[roscoepc]

Due to conditions beyond my control, (Rheumatoid Arthritis!!), My Darlin' has been setting for almost 2 years due to how bad my wrist's and ankle's were hurting!! Last Saturday though was the Day I said "ENOUGH"!!! took the cover off and fired her up!! The Ol' Girl actually fired up on the first few turns but wouldn't idle unless I gave her some throttle to keep her at about 2000rpm or so.. So I shut her down, got a screwdriver and brought the idle up to about 1800, ran her till she warmed up to about halfway on the guage and moved her near my shed so I could air the tires before taking her on the road.

On a side note the battery is VERY weak and I has to use a small Battery pack to jump her with every time I cranked her so I left the idle high to avoid stalling when I stopped. More on that in another post!!

When I left she was at about two bars from max temp and I rode her for about 5 miles or so.. While running she was wanting to stall so I was constantly working the throttle to heep her running. I rolled the throttle wide open a few times and she was definitely bogging out starving for fuel!! The temp remained 2-3 bars from max....

I have cranked her up both Sunday and today and both times she ran and idled fairly smooth at 1800rpm until the temp hit about 3/4 to max on the guage.. Then she wanted to start stalling out....

I'm gonna drain the rest of the gas and refill with new gas with Seafoam because I think that 2 year old gas is the main part of the problem here but my question here is will 1-2 year old gas cause the engine to Vapor lock??

I've experience vapor locking on this bike only once before when I was driving in some VERY hot conditions and this seems very similar!!

Any thoughts on this???

I'll post what happens with the fresh gas....

 

[DaveO430]

Vapor lock is not possible with fuel injection, the fuel pressure is much higher than the vapor pressure of gasoline.

 

[gumbyred]

Berryman`s is cheaper, and even available at the Dollar General store near me. Automatic transmission fluid would also work.
gumbyred.

 

[gumbyred]

Looks like you have a 1200 Gold Wing. Is this the model with fuel injection?
gumbyred

 

[gumbyred]

OOOOOPPPPSS. I see by your profile it is a 1985 L.T..D..

 

[gumbyred]

Fuel pressure regulator valves can get plugged up by old gas just like the carbs. do.
gumbyred

 

[roscoepc]

Vapor lock is not possible with fuel injection, the fuel pressure is much higher than the vapor pressure of gasoline.

Yes it is Dave. What happens is the fuel will boil off in the fuel pump as it enters the pump and it can't build enough pressure. Again.. This has only happened once and it was EXTREMELY hot that day!!!!!!!!

 

[redwing52]

Due to conditions beyond my control, (Rheumatoid Arthritis!!), My Darlin' has been setting for almost 2 years due to how bad my wrist's and ankle's were hurting!! Last Saturday though was the Day I said "ENOUGH"!!! took the cover off and fired her up!! The Ol' Girl actually fired up on the first few turns but wouldn't idle unless I gave her some throttle to keep her at about 2000rpm or so.. So I shut her down, got a screwdriver and brought the idle up to about 1800, ran her till she warmed up to about halfway on the guage and moved her near my shed so I could air the tires before taking her on the road.

On a side note the battery is VERY weak and I has to use a small Battery pack to jump her with every time I cranked her so I left the idle high to avoid stalling when I stopped. More on that in another post!!

When I left she was at about two bars from max temp and I rode her for about 5 miles or so.. While running she was wanting to stall so I was constantly working the throttle to heep her running. I rolled the throttle wide open a few times and she was definitely bogging out starving for fuel!! The temp remained 2-3 bars from max....

I have cranked her up both Sunday and today and both times she ran and idled fairly smooth at 1800rpm until the temp hit about 3/4 to max on the guage.. Then she wanted to start stalling out....

I'm gonna drain the rest of the gas and refill with new gas with Seafoam because I think that 2 year old gas is the main part of the problem here but my question here is will 1-2 year old gas cause the engine to Vapor lock??

I've experience vapor locking on this bike only once before when I was driving in some VERY hot conditions and this seems very similar!!

Any thoughts on this???

I'll post what happens with the fresh gas....

With 2 year old gas I'm surprised it had enough aromatic content in the old gas to run at all. I think you are right one track. It needs 3 things probably. Fresh gas and something that will clean varnish from the injectors. The third thing is some nice long rides.

 

[roscoepc]

Fuel pressure regulator valves can get plugged up by old gas just like the carbs. do.
gumbyred

Good point!!! Depending on what the fresh gas does that'll be the next thing I check but wouldn't a gummed regulator affect the bike when it was first cranked up??

 

[redwing52]

Yes it is Dave. What happens is the fuel will boil off in the fuel pump as it enters the pump and it can't build enough pressure. Again.. This has only happened once and it was EXTREMELY hot that day!!!!!!!!

Still very unlikely. Remember the pump is submerged in gas and with heat rising it is submerged in the coolest gas in the tank.

 

[roscoepc]

Still very unlikely. Remember the pump is submerged in gas and with heat rising it is submerged in the coolest gas in the tank.

Correct! But when I pulled into a station to get gas AND to cool off, I put my hand on the fuel pump and almost blistered my fingers!!!! I'm fairly certain that was the problem then as the next day I ran her with no problems!!

 

[DriverRider]

I would wait to see how it runs with fresh fuel and a good battery before drawing any conclusions.

 

[Bike...and Dennis]

I'd be looking at the air filter before riding it very far.

 

[gumbyred]

Where is the fuel pump on a 1985 L.T.D. Not familiar with them. Is it inside the gas tank like the 1500 and 1800s, or externally somewhere? You said the fuel pump felt hot?
gumbyred

 

[DaveO430]

Where is the fuel pump on a 1985 L.T.D. Not familiar with them. Is it inside the gas tank like the 1500 and 1800s, or externally somewhere? You said the fuel pump felt hot?
gumbyred

The pump is external. Running hot makes me think the flow to the pump is restricted.

 

[Pure Texas]

Where is the fuel pump on a 1985 L.T.D. Not familiar with them. Is it inside the gas tank like the 1500 and 1800s, or externally somewhere? You said the fuel pump felt hot?
gumbyred

By your left leg

 

[roscoepc]

By your left leg

Actually it's by my right ankle.....

 

[Pure Texas]

sorry i mis read as filter.

 

[gumbyred]

Here I go assuming again. The fuel pump is electric, not mechanical like the Gold Wings that came before. Something that could build up the pressure fuel injection systems require. I have not read anything here yet about changing a fuel filter. Is there one here?
Vapor lock, or maybe partially blocked fuel injectors. Bike should be able to idle 850-900 r.p.m.
gumbyred

 

[roscoepc]

Gumby the fuel pump is a high pressure pump with a banjo fitting on the output end to accommodate the higher pressure it produces. The OEM fuel filter is a small "canister" type about 2"x2" with banjo fittings on both ends.. The good news is the last time I checked it was not dirty and had good flow through it. The bad news is that filter is unique to the '85/'86 Fuelie's and Mother Honda discontinued the item a long while back!! No decent fitting replacement has been found yet but, I'm gonna try the NAPA guy here in town and see what he can come up with....

As far as a line restriction Dave, I'll try blowing back through the line to check. The tank had little to no rust when I parked her and I had just filled the tank beforehand..

The Idle setpoint is 1000 + 50rpms on all GL1200's..