Water in fuel

Started by Glass_Darkly, November 12, 2011, 09:05:58 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

ducpainter

Condensation is a normal by product of combustion.

It isn't unusual for some to show in the sight glass as the temps cool in the fall.

Do your oil change when scheduled.

The condensation will correct itself when you get to take the bike for a nice long ride and get it warmed up
"Once you accept that a child on the autistic spectrum experiences the world in
 a completely different way than you, you will be open to understand how that
 perspective
    is even more amazing than yours."
    To realize the value of nine  months:
    Ask a mother who gave birth to a stillborn.
"Don't piss off old people The older we get, the less 'Life in Prison' is a deterrent."



Glass_Darkly

Quote from: howie on November 12, 2011, 09:50:01 PM
A drop or two of gasoline down each carb will get the bike started.  Yep, a manual petcock is a good idea.


in response to howie where is the best place to put it if i take the air filter casing off and put it down th two air intakes would that do it or is that a really really bad idea ??? this is why im asking cos im a super newb lol.

also went to my local bike store  to purchase some new spark plugs, fuel filter, oil, fuel conditioner and engine flush but my card was refused cos a cheque has not yet cleared so will have to wait a few more days bummer.

On the upside though i have a new K+N air and oil filter on the way also gunna buy some new belts when the dolla is there to be spent
Maximilian ! Ducati M750 Dark.....  Getting  darker

Glass_Darkly

One Last lil question would anyone know if my model has a dry clutch is there a way of telling ?
Maximilian ! Ducati M750 Dark.....  Getting  darker

zooom

Quote from: Maximilianrodliff on November 14, 2011, 09:15:41 AM
One Last lil question would anyone know if my model has a dry clutch is there a way of telling ?

your bike is an 00 M750, which should be a wet clutch...
99 Cagiva Gran Canyon-"FOR SALE", PM for details.
98 Monster 900(trackpregnant dog-soon to be made my Fiancee's upgrade streetbike)
2010 KTM 990 SM-T

bond0087

I unfortunately have a bit of experience with water in my 2000 M750 gas tank.  It is surprisingly hard to get it started after you've drained the fuel system out completely.  While trying the dry gas and such is probably a good idea, I think that if you've already drained the system completely, it probably won't be a miracle cure. 

I think the problem that you're having (and the problem that I had both times that I had to drain my fuel system to get the water out) is that there just isn't fuel circulated yet, and like others have said, it takes a bit of cranking to prime the system.  Gas in the carb throat like howie suggested may do the trick, but I haven't tried it personally.  What I did was use starting fluid instead. 

Here's how that goes (after fully charging the battery and filling the tank with fresh gas)
1. With the air filter off, open the throttle and spray a good bit of starting fluid down the throat of the carb. 
2. Close the throttle
3. Turn the choke completely on to get as much fuel in there as possible when it does start flowing
4. Start the bike. (you might have to open the throttle a bit while thumbing the starter to get it going (contrary to what usually works when it's gasoline that's igniting rather than starting fluid).
5. If it doesn't start, repeat steps 1-4 until it does.  Sometimes it takes a bit of starting fluid to get it going.
6. Let it idle.  It will idle at probably around 3-5k while it's going on the starting fluid.  If it starts to slow down drastically and sound like it's about to die, it probably is.  Spray some more starting fluid in there and give it some throttle.  Don't keep this going for excessively long, because the engine is going to start running very hot if you do.  It does, however, take longer than you might think for everything to start flowing properly.  The idea is that the vacuum from the engine while it's running on starter fluid will suck the gasoline through with the vacuum fuel pump. 
7. After a little bit of running on starter fluid, it should start to calm down a bit, and start to sound a bit differently when it starts running on gasoline again.  I would describe the sound difference as a deeper sound when it's going on gasoline, but maybe I'm crazy and it sounds the same.  When it gets to the point where you can rev it with the throttle, then you're probably good to go.  Let it sit there with the choke on for a little bit for good measure, then slowly disengage the choke until it's idling like usual.
8. Fix the clogged water drain in your gas cap area so that this doesn't happen again. Compressed air might work, but it might take more than that.

Good luck! I feel your pain!

Howie

Quotein response to howie where is the best place to put it if i take the air filter casing off and put it down th two air intakes would that do it or is that a really really bad idea Huh? this is why im asking cos im a super newb lol.

That will work, not too much though.  Keep your face away in case you get a backfire through the carbs.  The whole problem is the engine doesn't produce enough vacuum while cranking to fully open the vacuum shut off.  I am personally not a fan of starter fluid except for extreme emergency.  The stuff is ether and has an octane number probably approaching zero.  Another alternative is open the vacuum fuel shut off with a hand held vacuum pump.

Glass_Darkly

Quote from: zooom on November 14, 2011, 09:27:20 AM
your bike is an 00 M750, which should be a wet clutch...

arg i was hoping to put a wickid barnett cluctch kit onit, are there any alternatives ?

okay i will try  that sounds like a plan !!!
Maximilian ! Ducati M750 Dark.....  Getting  darker

ducpainter

Quote from: bond0087 on November 14, 2011, 10:32:30 AM
I unfortunately have a bit of experience with water in my 2000 M750 gas tank.  It is surprisingly hard to get it started after you've drained the fuel system out completely.  While trying the dry gas and such is probably a good idea, I think that if you've already drained the system completely, it probably won't be a miracle cure. 

I think the problem that you're having (and the problem that I had both times that I had to drain my fuel system to get the water out) is that there just isn't fuel circulated yet, and like others have said, it takes a bit of cranking to prime the system.  Gas in the carb throat like howie suggested may do the trick, but I haven't tried it personally.  What I did was use starting fluid instead. 

Here's how that goes (after fully charging the battery and filling the tank with fresh gas)
1. With the air filter off, open the throttle and spray a good bit of starting fluid down the throat of the carb. 
2. Close the throttle
3. Turn the choke completely on to get as much fuel in there as possible when it does start flowing
4. Start the bike. (you might have to open the throttle a bit while thumbing the starter to get it going (contrary to what usually works when it's gasoline that's igniting rather than starting fluid).
5. If it doesn't start, repeat steps 1-4 until it does.  Sometimes it takes a bit of starting fluid to get it going.
6. Let it idle.  It will idle at probably around 3-5k while it's going on the starting fluid.  If it starts to slow down drastically and sound like it's about to die, it probably is.  Spray some more starting fluid in there and give it some throttle.  Don't keep this going for excessively long, because the engine is going to start running very hot if you do.  It does, however, take longer than you might think for everything to start flowing properly.  The idea is that the vacuum from the engine while it's running on starter fluid will suck the gasoline through with the vacuum fuel pump. 
7. After a little bit of running on starter fluid, it should start to calm down a bit, and start to sound a bit differently when it starts running on gasoline again.  I would describe the sound difference as a deeper sound when it's going on gasoline, but maybe I'm crazy and it sounds the same.  When it gets to the point where you can rev it with the throttle, then you're probably good to go.  Let it sit there with the choke on for a little bit for good measure, then slowly disengage the choke until it's idling like usual.
8. Fix the clogged water drain in your gas cap area so that this doesn't happen again. Compressed air might work, but it might take more than that.

Good luck! I feel your pain!
Starting fluid can be very hard on rings.

If you use it just a whiff at a time...
"Once you accept that a child on the autistic spectrum experiences the world in
 a completely different way than you, you will be open to understand how that
 perspective
    is even more amazing than yours."
    To realize the value of nine  months:
    Ask a mother who gave birth to a stillborn.
"Don't piss off old people The older we get, the less 'Life in Prison' is a deterrent."



bond0087

Quote from: ducpainter on November 14, 2011, 01:15:03 PM
Starting fluid can be very hard on rings.

If you use it just a whiff at a time...

Didn't know that. I do usually try to avoid it, because it seems like a rather indelicate tool, but I didn't know of any other way.  I'll have to try just using a few drops of gasoline next time instead.

victor441

Quote from: Maximilianrodliff on November 14, 2011, 11:42:44 AM
arg i was hoping to put a wickid barnett cluctch kit onit, are there any alternatives ?

okay i will try  that sounds like a plan !!!

Barnett makes wet clutch plates too, used them on my M800 and they work well

Glass_Darkly

Hello everyone so I drained the fuel tank again, I had to put a low fuel level sensor in anyways, put a new fuel filter in and drained the carbs again, I thought a would also clean the spark plugs off for good measure. And put some super fresh fuel in and its running !!!!!!! like a beast ! I thought I would film it so here is the link (url)[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fGCSfYWZTI&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/url]

I know I shouldn't have been on the throttle so much but I got a lil excited.

Thanks all for the awesome advIce !
Maximilian ! Ducati M750 Dark.....  Getting  darker

bond0087

#26
 [thumbsup] Glad to hear that it worked out!  Now don't forget to work on un-clogging the drain hole under the gas cap, since that's probably what got you into this mess. 

By the way, for future reference, here's another way to get it started after draining the tank that is probably easier on the engine (after ducpainter and howie pointed out that my starting fluid method that I've used is not ideal).  I don't think that using starting fluid judiciously once or twice is going to cause any noticeable wear, but better safe than sorry.  Howie alluded to using a handheld pump, and it got me thinking about this.  I'm not sure if it's exactly what he had in mind, but it works well, so I thought I'd give some instructions.

1) Get a hand siphon pump from your local auto parts store, walmart, whatever.  It should run you $2-$4, and look like this (in my experience, the more expensive ones don't work anywhere near as well as this type)


2) Locate the vacuum port on your fuel pump:


3) Take off the vacuum line, and replace with one of the ends of the siphon pump


4) While covering the free end of the tube with your thumb, pump the fuel through by hand.  You should be able to hear the fuel going.



5) Take the siphon off, put the vacuum line back on, and start it up.  You shouldn't need any sort of starting fluid or extra gasoline to get it going, since the carbs will be full of gas already.

NOTE: This may not (probably won't, but I haven't tried) work if you have a vacuum operated petcock that still works.  I have a manual petcock, so it does. If you had a friend and/or two of these pumps, I'm sure you could figure out something along the same lines that worked in that case.

Anyways, just wanted to put that idea out there for anyone reading this post with the same problem in the future. This worked really well for me; the bike started right up afterwards, and I didn't have to take anything apart to spray starting fluid in there or anything.

ducpainter

If used correctly starting fluid is OK.

It is very easy to use it less than correctly and that's where it can do damage.

I don't know what the OP was spraying in his video, but if it was ether, that's not an ideal method.

Another point about the starting procedure used in the video. The Monster with Mikuni carbs has no accelerator pumps, so all the twisting in the world does nothing.

Also, the fuel enrichment circuit has no pump, the system lifts a small plunger that allow extra fuel in. Push the thumb lever and leave it.
"Once you accept that a child on the autistic spectrum experiences the world in
 a completely different way than you, you will be open to understand how that
 perspective
    is even more amazing than yours."
    To realize the value of nine  months:
    Ask a mother who gave birth to a stillborn.
"Don't piss off old people The older we get, the less 'Life in Prison' is a deterrent."



Glass_Darkly

I did contemplate using a siphon ibwas going to use a foot pump for blow-up matresses and stuff but noticed the easy start can in my local garage so bought that. Also to combat it happening again I purchased a can of non flammable compressed air to blow the drain line free, I think the gunk is not all out yet so will try to blow if out again before taking it out in the rain !
Maximilian ! Ducati M750 Dark.....  Getting  darker

sofadriver

I've never seen a gas tank that drains directly from the bottom of the tank. Fuel is always sucked from pick-up tubes that stick up 2-3" from the bottom. That allows water & gunk to settle below the good gas.

To get it out use a suction device with the suction hose end wire-tied to the end of a stick to get to the very bottom of the tank. I do this every fall on my boat. Acceleration/deceleration can cause that pool of water to spill over into the pick-up tubes. That can cause sputtering and will also form new pools of water in your float bowls.
Mike in Tacoma
'08 S2r 1000 - Red on Red
'96 900 SS/SP
'02 ST4s (gone but not forgotten)

IBA 38181