Gasoline Odor

[vlee707]

Hello Everyone,

 

I'm looking for a bit of advice or your thoughts. I took my '05 RSTD in for the 28K maintenance the other day and now I'm noticing a gasoline smell that wasn't there before.

 

Nothing is leaking that I can see. Any ideas? Is this something that will go away in a day or two? Could the technician have left a fuel line loose or something?

 

Thanks,

 

Lee

[sarges46]

What did they do at the service....I truly dont know and am not trying to be smart.

 

Could be a stuck float.

[vlee707]

Rick,

 

I don't have my owners manual or the dealer with me at moment, but if memory serves, the 28K maintenance is a fairly standard service; oil/filter change, sync the carbs, swap plugs and a few other checks and minor stuff.

 

My technical expertise is virtually non-existent, but if it's a stuck float wouldn't that affect the performance? The bike starts and runs fine.... If it is a stuck float, is it likely to get "unstuck" by itself?

 

Maybe I should just run it back to the dealer and ask them to look it over, but what a pain.....

 

Thanks,

 

Lee

[Phaedrus]

The first thing I'd do is check the fuel line where it connects to the fuel petcock. Many people remove the tank when changing the plugs, as it makes it easier to remove the dogbone that connects the engine to the frame, which must be removed to get to the front spark plugs. When tank is removed the technician has to disconnect the fuel line. If that line was not put on all the way, or the clamp was not slid back on, you could be leaking a small amount of gas from that line. Or the line could have been damaged, which could cause the same thing.

 

Give it a visual inspection to see if the fuel line is installed properly, then take a clean dry cloth or paper towel and wipe the fuel line right where it connects, to see if there is any gas there.

 

The other thing is there is a tank vent and vent hose under the chrome bezel that goes around the fuel tank cap. If that vent hose was not hooked up you could be smelling the fumes from there. Remove the plastic chrome bezel and check to see if the vent hose is hooked up. The bezel is held on with allen head screws. You should have an allen wrench that fits in your tool kit.

 

That's my two cents.

[Eck]

Yep,

Gas line hose at petcock could be the culprit... or like Phardus said, could be the Tank vent hose under the chrome bezel not being istalled properly if at all...or it could be pinched closed...

 

When the dealer technician sync'd your carbs he could have "leaned" your carbs on the high side........

 

You say your bike runs and starts fine...Have you had your bike up to say about 75 or 80 since the carb sync?

See if it has "all" the power it used to have at a high speed.. If it seems to run ok until you hit 75 or more then it seems to "strain" to go any faster, then I would say the carbs are not sync'd properly causing the strong gas smell..cylinders 1&2 may be sync'd and 2 & 4 may sync'd but cylinders 1&2 are not sync'd with 3&4....this causes the bike to run OK and start OK, but has a loss of power at a high speed.

[Freebird]

I agree...the very first thing I would suspect would be the carb sync. They really shouldn't have done anything else that could cause this problem.

[Guest Bigin]

I had a fuel on ,off, reserve petcock leaking after I switched to reserve on my 91. Leaked just enough to smell but could not see it unless touched then finger got wet. Seals were bad in it. Just thought and easy to check.

[vlee707]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I don't post very often, but I do frequently read the information on this site and I'm always amazed at how helpful everyone is...... great community!

 

It sounds like the possibilities might include a poor carb sync, or a fuel line/petcock connection problem or possibly related to the chrome bezel around the fuel tank cap. I'll check it out.

 

Thanks,

 

Lee

[spotsy]

I started noticing a gas smell when I opened the garage door. If it's not the petcock you might look here. Mine is seeping in the rear carb on the left side. I'm assuming it's leaking by the neddle. Look under the tank at the carbs and see if one is darker on the black cover than the other three. If that's the case just cut the petcock off as you come in the driveway. Gas will be burnt out the carbs by the time you cut it off. I still need to tear into mine, just to cold to have fun right now. Hope it helps.

 

Spotsy