I made the mistake of letting my bike sit a good 4 months and now when it starts, fuel literally POURS out of the ram air intake and all the hoses connected to the little air solenoid. I swapped the solenoid out with another and still have the problem. Maybe both are bad?

Opinions?

Never had this happen before. Usually after a good sitting, it just leaks some around the carbs until the seals expand again.

Thanks in advance!

 

Stuck float ? When you left the bike sitting, was it on it's side stand, or on paddock stands ?

 

Hmm. Never thought of that. I did notice the carbs would fill up and start spitting fuel out the v-stacks.. I left it on side stand because I don't have center stand.

So pull carbs, open em up and clean them?

 

The float valves are the only thing that stop the fuel from overfilling the bowls. If you have fuel coming out of places it shouldn't, then your float valves are not doing their jobs.

 

Alrighty. I'll give them a good inspection when I go back home this weekend. Thanks for your help!

 

Was just thinking about that and I'm sure you're correct but it made me wonder - what turns the fuel pump off? Does it have a "blow by" mechanism so if there's a failure it doesn't keep forcing fuel past the valves? I don't suppose it would take huge pressure to overcome the float valves?

 

The fuel pumps in the F3 are really low pressure ones, like 2 or 3 PSI. The fuel pump stops when the pressure builds up enough to stop the internal plunger that's inside the fuel pump from going up and down. It's a really simple design. A plunger and 2 rubber one-way valves.

You'd actually be surprised at how much pressure it would take to force open the float valves. Given the size of the opening for the fuel inlet at the float valve is about 1/8" in diameter, that's not much surface area to push on. The floats have a pretty good mechanical leverage against that valve. It probably seals pretty tightly when it has to. Funny though that a grain of sand can hold it open if it gets wedged in there.