jfheath
John Heath
Opened the fuel cap to find the surround very nearly brim full of water. ie the water surrounding the neck of the fuel opening was just below the top of the lip.
There is a drain hole on the left hand side, which clearly wasn't working. I soaked up the water with tissue and set to trying to find the blockage. An old puhsbike brake cable revealed where the blockage was. About half way down the length of the metal tube that runs inside the tank. But repeated stabbings with the flexible cable had no effect.
Time to lift the tank and get out the air compressor. I covered the neck of the fuel tank with ductape, and separated the rubber tube at the joint near to the seat tube, and gently fed air into the tube. That did the trick - whatever was blocking it (it was a couple of small stones, surrounded by muck that had formed a hard ish aggregate) - came flying out. It had a slight rust tinge to it.
I fed some WD40 down from the top end, and applied a flow of air to see what it would bring out with it. It didn't look to bad. So then I clamped off the bottom of the tube and poured some engine oil down until the tube was full, Closed up the fuel cap and left it there to soak for a while. I think ACF50 would have been a better option, but this will do for now. Then I let it drain out, and made a mental note to repeat the process every so often.
edit
Since this was first written, there have been a couple of posts elsewhere about fuel leaking out through the same drain hose. If this happens it is probably due to the metal tube inside the tank rusting through, allowing fuel to leak out, and the same hole will also allow rain water to leak in.
I think that servicing that tube is something that needs to be added to every service.
There is a drain hole on the left hand side, which clearly wasn't working. I soaked up the water with tissue and set to trying to find the blockage. An old puhsbike brake cable revealed where the blockage was. About half way down the length of the metal tube that runs inside the tank. But repeated stabbings with the flexible cable had no effect.
Time to lift the tank and get out the air compressor. I covered the neck of the fuel tank with ductape, and separated the rubber tube at the joint near to the seat tube, and gently fed air into the tube. That did the trick - whatever was blocking it (it was a couple of small stones, surrounded by muck that had formed a hard ish aggregate) - came flying out. It had a slight rust tinge to it.
I fed some WD40 down from the top end, and applied a flow of air to see what it would bring out with it. It didn't look to bad. So then I clamped off the bottom of the tube and poured some engine oil down until the tube was full, Closed up the fuel cap and left it there to soak for a while. I think ACF50 would have been a better option, but this will do for now. Then I let it drain out, and made a mental note to repeat the process every so often.
edit
Since this was first written, there have been a couple of posts elsewhere about fuel leaking out through the same drain hose. If this happens it is probably due to the metal tube inside the tank rusting through, allowing fuel to leak out, and the same hole will also allow rain water to leak in.
I think that servicing that tube is something that needs to be added to every service.
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