhaust. It seem to run ok. Hope I make it home. Guess I should do an oil change in case some gas got purged passed the rings down into the crank case. Has anyone had this happen before?

[bryan52577]

Happens to me all the time. Usually after eating certain foods. Nothing to worry about.

 

OH, sorry, didn't read the whole post.

 

To answer the question, NO, that has never happened to my "05". Just a guess but maybe a carb got stuck? Try so "Sea foam" in the gas tank and see if it frees up?

Just a guess on my part, I am sure you will get a GOOD answer from some of the great people here.

 

Bryan

[OutlawRider]

Never heard of this before. I would suspect a sticky carb like mentioned above. Try the Sea Foam first.

[midnightventure]

Definitely sounds like a stuck needle valve. This is why we are supposed to close the gas valve when we park. Nobody including me does. Sounds like one cylinder was full of fuel. You are lucky you didn't break something when it went thud.

[MiCarl]

Definitely sounds like a stuck needle valve. This is why we are supposed to close the gas valve when we park. Nobody including me does. Sounds like one cylinder was full of fuel. You are lucky you didn't break something when it went thud.

 

Likely ran past the piston into the oil too. Time for an oil change.

[BigBoyinMS]

You actually got pretty lucky. Liquids don't compress so when you hit the starter it was like slamming your piston into a solid object. That was the thud you felt. Good thing that our starters aren't any stronger than they are.

[top]

sounds to me like something got stuck. Same thing happened to me on a 1100 v-star after a long winters nap with e10 in tank.....a good cleaning resolved the problem and it was back to normal.....

[straycatt]

I've had this happen to several different vehicles and it's one of the best, quickest ways you can destroy an engine.

As others have said liquid doesn't compress and often when you spin up a motor full of fuel, something breaks immediately. If the engine does start without hurting itself right off, it can eat internal parts rather fast, due to the oil being thinned out by all of that gasoline in the crank case.

 

Check the oil level. If it's over the last place you saw it......you've possibly got major problems if its been run for very long.

[Yammer Dan]

Had that happen on one of mine. Then it backfired and caught the gas in the muffler on fire. Hard to put out when the fire is inside the muffler! Ruined a good set of pipes. They are now blue and not a blue I like.

[naturbar]

you are indeed fortunate....never try to start bike if fuel running out of tailpipe...check this out..............

 

Hydrolock

 

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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/72/Bent_connecting_rod_1.JPG/220px-Bent_connecting_rod_1.JPG http://bits.wikimedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/magnify-clip.png

Bent connecting rod after Hydrolock

 

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d4/Bent_connecting_rod_2.JPG/220px-Bent_connecting_rod_2.JPG http://bits.wikimedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/magnify-clip.png

Same connecting rod, turned 90°

 

 

Hydrolock (a shorthand notation for either hydraulic lock or hydrostatic lock) is an abnormal condition of an internal combustion engine in which an incompressible liquid, commonly water, has been introduced into one or more cylinders, causing immobilization or damage. Hydrolock can occur because an internal combustion engine must compress a volume of gas in order to operate, while most common liquids that could enter an internal combustion engine do not compress. If liquid is introduced at a volume greater than the volume of the combustion chamber at its minimum (top of the piston's stroke), the piston cannot complete its travel. Either the engine must stop rotating or a mechanical failure will occur.

Hydrolock is relatively common when driving through floods, either where the water is above the level of the air intake or the vehicle's speed is excessive, creating a tall bow wave. A vehicle fitted with a Cold air intake mounted low on the vehicle will be especially vulnerable to hydrolocking when being driven through standing water or heavy precipitation.

Another cause can include a head gasket failure, which may allow the radiator coolant to leak into the combustion chamber.

Fuel entering one or more cylinders in liquid form due to carburetor flooding or other abnormal operating conditions can cause an engine to hydrolock, although this is relatively rare.

Small boats with outboard engines and PWCs tend to ingest water simply because they run in and around it. During a rollover or when a wave washes over the craft its engine can hydrolock, though severe damage is rare due to the special air intakes and low inertia of small marine engines.[1]

[ken]

Well I got the oil changed today. I thought it would smell like gas but it really didn't. Looking at some of the replys and the picks of the bent piston rod makes me sick knowing this could have happened. After all Iv'e only the bike for a few weeks.

 

I ran ok for the drive home this morning, about a 30 mile drive. So I think I'm ok.

[Yammer Dan]

I didn't know the fuel was in there til I tried to start it. It could have been interesting. When it popped and flames started coming out of the tailpipe I had fun for a while. Its very hard to put out fire in there.

[Aussie Annie]

I didn't know the fuel was in there til I tried to start it. It could have been interesting. When it popped and flames started coming out of the tailpipe I had fun for a while. Its very hard to put out fire in there.

 

 

Try eating less chilli beans