FPR hell! Is my OEM replacement really defective?!
 

Hey Guys,

Long time lurker who has benefited greatly from this forum (CCT, oil, general info - and now FPR). My bike sat for a few years for a number of reasons and now I'm going through hell trying get her back up and running. Before starting her up I siphoned out the old gas and added new, then took her to the DMV. She drove great to the DMV, maybe a little less power than I remembered, only to really struggle with bogging down when accelerating on the way back. I thought there could be remnants of old gas so I filled her up but that made no difference. I then changed the oil and spark plugs, which were black (and a little wet with gas), started her up, and she still struggled with acceleration from a stop and would stall and sometimes only start if I held the throttle open a bit when hitting the starter. I noticed a little bit of white smoke coming from the exhaust and a strong gas smell. After reading tons of threads in this forum I was convinced it was the FPR so I ordered an OEM replacement. When I attached the FPR and unpinched the return line (bike still off), gas came pouring out of the vacuum hose side of the FPR (the vacuum hose was disconnected at this point). I put it all together anyway and the bike completely flooded when I tried to start it a few times and it hydro locked with gas. The oil was full of gas as well so I drained it. This is where I have so many questions, but mainly:

Are there any scenarios where gas could come out of the vacuum side of the FPR and it not be due to a failed diaphragm in the FPR? (Like an overzealous fuel pump) Or would you say there is no way gas can come out of there with a working diaphragm/FPR. I already ordered a second FPR from a local dealer since partzilla will only do a return if I pay Honda to verify it is faulty which means taking the bike to a shop and paying 2 hours of labor.

I guess I'm looking for anyone's opinion on if they too would think the FPR arrived faulty or if what I described might be something else.

Any response is appreciated!

Thanks.

Jason

You got a bad oem regulator. Very un-common but it does happen from time to time with all parts.

Yup! The second one arrived today so I threw it on and off I went. That bad OEM replacement took me from what should have been a $55 repair to over $160 in oil, another replacement, and gas - and that's DOI. Partzilla's support is non-existent, so that's the last time I buy from them.

Next time, buy it from the dealer. That way warranty is as simple as walking in and exchanging it.