NOTE: THIS FIX DOES NOT APPLY TO THE 650 K7 onward!!!!!!!
They’ve got a different fuel-pump!
CREDITS: All credits go to Skillo and Johnofchar at the VSRI forum !!!
Here’s their story, some OUTSTANDING PICS… the fix….and replies by guys who’ve done the modification.
http://www.vstrom.info/Smf/index.php/topic,6105.0.html
A big
THANK YOU to those geniuses who figure out stuff like this !!
There’s a lot of Stromers out there taking their bikes on long (and LOOOONG) rides. :so
While both the 650 and 1000 are very undemanding on the type of fuel they’re happy with, it’s a fact that fuel from small country servo’s (and occasionally city-juice as well) can quite often be contaminated with crap and water.
Due to low volume sales, fuel is stored for fairly long periods of time in the underground tanks, accumulating condensation and crud (solids) that settle near the bottom/pump-intakes of the tanks.
If one is unlucky enough to be one of the last customers before a fresh fuel delivery (or just after delivery when everything is stirred up), the chance of getting crappy fuel is pretty high.
And this is where the Stroms get touchy.
Reading around the owners groups and forums, there are endless threads regarding blocked fuel pumps, bikes running crappy....often due to diminished fuel flows, rusted tanks etc etc…
Some folks got stranded in the middle of no-where, others forked out princely sums for new fuel-pumps….and just about all of them finished up losing lots of fun-time trying to organize things, getting parts mailed to whoop-whoop, being stuck in a place that cost a fortune to stay at, forking out for towing and transport fees etc etc.
In any case, the trip had just finished right there and then.:rolleyes::rolleyes:
So….what’s the problem….and what’s the fix?
Water:
½ a cup of Methylated Spirits added to a fresh tank of fuel will bind the water and fuel to get pumped through together.
The bike runs a bit crappy and jerky for a while, and then all should clear with the next load of fresh fuel.
Store the bike for a few weeks with little fuel/ water in the tank, and the tank will start to rust….first around the lowest point, the fuel-pump area. Rustflakes will drop into the pump-bowl where petrol is sucked in and clog the low-pressure filter which also sits at the very bottom of the pump-bowl.
Crud:
The pump will suck through the small rust particles and try to push them through the high-pressure filter, which is part of the assembly.
The same goes for all small-sized solids contained in fuel.
While the primary filter (low pressure filter) is coarser and hangs upside-down in the fuel bowl, flow will not be too restricted, as there’s some more filtration mesh to be found, due to the shape of the filter.
Now we come to the real problem area:
The High-Pressure filter !! (or secondary filter)
As the fine-mesh filter gets clogged over time, it eventually fills up to a point that restricts fuel-flow quite severely.
The normal flow rate is 1200ml/ 30seconds (~2.5l/ min), some bikes have reportedly still run, albeit very crappy, with flow rates below 250ml/30secs (1/2l/ min).
Eventually things come to a point, where the actual pump destroys itself…. not being able to push out fuel at a sufficient flow rate while sucking it in at full tilt on the other end.
The pump itself is a Mitsubishi unit which can be bought re-conditioned from any Fuel-Injection place and was common in early Mitsubishi Lancers and 4-cyl Fords like the Festiva.
But the actual pump wasn’t the problem in the first place…the culprit is the High-Pressure Fuel Filter.
This filter is an integral part of the moulded 1-piece “housing” and therefore
NOT ACCESSIBLE!!
Bloody stupid, but there it is.
Principally the fuel pump assembly is a 1-piece plastic “housing” with various prongs and threads moulded-in.
The actual pump is separate and can be removed…like the primary low-pressure filter, the fuel-gauge float and other bits.
The plastic “housing” with the integral filter can be ordered as a separate part….I haven’t checked on the price in AUS, but in the US they seem to sell for US$200+….which should make it pretty much double that here in AUS.
What’s the fix then??
The fix is simply to drill a hole into the housing to bypass the High Pressure Filter altogether and install a suitable inline filter between the fuel-pump unit and the engine.
http://www.vstrom.info/Smf/index.php/topic,6105.0.html
The base-specs needed here are:
An inline, dual-barbed FI filter that can handle the fuel pressure (43psi), allows sufficient fuel-flow (min 10l/ min) with a screen-mesh ideally in the 10-15micron range.
One meter of 8mm FI hose rated 50psi at an absolute minimum, 4 Stainless steel hose clamps of the right size….and about a ½ day to do the mod.
Checking around the car-parts guys, calling Ryco and Valvoline Tech-departments, all car-filters will fit the bill to some degree…the biggest problem proved to be the size, as car-filters just don’t fit well into the very limited space available. Most car-filters also use screens/ filter-materials above (coarser) the 10-15 micron….typically 20-35 micron.
Needless to say, they’re all disposables…
Following one of the links in the thread @VSRI, I contacted Golan Products in California
http://www.golanproducts.com/filters.html
who emailed back instantly with the URL of their AUS-importer, Rollies in Brisbane.
http://www.rollies.com.au/catalogues...ull.asp?page=8
Ordered a couple yesterday, got ‘em this morning.
(Product code 60-312C 5/16th barbed)
Pressure rated to 200psi…10 micron screen… ~25l/ min flow-rate…stainless filter mesh… fully re-usable over and over.
And just imagine the indulgence: CHROME-BLING UNDER THE SEAT!!!
That'll make the Harley-boyz weep :upyrs:
Back to last Saturday…
Being lucky enough to have a spare fuel pump sitting on the shelf I got going, the little Netbook fired up with the VSRI post and pics on the screen…it was still a bit daunting, to stick a 4mm drill into a ~$400 part to drill the bypass-hole in the housing.
That turned out fine…the Ryco Z200 inline filter I bought gave me real grief, as it wouldn’t fit anywhere but under the rear tank-brace….with fuel-line going all over to account for smooth flow, no kinks, no rubbing on metal parts etc etc….took me hours to even figure that one out, destroying about a meter of my precious new FI fuel-line in the process.:doh:
With the little Golan filter, this would’ve been a breeze…. taking ~30 mins to make up a new hose with the quick-connects and filter fitted, ready to re-fit.
Procedure?
Remove tank and fuel-pump unit (if you’re stuck up to this point, DON’T attempt the rest of it).
Remove airbox (you’ll have to get onto the fuel-line quick connector in the front).
Remove fuel-gauge (2 screws)
Disconnect (but make note of!!...take pics) cables from pump base-plate ( incl. the 2 screws holding the locating clips in the metal tangs which also hold the negative wires).
Note: On earlier models there are 3 cables through the baseplate (with only one negative for the gauge connected on the longer of the 2 tangs, later models use the metal base-plate tangs for negative to the pump as well as the gauge.
Remove/ clean white plastic clip from bottom
Remove/clean halfmoon-shaped rubber seal
Remove /clean low-pressure filter
Carefully pull apart pump-base plate (the metal base) and the upper, black plastic barrel.
Check the hole where the metal-outlet pipe was seated, there’s an O-ring…inspect for damage.
Drill the hole in the outlet recess, opposite the triangular “factory” hole,
check this link for details and pics.
Remove the quick-connect ends from the factory fuel-hose.
CAREFULLY….as there are invisible seals in the barbed ends !!
Best score the outer rubber hose with a sharp-tipped knife, then tear it carefully…remove completely.
Score the hard, black plastic line from its END (at the connector) for ~10mm, then peel the plastic back like an apple-peel, gently pulling the line off the connector.
Attach new fuel-hose to connector with clamp.
Clip connector in place at the throttle bodies.
Re-fit airbox, making SURE that all boot-clamps are tight, all fits perfectly and neatly and all hoses are re-attached to the airbox (some of it is fiddly !!)
Re-fit tank, leaving it lifted at the rear via the brace.
Prep the other quick connector with a piece of hose, allowing some overlap in hose-length in the area the filter will occupy.
Shorten hoses to fit filter.
Possibly wrap filter in some foam to prevent rattling.
Results:
The fuel-pump kick-in seems to be timed (not pressure-dependable)….upon first try, the engine died after a couple of seconds…there wasn’t enough pressurization of the whole system to keep her ticking over…lots of air in that Z200 Ryco, I guess.
Another try, another die….since the 3.try, it’s all running fine!!
Now that the system is filled with fuel, the pump runs its cycle and things keep going as they should.
No hiccups. Will fit the little Golan filter tomorrow.
After that, clogged filters will be just a non-issue for the WTF's.
The 650 is next !