bad gas. Only meant for a Dutch Oven

AmLit

.020 Over
Joined
Feb 18, 2018
Messages
44
Location
Joplin, MO
Ride
‘05 Rocket III,
So I pulled my bike out in early March on an unusually warm afternoon. Hit the starter, she roared to life, I ran inside to grab a helmet, while she idled up to op temp. As I walked back out of the house (maybe 2 minutes later) I hear rough idle, coughs a few times and dies.
Won’t restart. Bad gas? Has to be.

2 weeks later I’ve got time (and moderate temps) so - siphon tank refill with just purchased fuel. She cranks for days, no joy. Still some stale gas in fuel rails? Connected to car battery, crank for a while longer, cuss and dang, rolled it back into the garage.

Since then:
Squirt of starter fluid, and she fires
New fuel filter
Pump will shoot gas across driveway (entertaining to 3 Elementary sons, not to the EPA)
Another round of fresh fuel
Pulled a plug, dry and spark when grounded
Re-crimped low leads for good measure
Cleared code, for fuel level sensor (just had it out of the tank, did not come back)
Set TPS at .65 (it is a black one and started to high idle some last fall, on the short list already)
Tried a different tune
Pulled fuel rail
Cleaned injectors
Primed the fuel line 3 times, hit the starter AND SHE RAN LIKE A BEAST!!! for 10 seconds.
Starter fluid will start, and if I really work the throttle I can keep her running, let go of throttle and she dies
All I can think now is weak fuel pump.
How can I test?
What else am I missing?
 
So I pulled my bike out in early March on an unusually warm afternoon. Hit the starter, she roared to life, I ran inside to grab a helmet, while she idled up to op temp. As I walked back out of the house (maybe 2 minutes later) I hear rough idle, coughs a few times and dies.
Won’t restart. Bad gas? Has to be.

2 weeks later I’ve got time (and moderate temps) so - siphon tank refill with just purchased fuel. She cranks for days, no joy. Still some stale gas in fuel rails? Connected to car battery, crank for a while longer, cuss and dang, rolled it back into the garage.

Since then:
Squirt of starter fluid, and she fires
New fuel filter
Pump will shoot gas across driveway (entertaining to 3 Elementary sons, not to the EPA)
Another round of fresh fuel
Pulled a plug, dry and spark when grounded
Re-crimped low leads for good measure
Cleared code, for fuel level sensor (just had it out of the tank, did not come back)
Set TPS at .65 (it is a black one and started to high idle some last fall, on the short list already)
Tried a different tune
Pulled fuel rail
Cleaned injectors
Primed the fuel line 3 times, hit the starter AND SHE RAN LIKE A BEAST!!! for 10 seconds.
Starter fluid will start, and if I really work the throttle I can keep her running, let go of throttle and she dies
All I can think now is weak fuel pump.
How can I test?
What else am I missing?
Quick observation/question. When you set the TPS you did it during a ISCV reset and after it was done you reset the adaptives? If you did this why did you ignore the little words strolling across the screen that said set TPS to .60 volts (+/- .02 volts) and set it to .65 Volts ?
 
Quick observation/question. When you set the TPS you did it during a ISCV reset and after it was done you reset the adaptives? If you did this why did you ignore the little words strolling across the screen that said set TPS to .60 volts (+/- .02 volts) and set it to .65 Volts ?
Yes and yes. Honestly didn’t notice a .60 ticker tape, might’ve been the late hour. Still I knew factory spec says .60 volt and had read a few places on here that some had luck with it at .65v. If it’s not working at one, I’ll try the other.
 
I know it's too late now, but try to keep it running over the winter. I have friends in the Joplin area and know you guys had a good winter with lots of cold air and snow, thus one doesn't want to ride in it. But running it around the block a few days each week really does do wonders for it's internal health.
I hope you get this sorted soon brother.
 
Check fuel pressure. My bet is bad fuel regulator or check valve in pump. Sounds like symptoms both my vrod and K1300s had when i acquired them not running. In both cases fuel pump would prime, but lose pressure after a few moments.

I bought fuel pressure test kit from Harbor Freight to diagnose
 
Check fuel pressure. My bet is bad fuel regulator or check valve in pump. Sounds like symptoms both my vrod and K1300s had when i acquired them not running. In both cases fuel pump would prime, but lose pressure after a few moments.

I bought fuel pressure test kit from Harbor Freight to diagnose

Good thought and which could be due to cracked/perished fuel hoses inside the tank itself - or someone has replaced fuel filter before and used a non submersible fuel hose that has decayed.
 
I know it's too late now, but try to keep it running over the winter. I have friends in the Joplin area and know you guys had a good winter with lots of cold air and snow, thus one doesn't want to ride in it. But running it around the block a few days each week really does do wonders for it's internal health.
I hope you get this sorted soon brother.
It’s rare I’m not riding every couple of weeks during the winter, but this one was a bit more harsh than usual. It was frustrating letting it sit when it was cold. NOW it’s killing me!
 
Update:
Changed the plugs, cuz why not
@warp9.9 reset the TPS back to .60, and doublechecked for .5mm gap (overlooked this on the first reset)
@Ishrub fuel lines were in surprisingly good condition when I changed the filter
@barbagris opened the cap and got it to fire up and ran real rough, closed the cap and it ran the same way
@FE_rex im going by Harbor Freight this afternoon
 
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