Petcock screen set repair

[Judge Judy]

Though this might help some who may be having a similar problem. My bike (2007 VTX1300R with Motor Trike Kit) rides great, but has intermittent issues with the gas cutting off at hight speed. Carburetor jet cleaning didn't fix it; no loose battery cables; no visible damage to ECM wires; no vent line blockage. Took off the gas tank and checked the gas and the petcock screen. The screen had completely disintergrated (picture #2), and there was some rust in the tank (picture #1). (I bought this trike from the original owner, who only had put on about 1200 miles in 4 years). It must have sat without gas for some time.

My thought is that when the bike was going a certain (60-65) speed, it created just enough vaccum to pull the rust and the loose pieces of screen into the system and restrict the flow of fuel. Hope this helps others who may be having similar problems.

[Ol' Grey]

Good catch!

That's a LOT of sediment there, along with the trashed petcock screen. Not entirely ruling out your vacuum theory, but it's also possible that with that much sediment, the fuel flow was restricted considerably at all times, offering enough fuel for low-mid range riding, but not enough to keep up with the needed fuel supply at higher throttle openings and causing fuel starvation when you hit 60-65 mph.

Ideally, a gas tank flush/cleaning to remove all sediment and then sealing the inside of the gas tank with a product such as POR-15 would be recommended. (Although I've been able to clean the petcock screen as well as the petcock bowl screen (if your's has one ?) add an in-line fuel filter in the fuel line between gas tank and carbs and keep on truckin' Really depends on how much gunk is in there)

Your post doesn't mention whether or not you've replaced the disintegrating petcock screen. If so, then great! If not, then you might want to in order to prevent more bits from clogging the fuel line again. The petcock screen and small O-ring are available at online parts sources such as Motorcycle Parts, Motorcycle Accessories by BikeBandit.com

In any event, I would strongly recommend adding an in-line fuel filter. They're inexpensive, easy to install and worth every penny..........You can buy clear, see-thru ones so's you can see if any sediment is continuing to build up as well as catch that sediment before it gets into your carbs.

Ride Safe............

[Judge Judy]

Yes, definitely replacing the pet cock screen and have already added an in line filter. Just need to clean the tank, put it all back together, and see if the problem is fixed. Keeping my fingers crossed... Can you tell me more about POR 15? I looked at the web site to get the basics. Did you use the prepping material first? How easy or hard was it to do? How long did the whole process take. Any thing else I should consider? Thanks for the input.

[Ol' Grey]

Excellent on replacing the petcock screen and adding an in-line fuel filter.....

I've never used a tank sealant myself, but use an Old School method (more below on that)........Worked on a bike where a previous owner had used Kreem to seal the tank and they'd left the petcock installed on the tank with the petcock turned "On".......*ouch*........ended up cleaning bits of Kreem from inside the petcock, no fun! If you decide to use a professional tank sealant such as POR 15, Kreem, there's others as well........following the prepping procedure to the letter is KEY. Included instructions would tell you how long for each step, etc. You also might be able to find a threaded blanking plug at a hardware store to install in place of the petcock during the process.

Some auto radiator shops will boil sediment, rust flakes, etc, out of m/c gas tanks.........You just want to insure that if you've got a good quality paint job, that they can protect that for you, if possible.

Old School method, but one that always worked for me is using about 1/4 tank of Mineral Spirits in the gas tank, then toss in a length of plumber's chain or a number of regular stainless nuts. Keep petcock turned off, replace gas cap, then vigorously shake the tank back 'n forth 'n side to side. Remove gas cap and dump the Mineral Spirits into a coffee filter that's been placed in a funnel. Coffee filter will strain out the sediment as well as catch the plumber's chain or nuts and the Mineral Spirits can be re-used. Usually 3 times of doing this and things start cleaning up to an acceptable level. But, again, you want to be careful not to spill any on a good paint job. Once done, the Mineral Spirits can be rinsed out by using straight gas and dumping that as well. If you choose to use nuts, it's good to count 'em before putting them inside the gas tank so's you can re-count 'em at the end of the process to insure that you've gotten them all out.

Some gas tanks are designed differently on the inside under the gas cap. Some make it easy to dump out the Mineral Spirits, some make it difficult. If your's is dicey and if you decide to use this method, you could always keep the gas cap on except for re-filling and remove the petcock to let it drain thru that threaded hole.