Emptying a GSA fuel tank

[Beemerman59]

OK, I may come in for some stick for this but, hey ho.....

My '08 GSA has the infamous fuel strip. Now, whilst it is actually working, its painfully inaccurate and since I have a GS911 I'm going to try and re-calibrate it. In order to do so I have to make sure the fuel strip is completely dry and the normal procedure is to remove the strip from the tank and allow it to dry before connecting up the GS911. I have the tank off at the moment for other reasons and I'm just wondering if instead of removing the entire fuel pump assembly to detach the fuel strip, why don't I just empty the tank completely and leave it in situ. I can leave the fuel cap off for a few days to make sure it drys. My question concerns the physicality of flipping the tank upside down to empty it and if there's anything that could be dislodged in doing so? I'm thinking mainly of the jet pump return flow pipework as I'm not sure how it sits in the tank. Any problems with doing it this way? I can't think of any but the collective may. Of course, Health and Safety rules will be enforced in the process of emptying out the tank......

 

[Blue Sweeper]

................ I'm just wondering if instead of removing the entire fuel pump assembly to detach the fuel strip, why don't I just empty the tank completely and leave it in situ. I can leave the fuel cap off for a few days to make sure it drys.......

Boom.................and I can just see the headlines now. Wiltshire man, suffers third degree burns, while faffing about with fuel tank, explosion caused by residue fumes igniting.

 

[Beemerman59]

Boom.................and I can just see the headlines now. Wiltshire man, suffers third degree burns, while faffing about with fuel tank, explosion caused by residue fumes igniting.

I've got an open fire going in the lounge, I was going to put it in front of that so the heat reduces the drying times........

 

[Blue Sweeper]

I've got an open fire going in the lounge, I was going to put it in front of that so the heat reduces the drying times........

 

[Bendy toy]

You could use a match to check if its dry inside.

The jet pump and pipes are often for sale on eBay so must be easily removable.

 

[Beemerman59]

You could use a match to check if its dry inside.

The jet pump and pipes are often for sale on eBay so must be easily removable.

Yeah thanks, I have the Reprom so can see the components. The only thing I wanted to know was if anything can become dislodged with the tank being completely upside down that would then require me to get inside the tank to put them back into their right full place afterwards. Emptying the tank will also get rid of any water that may be in there as well. I have also been unsuccessful in getting a syphoning tube all the way to the bottom of each side of the GSA's tank.

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

Would think you will be OK since the bikes can end up upside down in an off road spill. Other than a smashed screen and sticky out parts they seem to fair OK.
Personally I Would remove it for speed and safety, it's not a big job but each to their own.

 

[davegs]

You could use a match to check if its dry inside.

Read your Clymer manual, it specifcly tells you NOT to look inside your fuel tank with a naked flame!!!!!, (well, it is American!).

 

[Beemerman59]

Would think you will be OK since the bikes can end up upside down in an off road spill. Other than a smashed screen and sticky out parts they seem to fair OK.
Personally I Would remove it for speed and safety, it's not a big job but each to their own.

Having thought more about it I think you're right and I'll remove the fuel pump assembly to disconnect the strip. At least I can inspect the components while I'm at it.

 

[Beemerman59]

Well, in the end I just got on and did it. I removed the fuel pump and fuel sensor strip from the tank and left it to dry for 48 hours in the airing cupboard. I then connected the fuel pump and strip dry i.e fuel pump out of the tank. I only connected up the fuel strip itself and left the Fuel Pump Controller unconnected. When I switched on the ignition the fuel level was still showing what it was when I removed the strip. There were four bars on the gauge and a remaining distance of 252 miles to go. Not bad considering I had already done 280 miles on this tank so I knew it was way out! So, connected up the GS911 and ran the calibration software. After a couple of minutes and while the calibration was still running the gauge suddenly dropped to zero and the yellow warning light flashed on. The calibration then finished showing that it was successful. I then refitted the pump and fuel strip and put it all back together again. I then turned the ignition on and the fuel gauge was showing one bar and the yellow warning light still flashing. This went out after a couple of minutes.

At a guess I would say I have about 7 litres of fuel in the tank so I'm thinking the gauge is now properly calibrated and accurate. The OBC is still saying I have a remaining distance of 252 miles but I would think I have to ride the bike for that to reset properly so that will have to wait for a while until I can get out on it. I always use the trip anyway but it will be nice having a gauge thats accurate as well. Overall it seems to have been a success!

 

[Bendy toy]

Has anyone found a way to have the one of mileage trips display by default? My bike always goes back to overall miles and of course I forget to press the button before moving off so end up doing sums in my head or more likely relying on the OBC.

 

[Beemerman59]

Has anyone found a way to have the one of mileage trips display by default? My bike always goes back to overall miles and of course I forget to press the button before moving off so end up doing sums in my head or more likely relying on the OBC.

Strange - mine will always go back to the last one I had displayed prior to turning off the ignition. Mine's an '08GSA.

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

Has anyone found a way to have the one of mileage trips display by default? My bike always goes back to overall miles and of course I forget to press the button before moving off so end up doing sums in my head or more likely relying on the OBC.

If you don't let all the prechecks finish before you start the bike it will default to miles. If you let the checks finish then start the bike you should get whatever you last left it set at ie trip 1, 2 or whatever.

 

[Bendy toy]

Great, thanks.
I generally let the checks run but will be more fussy next time. The checks do seem quite slow so maybe something is cooking up.

 

[Wilsdorf]

So...

Did the re-calibration work? and is your gauge working more accurately?

 

[Beemerman59]

So...

Did the re-calibration work? and is your gauge working more accurately?

As far as I can tell with the bike static in the garage reading a partly empty tank then yes, its worked. Its now showing just one of the segments in the gauge wheras it was reading the lower 4 segments (half full?) before calibrating. Its a GSA tank, having done over 250 miles since a fill up and I'm guessing there's about 7 litres or so of fuel actually in there. I need to finish off some other work on the bike before I can take it out, fill up with fuel and ride it a bit to tell for sure - will post up the final outcome then.

If after testing its all worked as planned then I will put up a short write up on what I did exactly.

 

[fizzer]

what about the guy on adventure rider who used a zappo or a zippo bbq lighter to recalibrate it with a full tank of fuel in ,seems to be a success.

 

[Beemerman59]

what about the guy on adventure rider who used a zappo or a zippo bbq lighter to recalibrate it with a full tank of fuel in ,seems to be a success.

That's an attempt to fix a broken strip - it doesn't recalibrate it. The GS911 cannot fix a broken strip but can recalibrate a good/new one

 

[fizzer]

oh right ok

 

[jeff]

Beemerman. Following info may be helpful. Have had two new strips fitted by dealer. On both occasions I was told that the new strip had been calibrated for empty but that I needed to fill tank ASAP to complete the calibration