fuel pump keeps clicking then ...

[serrow]

On a ride home my engine startes sounding like a vtwin and i could hear the relay clicking on a very regular rythmic pattern very consistent with the engine. also saw white exhaust on the left stock muffler and a horrific gas smell. I let her sit for a couple days but i just tested and the condition is still there. any ideas? stuck float? if so, how might i go about determining which float? i bought some surgical rubber to test the levels

 

[KJShover]

On a ride home my engine startes sounding like a vtwin and i could hear the relay clicking on a very regular rythmic pattern very consistent with the engine. also saw white exhaust on the left stock muffler and a horrific gas smell. I let her sit for a couple days but i just tested and the condition is still there. any ideas? stuck float? if so, how might i go about determining which float? i bought some surgical rubber to test the levels

Have you done a compression check?

what do the plugs look like?

Is it just one dead hole or two?

Was the bike sitting for a while before you rode it?

Don't want to get you shook up, but the symptoms you described sounds alot like an engine that said goodbye. I dropped a valve in one of my dragbikes and what you just described, is how it behaved.

If everything checks out, Do a search for "shotgun cleaning" and get yourself some seafoam.

not to worry, with all the helpfull, smart people here you'll be back on the road with all the candles lit in no time!

 

[serrow]

compression check?
not yet.

what do the plugs look like?
I'll pull them tomorrow

Is it just one dead hole or two?
huh? please explain

Was the bike sitting for a while before you rode it?
No, I have a small daily commute

also think I have the shotgun out of the way. Did it recently. reverted to stock jets and stock needles are going back in. I currently have stage1 needles.

 

[serrow]

lets hope it's not an engine issue. when she started she ran for about 10 seconds on all cylinders then kinda sputtered down to the issue i described. sure sounds like It's fuel related to me. eh.

 

[MBreinin]

White smoke, or blue smoke? WHITE smoke is usually a sign of coolant burning, which would indicate a bad head gasket at the minimum. Not sure if this is a common problem with V-Maxes, but I have smoked enough head gaskets on cars to know the signs. BLUE smoke is oil being burned. It has a smell that you cannot mistake for anything else. Causes are many, from bad rings, valve issues, bearing issues, etc. I don't think I have ever seen white smoke when a motor was just overly rich, a rich condition generally results in black smoke.

However, if you pull the plugs that would give you a good indication of what is happening...followed by a compression and leakdown test. Have you looked at the coolant or oil? If you are mixing oil and coolant, the oil will have a nasty chocolate milkshake appearance to it and the coolant will have an oil sheen and often a brown appearance as well.

Mike

 

[KJShover]

Is it just one dead hole or two?
huh? please explain

Slang, a hole being a cyl. Basically its, are you running with two cyls, or three when this happens. MBreinin, made a good point that I didn't think of. If you did loose a head gasket you would have the same symptems. Do the plugs smell of fuel or kinda sweet?

+1 on the milkshake looking stuff in the oil, however if its a minor headgasket leak you might not have the ring wash and its small enough to get sent out your pipe. The clackin noise would be the water compressing then getting spit out.

You han pick up a leak down tester for resonable price and they are great to have in your toolbox inventory.

You can make your own : http://www.650motorcycles.com/LeakDownTester.html

Or you can buy on for around $70 ish. : http://www.toolhawker.com/Cylinder-Leak-Down-Tester_item_35486.html

Here is a FAQ about a leak down test. : http://www.geocities.com/dsmgrrrl/FAQs/leakdown.htm

 

[Buster Hymen]

On a ride home my engine startes sounding like a vtwin and i could hear the relay clicking on a very regular rythmic pattern very consistent with the engine. also saw white exhaust on the left stock muffler and a horrific gas smell. I let her sit for a couple days but i just tested and the condition is still there. any ideas? stuck float? if so, how might i go about determining which float? i bought some surgical rubber to test the levels

Generally if your float is stuck you can tell which carb it is, because gas is pissing out of the overflow tube. Plus pull your plugs and see which ones are wet. It sounds a bit like the problem I had this summer, and I had to re and re my carbs 3 times doing the peashooter and shotgun and then ran a can of Seafoam through it before it ran right. Of course right after that I blew up something in my tranny!:damn angry: Hopefully that wasn't caused by the above condition.

 

[serrow]

well I sure hope it's fuel. perhaps i misspoke calling it smoke. I dunno. I'll check the oil pretty soon.

 

[COP RUNNER]

IF YOU HAVE A BAD SPARK PLUG OR ARE LOOSING SPARK, BECAUSE OF A BAD COIL OR A SPAK PLUG WIRE ,THE STUFF COMING OUT OF YOUR EXAUST PIPE CAN BE UNBURNED FUEL, ITS NOT BLACK BECAUSE ITS NOT BURNING AT ALL, AND THAT COULD BE THE FUEL SMELL, LET US KNOW WHAT YOU FIND !

 

[serrow]

yes, im sure it's fuel. was a bit of a mist. I believe it's getting choked out by excessive fuel since the pump keeps clickin and it stops firing after about 20 seconds. I'm replacing parts to get her stock, but what a pain.

bike is actually up for sale now since I have a slightly "different" form of transportation now for my 1.7 mile commute to work.