[drake3]

Hi All, I have been away for a while, but got the dust off the Strom and getting ready for another riding season.

Last year before I put her away for the winter I noticed a fuel leak after I started her from being cold. The leak was about 2 drops every second and was enough to scare me to watch it when starting it. I didn't want my baby to self-immolate!

So, here is how I noticed it - I usually start her in the garage and immediately smelled strong gas fumes one morning. I look down and there is a puddle of gas on the floor. I immediately shut her down and looked up under the tank with a LED flashlight. I could not see where the leak was coming from.

The leak only happens when it is running. It does NOT leak when I turn the ignition on and hear the fuel pump, only when she is started. The leak also did not appear after I started her from the initial start.

So, I could start her, wait 5 sec, see the leak and stop her then start her again and there was no leak. This went on for a month and I never got my ass in gear to track it down.

I start it this week and the leak comes back as expected, but it returns even after I restart her. I am thinking the leak has become worse and really needs to be fixed now.

I do a tank lift the next day to try to figure out where this leak is. The drops are coming down right in the "V" of the front head, but never can see far enough up under the tank to see where it is coming from.

I take apart the cowling which is a nice long exercise and move the bike outside to start just in case if something was to go wrong (I filled the tank up with gas before parking it for the winter.)

Expecting the leak to return I start her up and no leak. My reward for removing her cowling I guess!

I am pretty frustrated by this because I am not sure if it will return and still cannot figure out where it may be coming from.

My best guess is that it is probably at the junction of the fuel feed hose (from tank) connecting onto the fuel pipe that feeds the injectors. That would be pretty close to where the fuel is dripping from above.

Anyone have a similar problem or have any recommendations on finding the leak?

I would love to remove the tank, but would need a longer fuel feed hose to keep the engine running long enough to actually see it start leaking if it actually does leak again.

Even with the tank lifted it is hard to see under it far enough forward to check all the fuel connections going to the front cylinder.

Thanks for any help!

 

[Timan]

There's a hose about 2" long between the two throttle bodies. Notorious leakers. Cut the POS connectors off and use fuel injection clamps and you are good to go.

 

[kick]

There's a hose about 2" long between the two throttle bodies. Notorious leakers. Cut the POS connectors off and use fuel injection clamps and you are good to go.

+1 Exactly.

 

[drake3]

I think I know which hose are you talking about. It looks like it is clamped with galvanized hose clamps? and runs front to back? It looks like it connects to the injectors from my service manual?

I will have to take the tank off to get to that one.

Where can I get the injector clamps and what size?

Thanks for the information!

 

[Dino M]

If the 2" hose is not the culprit, check the plastic quick disconnect on the main fuel line. They are also notorious for leaking even after something as simple as lifting the tank.

 

[BrownMichael]

http://www.stromtrooper.com/general-v-strom-discussion/60668-searching-fuel-leak-questions-2.html

This thread has nice pix of the infamous hose and clamps.

I fixed mine with screw type hose clamps before I read about using proper fuel injection clamps. Used the original 6 year old hose too. Worked OK for me, but I sold the bike six months later, so I don't know if it's a good long term fix.

After you take off the tank, you will need to remove the airbox. That is a lot easier if you have a really long phillips screwdriver to loosen the screw that clamps the rubber collar onto the throttle intake.

Mike Brown
Vancouver, WA

 

[Mike92]

Mine did the same thing. I read where people cut the stock clamps off with a dremel and all sorts of stuff to get the clamps off. Mine were so loose that I just pulled (one end at a time) and the whole tube came out in 2 seconds. The fittings are not barbed.

I'm 99.9% sure that your leak is the same as mine. Afer starting it would leak all over then I would shut it down, get out the flashlight, start it back up and the leak was gone. I finally read the fix on these forums and mine hasn't leaked a drop since.

 

[WNCRider]

Same problem here...at least it seems to be. Been traveling for work so much that my Wee has been locked up for a long time. Finally have the opportunity to ride it to work this morning, but found the leak. Hope to have it repaired by Sunday!

 

[WNCRider]

Anyone tell me what size fuel injector clamps? Need to run to Carquest this afternoon.

 

[Mike92]

I just stuck the hose in my shirt pocket and sized the clamps to it at the auto parts store.

 

[Scott E. Bonds]

ORiley's had them when I needed them. Autozone didn't stock them.

There is a huge shortcut when doing this repair and its a must do in my book. I assume you can manage pulling the tank. The airbox removal is tougher.

I remove the intake boot from the rear intake because its easy to get to, and leave it attached to the air box. But the front IS NOT easy to reach.

HINT - what I do is squeeze the front rubber horn coming into the airbox with my hand and push it down through the hole in the box while lifting up on the box. There is no need to remove this boot from the intake in the front. Upon reassembly, verify the band clamp on the front intake is intact and tight, then wipe the rubber horn with some water, squeze it to a smaller diameter, and push it back into its position in the airbox. Be sure the groove in the rubber horn seats into the airbox. Also, the clamps on the air boots have a specific orientaion so they will not interfere with the throttle linkage...this is important and a manual will show you the correct way, don't assume the bike is correct when you take it apart as somebody before you may have done it wrong.

The long screw driver is worse than a waste of time in my book. The reassembly can be easily botched because you are trying to seat the rubber horn and tighten the band clamp up under the box while blind with a long screw driver.

Others have disagreed with me in the past and insist on doing it the hard and potential harmful way. Beside running crappy, an air leak at the horn can seriously damage an engine by injesting junk into the cylinder.

P.S. - mine had the exact same symptoms. Although the clamps are all you need, I splurged and bought 3 inches of high pressure fuel line too.

 

[WNCRider]

Did the surgery on Sunday. 30 minutes to remove plastic and tank, 5 minutes to remove air cleaner, (with long screw drive and feeling with my finger) 20 minutes to remove old clamps with dremel and replace with new clamps, then 1 hour to re-assemble air cleaner, (with long screw driver) plastic and tank. (20 minutes to find dropped fasteners) Yes, a pain, but no more leak and I know it's done correctly.

 

[Alannc]

Just did the fuel leak fix on my 07 Wee. On a scale of 1-10 on difficulty it's about a 5. Just more time consuming and than anything.

I did the whole thing twice (just for practice of course)....arg.... sometime over a beer.

Thanks to Greywolf for a timely answer to a question and to the forum for all the pictures, help and support.