Home Remedy for Extremely dirty fuel systems

[music man]

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4012 This guy right here had a question about a bike that had sat up for a long time, I have been meaning to post this procedure for a long time, just hadn't got around to it, so here it is....


First off, this is not a guaranteed cure for anything, and should only be done if you already have a problem, this most definitely shouldn't be done as a regular maintainence procedure, but it worked like a charm for me. I am going to describe how to do this to a GZ, even though that is not the bike i used it on, so bear with me.


Go buy you a can of Seafoam, it may or may not work with a different cleaner, but Seafoam specifically states you can use it in this way, so i would use it, and also go buy two extra spark plugs for your bike, you may not use them both, but it never hurts to have an extra one laying around especially when dealing with a single cylinder bike.

In this case since we are dealing with a bike with a gravity fed fuel system (my VS800 has a fuel pump, so the procedure is a little different), your going to have to drain your gas tank (if your carb is gunked up you would want to do that anyways), once you have your tank completely drained, take and pour the entire bottle of Seafoam in, and then turn your fuel petcock to prime, then crank your motorcycle up and let it run until it dies (and it eventually will), then crank it back up a few more times just to make sure everything is soaked in Seafoam, at this point take your spark plug out as it will be fouled, let it sit for an hour or so, come back out, drain your gas tank, drain your carb bowl, put in some new gas and a new spark plug, crank it up, be ready to ride it right then cause it is probably gonna run like hell for a few minutes, mine smoked like hell for about half a mile, then it felt like a brand new bike the way it ran.


In the case of my bike, I was able to introduce Seafoam into my fuel system straight from the can because I have a fuel Pump, I took a long piece of fuel hose, shoved it in the can of Seafoam and ran my bike until it quit and cranked it back up and did it again a few times, until it just completely fouled the plugs. then i went in the house for a few hours came back out hooked my gas tank back up, drained the carb bowls, put in new plugs and rode the crap out of it, it blew out all kinds of funk out of the tailpipes, but it was a different bike after about a mile or so.


Like I said, this is only for extremely dirty carbs, and you don't want to leave it soaking for more than a couple of hours or so, and it may or may not work, but it will only cost you about 10-12 bucks and a couple of hours to try it, and it is guaranteed to at least make your fuel system cleaner than it was, and you will have a new spark plug, even if it doesn't solve your problem.

Also pay close attention to what comes out of your gas tank, if it looks extremely dirty inside of it, you may want to take gas and shake it around inside your gas tank and dump it out a few times before you do it, so you don't just reintroduce more dirt into your carb.

So there is my backyard fuel system cleaning method, this would be especially good for someone who doesn't have the know how or the tools to take apart a carb and clean it, and a good cheap last ditch effort before paying a shop to look at it.

I apologize if my post is hard to understand, i am not the best at explaining things in writing like this.

[blaine]

I have used this method in the past,although not for quite some time.Always worked for me.
:plus1:

[JWR]

Thanks for the information.

[patrick_777]

Like I said, unorthodox, but definitely something to keep in the back pocket.

[Water Warrior 2]

Sounds like a heck of a plan and doesn't involve high tech equipment or an engineering degree. Do hate to sound like a suspicious old coot but I wonder how many shops charge $220 for the same procedure.

[Canuck]

I disconnected the fuel hose coming from the tank and then emptied my carb. used the hose that was connected to the tank and poured seafoam direct.

ran like shit for 5 mins then i let it sit for a few hours and fired it up and went for a ride.
Idle is much better even 2 tanks of gas later. and its riding nice!

[music man]

Originally Posted by Canuck

I disconnected the fuel hose coming from the tank and then emptied my carb. used the hose that was connected to the tank and poured seafoam direct.

ran like shit for 5 mins then i let it sit for a few hours and fired it up and went for a ride.
Idle is much better even 2 tanks of gas later. and its riding nice!

:rawk:

[dentheman]

A candidate for the 'How To's?

The video in the link is also informative).