fuel leak

st1300r

st1300r

Joined
Apr 25, 2007
Messages
4,940
Age
62
Location
New Jersey
Bike
st1300 '04
STOC #
7163
Other than the upper lower fuel joint can anybody think of a reason for a large puddle of fuel under an st that hasn't been run all day??? I'm seeing bad things raising a full tank to poke around.
 
Carl, that would be the best place to look for a fuel leak. Have you ever replaced your upper to lower tank fuel hose? Easy to do, just make sure you lower the fuel to the lower tank only before pulling it off or let it keep dripping. Good luck and keep us posted as to what you find.
 
I'll be changing my hose this weekend. I wound up with seepage during the coldest days this winter. Hoping to God it isn't some pinhole in the tank.
 
hmm... please hold all circuits busy...I love playing with gasoline in the dark... what could go wrong? :D
Wow why can't this thing have a normal 3 gallon gas tank.... Good thing the pickemup is empty.

OK so the upper tank is empty. Not a whisper of gas peaking under the seat at the lower joint of the hose.
Thoughts??? Where else likely lower than the upper tank? Perforated lower tank?
 
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You could probably see what's going when you remove the seat .
If there is fuel in the upper tank you can drain it from the hose that comes from the lower tank, the pressure of the weight of the fuel in the upper tank will get the draining started and it will self-siphon out the lower tank as well so have a large gas can or 2 .
 
+1 on removing the seat and front seat bracket to peek under the rear of the upper tank.

Maybe don't use a lighter to see under there! :eek:
 
Yeah seat is off the lower point of the tank joint is dry as bone. Have the parts to replace the joint swore that had to be the issue but doesn't look look like it ... in the dark in the rain ...ugh.
 
I can think of 3 possibilities :
1. joint hose , dry now but perhaps leaked down until it is now dry ..unless you know the upper tank was empty before the leak.
2. a hole in the lower tank . Haven't heard of that happening yet but...
3. a leak in the vent hose that caused the upper tank to self empty and /or siphoned some of the lower tank with it .
 
You haven't mentioned how "large" the puddle of fuel was. Are you talking about about a yard in diameter, or something larger or smaller? I'm trying to get an idea on the volume that puddled. As others have said, are you certain that the upper tank was empty before the puddle formed?
 
With mine it was a mouse chewing a hole in the small (return?) line between upper and lower tanks ......
 

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Top tank was full. Maybe too full?
Came home smelled fuel, dripping maybe a drop per second. At o'dark thirty and starting to rain :/ puddle was maybe 6" diameter. Sorry about the 'large" puddle description. Guess I was a little wound up seeing gas coming out of her.

Half ounce maybe. In the area of the 3 drain hoses hard to tell which and if the leak was from a hose or on the outside of a hose. Bike was stone called and on the side stand. I didn't wait to see if it would continue being dark damp and cold. That would have been good info to know.

So order of business was drain the top tank hose her down and hit the rack.
Raised the tank this morning no evidence of fuel leak. Main joint feels good no cracks crud around the area is undisturbed doesn't look like it was ever wet. Gas back in to 3 bars no leak. Cycle the pump a few times no leak. Ran for a few minutes no leak.

I'd like to write it off to over fill but the bike was filled on the side stand the day before. Stone cold active dripping when I came home. Temps were falling. Appeared to be from or on one of the two small hoses. Not the larger forward hose from the drain port under the gas cap. More gas going back in...

5 bars of fuel cap closed no drips hopefully I wasted your time thanks for the ideas.
 
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You had a full tank to begin with... It wasn't "over filled" by chance? There is a drain near the filler cap, if it was overfilled and you had the bike sitting on the side stand, it could have leaked gas through the gas cap and drained into the drain tube next to the cap.
 
Well this sounds like you were worried about a small amount of fuel from over filling the bike. Glad there are no major leaks.
 
Noticed it again backing the bike up after coming off the center stand. Fuel level below the fill bar. This time in daylight, it appeared to be the lid gasket not sealing and dumping a little thru the large drain hose that goes to the drain at the fill port. I hope:nuke1::D
 
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