New member and new owner of a DL650 K4. 32k miles and in great condition. I don't know the service history so I figured I'd have to do some maintenance on it soon. It's been 3 weeks since I've had it aaaaaaaand gas leak. :furious:
I've searched the forums and found the common threads about that fuel line between the throttle bodies.
I put this out here only because it doesn't act like what I've read in the threads.
It just started leaking. Went for a 2 hour ride on Saturday, was getting ready to ride on Sunday and when I went out into the garage, the smell of gas hit me. It has a slow steady drip.drip.drip from under the tank onto the radiator.
I'm going to pull the seat and tank off later tonight or tomorrow and hopefully find that it is indeed that same fuel line, but just in case...anyone have any other ideas? Much appreciated. :rockon::rockon:
Just to verify, is it dripping on to the radiator or the oil cooler? The small hose you are referring to is about directly above the oil fill hole. If you get down on that side of the bike and look up you can see it pretty easy. I attached a terrible picture I just snapped. Look for the square shaped ends in the picture. The hose is maybe 1.5-2” long.
I can’t see how leaking fuel would get from there all the way to the radiator but maybe it could.
If it is in fact leaking on to the radiator, I’d be more inclined to suspect the tank itself is leaking as I don’t think there are any openings for hoses that far forward.
New member and new owner of a DL650 K4. 32k miles and in great condition. I don't know the service history so I figured I'd have to do some maintenance on it soon. It's been 3 weeks since I've had it aaaaaaaand gas leak. :furious:
I've searched the forums and found the common threads about that fuel line between the throttle bodies.
I put this out here only because it doesn't act like what I've read in the threads.
It just started leaking. Went for a 2 hour ride on Saturday, was getting ready to ride on Sunday and when I went out into the garage, the smell of gas hit me. It has a slow steady drip.drip.drip from under the tank onto the radiator.
I'm going to pull the seat and tank off later tonight or tomorrow and hopefully find that it is indeed that same fuel line, but just in case...anyone have any other ideas? Much appreciated. :rockon::rockon:
Just to verify, is it dripping on to the radiator or the oil cooler? The small hose you are referring to is about directly above the oil fill hole. If you get down on that side of the bike and look up you can see it pretty easy. I attached a terrible picture I just snapped. Look for the square shaped ends in the picture. The hose is maybe 1.5-2” long.
I can’t see how leaking fuel would get from there all the way to the radiator but maybe it could.
If it is in fact leaking on to the radiator, I’d be more inclined to suspect the tank itself is leaking as I don’t think there are any openings for hoses that far forward.
I went back out and took some pictures to be sure. Definitely not from the small hose. With closer inspection, I noticed discoloration on the underside of the hose that runs from the radiator and bubbling of the paint on the radiator itself. When I tried to dry off the gas from the radiator, it slid off... :surprise: Me thinks this bike has had this issue for awhile. What does not make sense is the time in between. I bought the bike on 6/21. No gas smell, no leaks, no anything. I've ridden it around 1,200 miles since then and on day 23...boom. Hello Mr. Leak. :jawdrop:
I don't know what changed. Ah well, I knew it was going to need some work for its age and mileage. I've only ridden around the block a few times since Sunday and I'm jonesing to go ride...lol.
So, you said gas tank? What connections are directly above that spot? Got any schematics?
First pic is the underside of the radiator. Second pic is right side, water hose. See how gas is dripping from the fairing to the top of the hose?
Thanks Bud!
There are no openings above that spot. The only openings on the bottom of the tank are the fuel pump and the overflow / vent. The fuel output hose connects to the fuel pump. Those are all toward the rear of the tank though. The overflow / vent hose drains down by the rear brake pedal. There is nothing towards the front.
Here is a pic from when I replaced my fuel filter a few months ago showing the bottom of the tank. I guess the gasket for the fuel pump could leak and dribble down towards the front or something. Either that or the main hose (replaced mine a few years ago cause it was getting damp with fuel soak thru but not actually leaking).
Hopefully it turns out to be something easy like a gasket or hose.
The metal tube with the gray clip is where the main fuel hose connects. The other tube towards the outside of the tank is the vent / overflow. There’s a rubber hose supposed to be hooked to that and it snakes down by the brake pedal.
There are no openings above that spot. The only openings on the bottom of the tank are the fuel pump and the overflow / vent. The fuel output hose connects to the fuel pump. Those are all toward the rear of the tank though. The overflow / vent hose drains down by the rear brake pedal. There is nothing towards the front.
Here is a pic from when I replaced my fuel filter a few months ago showing the bottom of the tank. I guess the gasket for the fuel pump could leak and dribble down towards the front or something. Either that or the main hose (replaced mine a few years ago cause it was getting damp with fuel soak thru but not actually leaking).
Hopefully it turns out to be something easy like a gasket or hose.
The metal tube with the gray clip is where the main fuel hose connects. The other tube towards the outside of the tank is the vent / overflow. There’s a rubber hose supposed to be hooked to that and it snakes down by the brake pedal.
Thanks for the pix, bud. Very helpful. I know that the guy I bought it from said he had replaced the fuel pump...maybe it is a gasket or a hose like ya said. We'll see. I plan to pull the tank this evening. :thumbup:
:surprise::surprise: Shoot...had not thought of that. I figured the bubbled paint on the bottom of the radiator was from the gas...
I'm going to do a double check with the paper towels and look for what you said.
Is there anything else I should look for/check/change while I have the tank off? Thanks!
Well allright...I finally had some time today to pull the tank. I'm thinking that the seam may have busted and that is where the leak was coming from. I ran it with the tank lifted, definitely no leak from around the fuel pump and nothing coming from that tube between the throttle bodies. I could not get it to leak from the suspect area either though but I had drained most of the gas.
Pic #1 - this is the tank upside down. This would be the bottom right underside of the tank if it was not upside down.
Pic #2 - Same spot but up close. I don't know what the white stuff is.
Pic #3 - Same spot but from the outside. Paint was soggy and flaked off.
Pic #4 - farther away, better idea the entire area. WHAT is that red shit?? :surprise::surprise:
Pic #5 - the tank and more red shit.
What are y'all's thoughts? Unless there is some sort of seam sealer to apply, I'm thinking I need a new tank. :yikes:
Now, for the additional part of this. Whoever had this bike before me must have had it sitting outside in the elements...and that just pisses me off.
Dang...I'm almost embarrassed at how dirty it is.
Pic #1 - yes...that's the little fuel tube between the throttle bodies I've heard is usually the culprit. *replacing it tomorrow* (next post as file limit is exceeded)
Pic #2 - just the general built up grime. (next post as file limit is exceeded)
What is the best way to clean this up? Thanks Y'all!
Now, for the additional part of this. Whoever had this bike before me must have had it sitting outside in the elements...and that just pisses me off.
Dang...I'm almost embarrassed at how dirty it is.
Pic #1 - yes...that's the little fuel tube between the throttle bodies I've heard is usually the culprit. *replacing it tomorrow*
Pic #2 - just the general built up grime.
There are a lot of tank sealing kits on the market, just ensure you follow the instruction to the letter when using them.
A second hand tank should not be hard to find, I recently gave away a black Wee tank, it had a very small ding but the guy was looking to use it on a different bike because he wanted a bigger tank.
Well, I finally found the stupid leak. If you are looking at a pic of the tank from the front, you see that there is some of that rust colored spray on the left side. It turns out, that spray which seems to be some type of liner material was put there to patch a pin hole leak in the tank. So it was leaking from there and running down to the seam which made me think it was a seam leak. Sanded it down, patched it with JB Weld and it has held on 4 rides of 2 hours each so far. I'm thinking one of the tank sealing kits is what I'll do next since I kinda don't trust the tank with all that spray in different places. ;(
On a side note, I sprayed the motor and cleaned it, changed out the spark plug, air filter and replaced that little fuel line between the throttle bodies for good measure. :wink2::wink2:
Sealing from the inside would be great but don't doubt the JB Weld, the tank on one of my farm bikes was patched a up about 20 years ago and it is still holding fuel just fine.
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