Honda Shadow Forums : Shadow Motorcycle Forum - View Single Post - dies after idling for a few minutes and leaks gas from exhaust

mdills981100 · 03-28-2012, 05:22 PM

Greetings...

I purchased a bike back in February 2012 and have made about 6 or 8 trips to work and back - about 34-mile round trip, totalling a little over 200 miles. The bike is a 1998 VT1100C2 ACE. The first thing I did was purchase a Clymer manual. I've read the Troubleshooting section of the book, along with other chapters concerning fuel delivery issues, with no luck.

I've been on and off this site for the past 3 or 4 weeks taking suggestions from other posts and have solved a few things just by reading from here. But, I can't find a post that explains the problem I'm having exactly the way I'm having it. For example, I read a post about gas leaking from the exhaust pipes, but it was while it sat in the garage overnight, and mine doesn't do that. It leaks after the bike dies and I attempt to restart it.

Scenario:

I start the bike. It starts with no problem, without the choke, and warms up fine. I get on and take it for a 50-mile trip to get the Sea-Foam through the system. It has no loss of power at any speed or in any gear. There's no popping during deceleration like I've read on other posts concerning carburetor issues. I stop at a stop sign, it idles and I take off as normal. When I get to my brother-in-law's house, I leave it running at idle for about 10 minutes while talking to him. When I get back on to leave, it dies. I hadn't touched the throttle, it just died. Since I have the fuel cut-off relay jumpered out, the fuel pump just keeps on pumping. Next thing I know, there's gasoline running out of the exhaust pipes, both of them. I shut off the fuel valve and let it pump. Eventually, I get it started, though it sounds like crap. If I let off the throttle it dies. I get it started again, and at about 1/2 throttle, I opened up the fuel valve slowly, let off the throttle, and it idles as it did before. I take off home because I didn't want stranded, and it ran fine all the way home...? This is the 4th time that this "flooding" issue has happened to me. It just takes a notion to die, and after its death it's flooded so badly that I can't hardly get it started back. Shouldn't the fuel pump pressure switch still operate as it normally would, even without the fuel cut-off relay...?

When I've started the bike previously, even with the cut-off relay jumped out, I would turn on the ignition switch and the fuel pump would pump until the line was pressurized and stop. It usually starts that way, and even when I shut it off, go inside for an hour and come back out to ride, it starts that way. This time, the pump wouldn't stop. I had to shut the fuel valve to prevent too much gas from getting to the carbs.

A quick rundown of what I've done so far:

Replaced battery
Replaced r/r with Mosfet r/r from roadstercycle.com - recommended by this site - and I'm glad I did
Found fuel cut-off relay to be bad (jumpered for now)
Did flow test on fuel pump. I got around 47 ounces per minute, and the manual says minimum of 27, so I guess I'm OK with fuel flow.
Ran 3/4 pint of Sea-Foam through system with 4 gallons of gas - full tank

Besides changing the air filter (which isn't that dirty) and the fuel filter, what am I missing...? I'm changing them just to rule them out.

Thanks for reading...

MED

03-28-2012, 05:22 PM	#1 (permalink)
mdills981100 Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: GA Posts: 52	dies after idling for a few minutes and leaks gas from exhaust Greetings... I purchased a bike back in February 2012 and have made about 6 or 8 trips to work and back - about 34-mile round trip, totalling a little over 200 miles. The bike is a 1998 VT1100C2 ACE. The first thing I did was purchase a Clymer manual. I've read the Troubleshooting section of the book, along with other chapters concerning fuel delivery issues, with no luck. I've been on and off this site for the past 3 or 4 weeks taking suggestions from other posts and have solved a few things just by reading from here. But, I can't find a post that explains the problem I'm having exactly the way I'm having it. For example, I read a post about gas leaking from the exhaust pipes, but it was while it sat in the garage overnight, and mine doesn't do that. It leaks after the bike dies and I attempt to restart it. Scenario: I start the bike. It starts with no problem, without the choke, and warms up fine. I get on and take it for a 50-mile trip to get the Sea-Foam through the system. It has no loss of power at any speed or in any gear. There's no popping during deceleration like I've read on other posts concerning carburetor issues. I stop at a stop sign, it idles and I take off as normal. When I get to my brother-in-law's house, I leave it running at idle for about 10 minutes while talking to him. When I get back on to leave, it dies. I hadn't touched the throttle, it just died. Since I have the fuel cut-off relay jumpered out, the fuel pump just keeps on pumping. Next thing I know, there's gasoline running out of the exhaust pipes, both of them. I shut off the fuel valve and let it pump. Eventually, I get it started, though it sounds like crap. If I let off the throttle it dies. I get it started again, and at about 1/2 throttle, I opened up the fuel valve slowly, let off the throttle, and it idles as it did before. I take off home because I didn't want stranded, and it ran fine all the way home...? This is the 4th time that this "flooding" issue has happened to me. It just takes a notion to die, and after its death it's flooded so badly that I can't hardly get it started back. Shouldn't the fuel pump pressure switch still operate as it normally would, even without the fuel cut-off relay...? When I've started the bike previously, even with the cut-off relay jumped out, I would turn on the ignition switch and the fuel pump would pump until the line was pressurized and stop. It usually starts that way, and even when I shut it off, go inside for an hour and come back out to ride, it starts that way. This time, the pump wouldn't stop. I had to shut the fuel valve to prevent too much gas from getting to the carbs. A quick rundown of what I've done so far: Replaced battery Replaced r/r with Mosfet r/r from roadstercycle.com - recommended by this site - and I'm glad I did Found fuel cut-off relay to be bad (jumpered for now) Did flow test on fuel pump. I got around 47 ounces per minute, and the manual says minimum of 27, so I guess I'm OK with fuel flow. Ran 3/4 pint of Sea-Foam through system with 4 gallons of gas - full tank Besides changing the air filter (which isn't that dirty) and the fuel filter, what am I missing...? I'm changing them just to rule them out. Thanks for reading... MED