HELP>..RSTD Fuel smell

[drumfire]

My 05 RSTD constantly smells of raw gas to the point where I shut the petcock off about 1/2 mile before my house so I can dare pull it into the garage. Been stinking for over a year. I find no sign of leaking gas or other visible problems. It was just serviced at 18K and the service manager has told me that "any bike smells when pulled into a garage" , "I can't see a leak so I can't fix it" or the latest "try another dealer". The bike does not run bad, 38-43 mpg at best, but the worst part is it smells like I spilled a can of gas on the garage floor. The other day I was following my son down the road and he could detect the smell of gas from his car in front of me while stopped at an intersection. The latest suggestion was to check the rollover valve in the fuel line. I had previously removed the K&N filter as some people thought that was the cause.

 

HELP this bike is driving me nuts!......

[Squidley]

I would check the intake boots on the engine where the carbs actually hook onto, make sure they are tight. Perhaps there is a problem there however slim that may be. The only other thing I can think of off my head is a sticky float in the carb. But if it's not leaking that makes it harder to detect. I would tap on the float bowls with the handle end of a screwdriver and see what comes of it, also try running a can or Seafoam throught it incase there is something stuck in the carbs.

[Freebird]

I hate to hear this. It is a problem that I fought for months and though I think I have finally got it corrected, I'm not at all sure what the fix was. Mine got so bad at one time that it made my wife sick to ride with me. I actually flew her home from a trip because she couldn't take it anymore.

 

I think there are several things that can be checked. First of all, check the Petcock. The nipple that the gas line connects to is just a press fit into the petcock. Turn off the petcock and then remove the gas line. Use a small piece of wood to place on the end of the nipple and gently tap it in with a hammer to make sure it is seated well. Mine at one time was leaking just a bit there. I reached down once and found gas on it. Did not solve the problem though.

 

Check to ensure that all cylinders are firing properly. With the gas mileage you are getting, I suspect yours are OK. You would be getting much worse mileage if that was the issue.

 

Check that the carbs are seated well. This may be the issue. Look at the bottom of the carbs where they seat in the rubber intake manifold boots. Make sure they are seated well into the books and that the clamps are tight. Check the TOP of the carbs where the airbox slips over the top. There is only about 1/2" for the boots to slip over the top of the carbs and I have found that they WILL slip off. Make sure that they are seated well on the top and that the clamps are tight. You will probably have to remove the gas tank to see them well. When putting my carbs back on after re-setting the floats, I found them to be a bit difficult to tighten and keep them seated. The clamp kept wanting to rise up on one side and slip off as I tightened it.

 

This can be a hard problem to find. On my first '99 I had this problem as well. It was under warranty at the time and I had it at 7 dealers and they never found the problem. It reached the point that my wife would not ride with me at all because it made her sick. Just like you, I could pull into the garage to park and it smelled like I had dumped gasoline on the floor but could not find a leak anywhere. Yamaha sent service specialists to the local dealer and they never could find the problem either. They changed out many things, TCI, Plugs, Adjust mixture with a gas analyzer...and on and on and on. They finally got frustrated and just decided to claim that there was no problem. I ended up filing a lemon law suit again Yamaha that took 18 months to resolve. Can't tell you how that ended up because part of the agreement was that I sign a "non-disclosure" statement. I finally solved the problem by systematically going through all the things that I mentioned above and it went away.

 

I later got a great deal on another '99 with almost no miles on it and sold my original. Last year I started having the same fume problem with it. Just last night I finished going through all the things that I told you above and think that I have again corrected the problem.

[emack]

That's odd... my 2006 RSTD has the same issue. When I uncover it in the morning or leave it covered in the sun then crack the cover... boy what a wiff of gas! Once in a while I smell it when riding but not that often and it goes away after the bike warms up. I run K&N air filters, use Sea Foam, and get 43 mpg .. just thought the thing was venting. These bikes seem to have more quirks than I hoped for... I'm already wearing ear plugs... now I need nose plugs too...

[Steve S]

This may be a REAL stupid idea,:bang head: but check the vent hose coming off the tank. Make sure it is open. Not crimped or stopped up. I think it comes out under the left lower fairing.

 

I was reading these posts and the idea came to me that maybe pressure is building up somewhere??? Like I say, it may be a total waste of time.

[Squeeze]

That's odd... my 2006 RSTD has the same issue. When I uncover it in the morning or leave it covered in the sun then crack the cover... boy what a wiff of gas! Once in a while I smell it when riding but not that often and it goes away after the bike warms up. I run K&N air filters, use Sea Foam, and get 43 mpg .. just thought the thing was venting. These bikes seem to have more quirks than I hoped for... I'm already wearing ear plugs... now I need nose plugs too...

 

 

If you cover the Bike and leave it out in the Sun, there always will be a Smell on a carburated Engine. This is not Bike or V4 specific. They all have to have Vents on Top of the Carbs.

 

I don't know for sure, but i think the California Model has a Canister to catch those Fumes. If it bugs you, you might take a Look in the Cali Model and could probably mount this venting Setup. I think some Members got rid of it and have it lying around in the Cabinet.

[Squeeze]

This may be a REAL stupid idea,:bang head: but check the vent hose coming off the tank. Make sure it is open. Not crimped or stopped up. I think it comes out under the left lower fairing.

 

I was reading these posts and the idea came to me that maybe pressure is building up somewhere??? Like I say, it may be a total waste of time.

 

 

This is actually not a such a stupid Idea. If there's a Pressure Build up in the Fuel Line by a non Venting Line, the Gas in the Floater Bowls will evaporate as designed. But. as the Floaters Bowl are filled from the Pressure in the Tank and through the Fuel Pump, the Amount of evaporating Gas will be a Lot more than normal.

 

This may not apply to Don's Problem because he had the Fume everytime, but other than this Condition, checking the Vent Line may be a good Idea.

[GeorgeS]

In addition to all the other items mentioned,

 

----- I would pull the Vent Line from the tank, and make sure its open. Also on the 1st Gens where the line hooks to the tank, about 1/4 inch I.D. hose. There is a brass plug mounted and it has a Very Small hole in it. This small hole IS the Vent. This could Eaisly be pluged, causing pressure build up in tank. However this should not happen when engine is running.

 

----- Also, the Vent Hose's, ( 4 Each ) from top of carbs running down to below the frame, make sure they are not Plugged. Not sure if this could be the problem, as this would cause engine preformance problems. But, worth checking. I have heard reports of the ends of these hose's getting plugged with road Tar , etc.

 

-----Have you checked the crankcase Vent Lines running up to the Air Filter Box ?

Are they In Place, and clamps in good condition ?

 

------- Idea: Just a thought--- Maby worth checking.

Carefully Inspect the Fuel Pump Itself, It has some rubber gaskets, and 6 bolts holding the bottom plate section on to the lower section of the pump.

This gasket , might be leaking under pressure.

 

Also, the Lower Section of the pump is made from a PVC type material. Maby a crack in this part of pump.

Also, the Ports on the pump itself, where the Input and output hoses connect, could be cracked.

 

------ Also, double check the Hose " from " the petcock to the filter, and filter to Fuel Pump. Are the Hose clamps all In place and tight ???

Carefully check the Petcock rubber gasket where it mounts to the tank. Maby a bad gasket here,

 

----- Have you checked the Fuel hose from the Pump going to the main feed point on top of the carbs. Maby defective hose, or may have been damaged. Maby bad hose clamps, or they might be loose.

 

-----Have you carefull checked the Hoses ON TOP of the Carb Bank, from the main feed point hose, then the hose going to Each of the 4 carbs. Maby cracked, rotted, hose, or loose hose clamps. If this were the case, they might ONLY be leaking when the pump is applying pressure. This small amount of fuel would be vaporizing causing the smell. But when stopped, not enough to show up as a liquid leak.

 

After checking everything Freebird said to check, and hoses, if nothing is found, then I would suspect One of the Carburator Bodies itself. Maby a Seaping Gasket on one of the Carbs.

 

In this case you would have to remove the entire Carburator bank, and do a carefull inpection for leaking.

 

Maby feed the entire Bank of 4 with a long piece of hose from the fuel pump, run pump and see what happens.

 

------- One more item, to check, ---- A Long shot, ---- however,

the Carb Bowls, each one has a drain valve. ( #2 phillips head Screw ) and a drain hose comeing from the bottom of the bowl. I'm not sure but this Screw might have an O-Ring seal of some type, which might not be sealing. This might be causing seapage out of the drain hose. Or, maby one of the Drain Screw Valves, is just Not Closed tight enough. Find these Screws , one on each carb, make sure they are closed.

 

 

Good luck

[drumfire]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will take the tank and seat off again and see what I can find. Nice to know it is not just my bike.

[Guest yeoldwoodshop]

If you fill your tank up to far when getting gas this is when the gas smells start to occur. When the bike sits in the sun the gas in the tank expands and is then forced out of the tank into the overflow hose. Once this happens it takes awhile to go away because it is so fresh. Cut back on the fuel a bit and it will solve your problem. I had the same problem on my 07 RSV and began spazing out over it, I then did what allot of us do not do and read the owners manual and it was right there in black and white!!!

[FuzzyRSTD]

If you fill your tank up to far when getting gas this is when the gas smells start to occur. When the bike sits in the sun the gas in the tank expands and is then forced out of the tank into the overflow hose. Once this happens it takes awhile to go away because it is so fresh. Cut back on the fuel a bit and it will solve your problem. I had the same problem on my 07 RSV and began spazing out over it, I then did what allot of us do not do and read the owners manual and it was right there in black and white!!!

I too have this problem, not bad, but I do smell gas now and then. So you do not have this problem now, no gas smell ??

Edited June 22, 2008 by FuzzyRSTD
change

[Brake Pad]

when I top off, the RSV, I get the heavy gas smell, dont fill up all the way, and see what happens:080402gudl_prv:

[drumfire]

I pulled the tank off today and found:

 

1. Both left side carbs were barely connected to the airbox. The hose clamps were very loose and the airbox was almost separated from the top of the carbs.

 

2. There is a vent hose at the bottom rear of the airbox that was disconnected from the airbox.

 

3. The left rear carb was damp with fuel.

 

I reconnected the airbox to the carbs and put the vent hose on with a real hose clamp and no gas smell so far.. I am still concerned about the damp carb but if it persists I now know enought to tell the dealer the problem is in the left rear carb. Not sure how they could not see that when they replaced the plugs.

 

Also added some Sea Foam to clean out the system. I had never heard of it before reading this forum..

 

Thanks again to all who replied to my original post.

 

John

[Freebird]

I sure hope that does it for you. I agree with you about the top of those carbs...they sure don't give much overlap. I've had my carbs off twice now and getting those boots to stay on at the top as you tighten the clamps is the most difficult part of the job for me when I re-install them.

[drumfire]

After correcting the problems I finally got out for a decent ride, other than commuting, and we put 400 miles on the RSTD this past Friday and Saturday averaging 46 mpg highway. 250 of that was 2 up.. I still have a slight odor but nothing like it was. I suspect that left rear carb needs a little work but I don't think I want to dig into the carbs.

[SaltyDawg]

Any time I run anything with an octane higher than regular unleaded I get that gas smell. Krome Roses Volusia does the same thing.

[drumfire]

My fuel issue is back! Pulled the tank again and found the left rear carb damp again. Rechecked all the connections and tried some Lucas fuel system cleaner. No help. I have not found the carb drains that were mentioned and am not sure I am ready to remove the carbs completely as I may never get them back together. I suspect a dirty/sticking/maladjusted float but it looks like a major ordeal just to get to the float bowls. The dealer checked the float settings 3 years ago when the problem first happened and said they were correct. Of course they also told me "everything smells when parked in a garage". Any more suggestions? Anybody know a competent mechanic in North Georgia?

 

Also has anyone ever changed the fuel filter on an RSTD? I can't get my hands on it to replace it.

 

The last bike I owned that required this much maintenance was my 69 Suzuki X6 Hustler and that was worn out when I got it.

[RandyR]

Go back to the dealer with the information that the left rear carb is wet. it shouldn't be wet.

[mountainhorsega]

Phone # is 706) 278-1620. I think the service managers name is Greg(I might be wrong). They have been great to work with and give excellent customer service. His mechanic knows ventures and TD's and I doubt they will give up until they find it. You are still under warranty.

as an example of their service - I was in there the other day wandering around and asked the salesman if I could get the roadside assistance # (Since I am technically the second owner of the bike - I never got a card) The salesman took me to the lady that does that (Who was busy doing something else), who took me to her office and got on the computer, checked and changed it to my name then wrote the assistance # on my insurance card for me. No questions other than to make sure I had the VIN and something that proved it was mine.

 

They have been really great to work with.