[BlueWinger]

Let me throw this out there and see what becomes of it.....



My 1990 GL1500, just over 60,000 mi....."SOMETIMES" (not everytime) after I fill up the tank with fuel, and have driven 40 - 75 miles, I park the bike and can smell a fuel odor. Again I repeat, this does NOT happen every time. I inspected as best I can without taking all the plastic off, but I see no signs of 'wet' from a fuel leak anywhere. I make certain that I am careful NOT to spill any fuel around when refueling.

I thought maybe I was not putting the fuel cap back on properly, but it seems to seal well because when I remove it it has that slight'release of pressure' sound.

On our last long ride (522 mi) no odor at all the entire day. Then the following weekend we gased up, drove 40 mi and shut off the bike only to smell that 'slight'fuel odor again. Don't know if I really have a problem, or just sometimes my sinuses open up and allows my smeller to work right ?!....but during these times my wife also notices the fuel odor as well.

Any suggestions ?? :baffled::baffled:

 

[Hawaii]

imported post

My 93 1500 is doing the same thing but it seems it's all the time. I lift open the fuel door and can smell gas even if not full.

I'm thinking it might be coming from the carbs? Not leaking enough to get to the ground but very anoying and fouls your clothes as well.

 

[93Wing]

imported post

I get the same thing once in a while, just a slight whiff,always seems to happen not long after I fill up.

Haven't noticed any fuel leaks but still gets my attention.

 

[Tonys96]

imported post

Sounds to me like the beginning of the vacuum petcock leak.

Check the underside of the vacuum petcock, there is a vent there that weeps when the diaphragm goes bad

 

[Hawaii]

imported post

It is a little wet there! I tried tightening the 4 small screws but the bottom two are diffucult to get to. I sprayed it off with some cleaner and tightened them. Well see what happens later today when I drive it. Thanks!!

 

[Tonys96]

imported post

Hawaii wrote:

It is a little wet there! I tried tightening the 4 small screws but the bottom two are diffucult to get to. I sprayed it off with some cleaner and tightened them. Well see what happens later today when I drive it. Thanks!!

The 4 screws just hold the petcock together, there is a weep hole on the bottom, if it's wet, you should plan on replacing or rebuilding the petcock before it gets worse. I really don't think tightening will do you any good.

 

[Kit Carson]

imported post

I would check all the vent and routing hoses from the tank down to the EVA canister and on and back to the carbs.

One of the hoses is most likely cracked and would be especially noticeable with more fuel in the tank and less room for expansion.

Kit

 

[jbacrawler]

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I had this problem also, pulled covers but didn't find anything obvious. Noticed the fuel filterwas a little dark so I changed it. Could have been by chance but never had the fuel smellagain.

 

[AZgl1800]

imported post

I took the EVA canister off of my 1500 and threw it away.

Fuel smell gone after that. I don't live in California though...

 

[ccsailor]

imported post

Tonys96 wrote:

Sounds to me like the beginning of the vacuum petcock leak.

Check the underside of the vacuum petcock, there is a vent there that weeps when the diaphragm goes bad

....
This is with out a doubt the main culprit for smelling gas on 1500's there are rebuild kits on ebay

 

[bikgra]

imported post

Heres what i did and found on my 88-1500.

Replace; fuel lines.gascap rubber seal then gascap,vacuum lines.then rebuilt petcock and then replaced it with new one.Inspected float bowls for leaks.



Still the smell happened,Now i am really getting mad.



Then i found the culprit.



It was worn float bowl needle and seats.The gas would seep by them becuase they were not sealing proper and the gas would then end up in the throats of the carbs and the intake manifolds.



The smell persisted until i replaced both sets.

Then the smell was gone.



After a 2 week period of eliminating suspected faults i came to this.



I replaced them with honda original parts,Dont trust aftermarket carb kits

for rebuilding purposes.Spend the extra money for mother honda parts

 

[Hawaii]

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Did the needles and gas seeping by cause any running / idling problems?

 

[bikgra]

imported post

Not on mine,It ran and idled fine but i did notice near the end that my gas mileage was getting less.

My needle and seats were not worn bad enough to cause the usual problems with

with engine performance. I changed them before they were real bad.

but my symptons were as your reporting: (gas smell but not all the time).

It was getting worse before i changed them though.

As time went on the smell was almost regular when i turned the bike off and parked it.

The mechanic in wing world magazine had a question posted to him about the same prob.

His reply was; ( the 3 main causes of this on wings was 1. petcock valve, 2.fuel cap,

3.float bowl gaskets seeping.)

My bike had none of the problems he suggested.

So i just kept digging until i found it.

 

[bikgra]

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Sorry, I meant to say problems as Bluewinger posted.

My bad.

 

[BlueWinger]

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bikgra wrote:

Sorry, I meant to say problems as Bluewinger posted.

My bad.

Don't sweat the small stuff. :cheeky1::cheeky1:

 

[STEELMAN91]

where is EVA canister located on the 1500 se - 92 model

 

[doodle0407]

check around the fuel sending unit on side of fuel tank its about half way down right side of fuel tank have found gas seeping there under right side panel