Fuel Smell

[Vibratinharley]

isn't the heat management download the one that shuts down the rear cylinder when your Idling? :bigsmiley30:

I don't see how that would help, but I hope it does.

This is my thoughts on the heat management. I am thinking that the fuel smell is only there after riding bike for a while and shutting off. Bike is very hot and must be cooking the bottom of the fuel tank and lines etc causing the excess of vapors to expand and then purge via the overflow tube. Just my guess. The heat management download will probably do nothing to help this condition but maybe help keep the engine cooler when idling in traffic. ( I live in Philadelphia) So, I figured it was free to have them put the download in. They said they will remove it if I don't like it. It actually might never come into play. Time will tell..

 

[Ink Slinger]

Thanks Glider, I was thinking the same thing. I actually prefer to work on my bikes myself and have done all the rebuilds on my engine/trans, etc on my FLHS but this injected and computerized stuff is a little bit foreign to me. I actually bought an extended warranty to cover the next 5 years so I won't have to deal with this bike. (and I can spend more time customizing my 90 )

My dealer called Harley and Harley responded to my letter today. The H-D tech gave the dealer a lot of things to check... drain, fuel injectors, etc. They checked out fine. The the check the intake manifold. Said they had to clean it??? I don't understand that... said that after cleaning the intake they can't recreate the smell. Doesn't make sense to me, but then again... I am not mechanically inclined. I'll let you know tomorrow once I pick up the bike if they really fixed the problem or not.

 

[glider]

It seems as if my fuel smell condition just got worse. After fueling bike in Centralia, PA and driving 100 miles back home, I parked bike and not only was fuel smell worse than ever but there was a puddle of fuel underneath left side of bike near the back tire. It appears that the fuel and vapors are coming out of the vent line. I will be taking bike in for service soon since it has well over 1000 miles on it. I hope they can make this better. I will post an update after the 1000 mile service to let you know what they find...

I was thinking about this and maybe you could eliminate a few things by using something like a golf tee to plug that overflow line where the fuel drained from just to test it when you park in the garage. If the problem stops, they you know it's the venting system, for the tank and possibly a bad gas cap releasing fumes when the heat (if it's heated) in the garage causes the fuel and vapors to expand in the tank. It could be as mentioned the heat from the engine causing the fuel vapors to expand too.

You could also try releasing the pressure in the tank by venting the cap (releasing pressure) too after you try this to see if it helps.

 

[Vibratinharley]

I picked up my bike on Saturday from it's 1000 mile service. They found nothing wrong with fuel system. I fueled bike up and drove about 75 miles before parking it when it was hot and there was no fuel smell. Kinda weird, They didn't fix anything but no smell and no puddles. I hope it is gone for good. Works for me!

 

[Joyflyin]

I picked up my bike on Saturday from it's 1000 mile service. They found nothing wrong with fuel system. I fueled bike up and drove about 75 miles before parking it when it was hot and there was no fuel smell. Kinda weird, They didn't fix anything but no smell and no puddles. I hope it is gone for good. Works for me!

Hey, that sounds just like the folks I work with....."I have a problem here, could you take a look at it?" Later, "so what did you find?", 'Nothing, there was nothing wrong', funny, they didn't do anything, and I know I didn't do anything, but suddenly there isn't a problem anymore......Hope you don't have any more trouble.

 

[glider]

At least they didn't tell you "they all do that"

 

[Tigg]

My Night train did the same thing when it was new and it stopped after a bit . The shop said that it was normal but that didn't make me feel any better. Glad yours stopped too.

 

[txhawg]

Somebody once told me that the smell thing can happen if your driveway's on a slant. The thinking being that you have to goose the gas to get up the drive and into the garage and some gas/air gets trapped in the intake. Don't know how true any of that is, but thought I would throw it out there.

 

[Ink Slinger]

My dealer called Harley and Harley responded to my letter today. The H-D tech gave the dealer a lot of things to check... drain, fuel injectors, etc. They checked out fine. The the check the intake manifold. Said they had to clean it??? I don't understand that... said that after cleaning the intake they can't recreate the smell. Doesn't make sense to me, but then again... I am not mechanically inclined. I'll let you know tomorrow once I pick up the bike if they really fixed the problem or not.

Picked up my bike last Saturday. Took it back to the dealer on Sunday. They have had it for a week now and cannot figure out why there is a gas smell. They can smell it also... no leaks and only smells of gas after riding it... vent tubes are not plugged. They say they have been in touch with the motor company all week. Who knows for sure. Hopefully I will have the bike back by next weekend and the issue will have been resolved.

 

[Ink Slinger]

Picked up my bike last Saturday. Took it back to the dealer on Sunday. They have had it for a week now and cannot figure out why there is a gas smell. They can smell it also... no leaks and only smells of gas after riding it... vent tubes are not plugged. They say they have been in touch with the motor company all week. Who knows for sure. Hopefully I will have the bike back by next weekend and the issue will have been resolved.

Here's the latest. I am picking up my bike this afternoon. The dealer (after more than two weeks) has determined that the bike had a bad vapor valve. I don't have clue what that is, but if it works... then I will be happy. I've got my fingers crossed.