Gas shooting out of carbs after storage

[mtuckner]

Hi Everyone - This is my first time here and I am from Woodbury, MN. Some guys on the Venture Rider's Facebook page told me there are some brilliant people here. Has anyone else had problems with their Royal Star shooting gas out of the carbs when it comes out of winter storage? I bought my 2006 RSTD brand new in 2008 and this has happened to me 2 times in 3 years! Last time it cost me $500 to have the carbs cleaned out. I followed the storage-prep instructions to a T. Very frustrating. What do I need to do to get it road-ready again. I'm not mechanically inclined and I am very disturbed at the thought of having to spend $500 for the 2nd time in 3 years to solve the problem. Thanks! Mike

[Yammer Dan]

Did you use Sta-Built or Sea Foam before you put it away?? If you can get it to run without causing a fire hazard put a can of Sea Foam in it and run it til it gets into the carbs good and leave sit overnight. Best if done in 1/2 tank of gas or less to get good cleaning done. Then ride it hard til you need to gas up. With this gas we have to deal with these days never put anything away for more than a month without Sea Foam or Sta-Built.

[Squidley]

Mike,

Sounds like you have a stuck float issue, if this happens take the handle end of a screwdriver and tap on the bowls of each carb. Many times this will reseat the needle and stop the flow. As far as setting the bike up for the winter, Seafoam can be used as a storage chemical for the gas, or Stabil. I would also do like Dan mentioned and run a can through your tank, it will help to clean anything out of the carbs.

Another thing you might want to consider is to turn off your gas when you set the bike up for the winter. Run the carbs completely out of fuel and then you dont have to worry about gas being in them and setting up

[XV1100SE]

I used to have this problem with my Virago every spring even though I used gas stabilizer to what I thought was the right amount. I had to drain the fuel and as soon as I put new gas in it would start immediately. Eventually I gave up on the stabilizer and just started the bike every couple weeks, running long enough to get the pipes hot.

 

Be careful how much stabilizer you use (cut it in half) and you might want to consider running a can of Seafoam in your last couple tanks of gas in the fall. This will help clean the carbs (jets) before you park it for the winter and should make it easier to start in the spring

[friesman]

Glad to see that you made the jump over from the Facebook page, I am sure some more gurus will be along shortly, but i just wanted to say welcome to the forum. while youre here have alook around and check out some posts in the tech section and see if there is any thing else that you might need on your bike.

 

Brian

[LilBeaver]

This might sound like a dumb question, BUT it is a common mistake. When you set your bike up for storage by using a fuel stabilizer of some sort, did you put it in the tank and ride around a little bit before you shut it down? Or did you just dump it in the tank and turn the bike off (or even just let it run for a few minutes)?

 

It may be that you did not get a decent stabilizer mixture into the carbs even though you put it in the tank.

 

Regardless, I agree with he above comments - sounds like a stuck float issue.

 

Note that an easy way to drain the carbs, for whatever, is to use the carb drain screws on the carbs themselves. They are 5.5mm hex heads (if I remember correctly). Just make sure the petcock is in the OFF position and you have some sort of drain line hooked up to the bottom of the bowls.

[painterman67]

I also agree with possible stuck float. Mine did the same thing. I ended up taking out the bowl drain screw one at a time and turn the key on and let the fuel pump flush out the bowls. Reinstall screw and move to the next bowl. May not work for you but it fixed mine.

 

 

David

 

 

forgot to add dont crank the bike just let the fuel pump flush the bowls

Edited June 30, 2011 by painterman67

[V7Goose]

Has anyone else had problems with their Royal Star shooting gas out of the carbs when it comes out of winter storage?

I'm sorry, but the words you use just don't make any sense to me - specifically "shooting gas out of the carbs." Could you be a bit more specific on just where you see the gas?

 

If you have a stuck float, the gas would be running down the inside of the front lower cowlings below the air filter intakes. Most new owners do not even know that the overflow hoses from the carbs are routed up there, so is seems unlikely that someone would describe that as "shooting gas out of the carbs."

 

But I really cannot think of any other place around the carbs that you would see gas leaking unless you had some really strange problems, and "shooting out" certainly sounds like a strong stream of gas, not just a leak.

Goose

[mtuckner]

Thanks everyone for the great responses. I filled the tank with recommended amount of Stabil, turned the tank off and ran the lines dry before I put it into storage. And I guess "Gas Shooting Out Of The Carbs" is much better described as gas running out the bottom of the bike. A stuck float really sounds like the proper diagnosis to me. The bike runs even though the gas is leaking out of it. Will adding Seafoam to the gas and letting run free it up on it's own or do I need to free the float manually?

[friesman]

i would drain your tank down to very little fuel left, shut off the petcock and drain your bowls and get them empty,then, add a half can of Seafoam to your fuel tank, turn petcock back on and turn key on listen for pump clicks to fill carb bowls, and then start bike just to get the seafoam into everywhere into the carbs. then let it sit over night with the petcock closed so seafoam can clean while you sleep.

Stabil is good for what it does- stabilizes fuel. but it doesnt have the cleaning properties of seafoam. here is their website on what seafoam is and what it can do, even a video. http://www.seafoamsales.com/how-to-use-sea-foam-motor-treatment.html

 

Brian

[V7Goose]

Thanks everyone for the great responses. I filled the tank with recommended amount of Stabil, turned the tank off and ran the lines dry before I put it into storage. And I guess "Gas Shooting Out Of The Carbs" is much better described as gas running out the bottom of the bike. A stuck float really sounds like the proper diagnosis to me. The bike runs even though the gas is leaking out of it. Will adding Seafoam to the gas and letting run free it up on it's own or do I need to free the float manually?

It makes a big difference just exactly WHERE "gas running out the bottom of the bike" is seen. Is it running out of the bottom of the left lower fairing, the right lower fairing, or both?

 

But even without knowing that, I'd suggest you start by taking a screwdriver handle and rapping the bottom of the float bowls on each carburetor a couple of times. Now turn the key on and see if the gas has stopped. If it is still getting pumped out the overflow hoses, use that screwdriver to rap the float bowls again while the pump is running. If that does not free the float (or floats), then you can try filling the carbs with a 50/50 mix of Seafoam/gas and let that sit overnight. Here is how to do that:

 

Open the drain screws on each carb (but be sure to close each one when that carb stops draining!). While you have the first carb drain screw still open, take the fuel line off the tank and turn the key on to let the fuel pump clear the line of any existing gas. You may have to cycle the key a couple of times until you hear the pump click and no more gas gets pushed through that carb drain. After you finish draining all four carbs, then mix one cup Seafoam with one cup fresh gas. Now take the fuel line off the tank and put it in the mix and turn the key on. Let the pump fill the carbs until you first see some of the overflow, then shut the key off and forget about it until tomorrow. While filling the carbs with the Seafoam mix, remember that the fuel pump has a timer that will shut it off after a few seconds, even if the carbs are not full, so be sure to cycle the key a couple of times if you need to until either you see the overflow or the pump quits clicking (meaning it is fixed!).

 

Tomorrow, rap the float bowls again and see if the problem is gone. If not, you are pretty much gonna have to pull the carbs and clean them by hand.

Goose

Edited June 30, 2011 by V7Goose
Added clarification and step to drain the fuel line (see underlined part)

[mtuckner]

Hi Guys - here is a video I just shot of the leakage. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYtyBrQT3do]YouTube - ‪Untitled‬‏[/ame] I put half a can of Seafoam into the tank and I probably have half a tank of gas left too. I am going to let it sit and see if anything frees up. Like I said, I am not mechanically inclined so exactly where would I smack it with the screwdriver? Where are the floats located? Thanks! I really appreciate all of the help!

[silverdeer0454]

That video is pretty telling about the amount of gas that pours out of the bike. Hopefully the guys on this site will view it and have some ideas for you.

[Yammer Dan]

A lot of us don't understand the words goose uses.

[Kirby]

You have definately got a float stuck open. I'm thinking it's on the right side of the engine since most of the overflow hoses are crossed from the factory. If you look under the tank on either side you will see the carburetors underneath. The float bowls are located on the bottom of each carb. You need to refer to V7Goose's instuctions given earlier and rap on the right bowls sharply with a good screwdriver handle. If this doesn't fix stuck float then you are probably going to have to tear the carbs apart. Good luck.

[Keemez]

I had a similar overflow dump recently with my 93. Gave it several repeated bursts of compressed air (NOT 150psi!!!!!) to cycle the floats up and down, forced some straight Seafoam in with the same method... cleared right up.

[pmperry]

I'm sorry, but the words you use just don't make any sense to me - specifically "shooting gas out of the carbs." Could you be a bit more specific on just where you see the gas?

 

If you have a stuck float, the gas would be running down the inside of the front lower cowlings below the air filter intakes. Most new owners do not even know that the overflow hoses from the carbs are routed up there, so is seems unlikely that someone would describe that as "shooting gas out of the carbs."

 

But I really cannot think of any other place around the carbs that you would see gas leaking unless you had some really strange problems, and "shooting out" certainly sounds like a strong stream of gas, not just a leak.

Goose

 

Where exactly is the overflow? I had an issue this weekend where the gas would dump out on both sides of the crank case but I could not see any place it was leaking.

 

Anyway, if it is a stuck float, what is the fix?

[V7Goose]

Where exactly is the overflow? I had an issue this weekend where the gas would dump out on both sides of the crank case but I could not see any place it was leaking.

 

Anyway, if it is a stuck float, what is the fix?

The overflow hoses are supposed to be routed forward to just in front of the air filters. I know of absolutely nothing that would dump gas "out on both sides of the crank case". The video posted by mtuckner shows exactly what it looks like when a stuck float causes gas to be pushed out of an overflow hose.

 

I went into great detail on how to fix a stuck float in post #11 above.

Goose

[pmperry]

The overflow hoses are supposed to be routed forward to just in front of the air filters. I know of absolutely nothing that would dump gas "out on both sides of the crank case". The video posted by mtuckner shows exactly what it looks like when a stuck float causes gas to be pushed out of an overflow hose.

 

I went into great detail on how to fix a stuck float in post #11 above.

Goose

 

Okay, I should have included more information... I have the basic Royal Star from 1996, I do not have the Venturer and my airboxes look nothing like that...

 

Here's a picture of mine...

 

http://www.pbase.com/image/136029271/original.jpg

[Yammer Dan]

SHARP!!

[Venturous Randy]

I had a similar overflow dump recently with my 93. Gave it several repeated bursts of compressed air (NOT 150psi!!!!!) to cycle the floats up and down, forced some straight Seafoam in with the same method... cleared right up.

 

This is how I fixed the one stuck float bowl problem in the 122,000 miles I have put on my 83. I just removed the fuel line going into the stuck carb and blew a little air into it and that solved my problem.

RandyA