fuel tank vent

[iftikartaxis]

04 1150 when i was filling the tank after it had been raining or i had just washed the bike
i noticed the filler neck had water and as so as i released the cap dropplets of water went into the fuel tank
i have tried to clear the little water trap hole but it's blocked
so i have removed the cap and i have attatched a inner cable to the drill to no avail and also tried strimmer nylon cable i filled it with duck oil engine oil 3 in 1 oil carb cleaner nothing seems to shift it just wondered if any body else had the same problem
if no luck i'll ring motorworks monday and see if they have a second hand one

 

[Pykie]

pump it baby

Try connecting a foot or bicycle pump to the other end of the bleed tube and pumping.

Worked a treat for me, though i read it is possible to blow the rubber internal tube off of the connector on the filler neck if you use too much pressure (like from a workshop airline).

olly.

 

[Aussie]

You haven't crossed the breather and the vent hoses have you ?

 

[Borderbob]

I've got the same problem. Steptoe tried his majic fluid on it last month but to no avail. Guess I'll take it out at the weekend and see if I can get something to shift what is obviously corrosion blockage. Seems to be a relatively common problem.

 

[(RIP) DitchWater]

These threads should help. It's just a matter of trying these solutions (no pun intended) before you get all the tools out of the box.

Thread 1

Thread 2

I found the WD40 and wire, even solid core, method worked well for me but be patient and don't force it. When you can blow through the bottom of the hose and feel the air on your finger tip at the filler cap you're about done.

Just give it some WD40 every so often: It takes seconds and save's some grief.

 

[Steptoe]

You haven't crossed the breather and the vent hoses have you ?

What difference would that make

They are both the same, just a plain section of hose open at both ends.

 

[Trullion]

Try connecting a foot or bicycle pump to the other end of the bleed tube and pumping.

Worked a treat for me, though i read it is possible to blow the rubber internal tube off of the connector on the filler neck if you use too much pressure (like from a workshop airline).

olly.

Worked for me too.

 

[iftikartaxis]

thanks

thanks for the replys
i think it's bunged up with a small east european boy
i left it soaking but to no avail

motorworks have a second hand one so hopefully i will get it sorted

kind regards charles

 

[Timolgra]

Put an airline on the bottom end

 

[clivewhilde]

I love this site, I can fix problems I didn't even know I had! Mine was blocked, old brake cable, electric drill, WD40 all done in about 10 mins. Anyone else blow all the crap out of the line from the bottom all over the tank?

 

[HarryMcGuinness]

Try connecting a foot or bicycle pump to the other end of the bleed tube and pumping.

Worked a treat for me, though i read it is possible to blow the rubber internal tube off of the connector on the filler neck if you use too much pressure (like from a workshop airline).

olly.

Worked for me, too. Easy to do...

 

[Borderbob]

Worked for me, too. Easy to do...

Didn't work for me but I've completed the definitive fix. After spending two hours digging, drilling with cable, strimmer wire etc etc decided I was not going to get anywhere. Worked out that it was a faulty part. Explains why it never did drain really from new. It seems that for some reason the drain pipe is welded (not brazed) onto the filler body and if the welder isn't up to it, and blows through the pipe - but welds it up anyway , you're stuffed. Or rather it is. There is no evidence from the outside that inside its completely filled (or in my case 70% filled with weld! And no way water can get down it or you can free it. Crap engineering. Should be a bigger bore and hard soldered not gas welded! And like mine now, corrosion free.

When I get a minute, I'll load up the photos of how it can be fixed. Basically replace the pipe with a new copper one and solder it. Took me an hour.

 

[iftikartaxis]

thanks

well done that man
look forward to seeing the mod i managed to get a second hand unit which works and will more likely mod the old unit

thank you mr

 

[Borderbob]

well done that man
look forward to seeing the mod i managed to get a second hand unit which works and will more likely mod the old unit

thank you mr

Yep promise to do that at the weekend if not before. Two possible fixes depending on how competent you are with soldering/ heat processes and about £2. Still cant believe the quality of that part and how much the alternative replacement costs. I like fixing things and not paying the vastly inflated prices charged by the the motor trade.

 

[Borderbob]

Promised I post up the fix I made to my tank drain. Here goes: -


This is what it looked like after ages of water sitting in the neck. Probably a load in the tank too now so using Wynns Dry Fuel to remove that.

Removed you can see the steel tube of abpprox 5mm internal diameter that acts as the drain from the inner rim of the neck. Really this should have been manufactured using larger bore tube as many people describe on here how it corodes inside and the subsequent debris bungs up the tube. In my case no amount of probing would free it because when I got fed up and cut the pipe near the weld to see what was in there:.....

....this is what I found. Clearly the welder was useless, had blown through the tube but welded it up anyway. Really this should have have been hard soldered (brazed) rather than welded to avoid this happening. About 70% of the tube was blocked with weld at this point so no wonder it wasn't draining. The hole that was left was so small it easily bunged up.
Next, I cut through each of the 3 small welds and removed the tube completely leaving about 15mm remaining sticking out from the rim thus: -


At this point I experimented with using a short length of rubber fuel pipe, a short straight section of the tube to act as a sleeve to join it to the rubber drain pipe in the tank and clips to crimp it together. That would work fine I reckon and makes for a very quick repair. But I thought I'd go one stage further.

Simply bought 150mm of 6mm copper brake pipe. Annealed it using a blow torch (heat until cherry red then allow to cool) and then thoroughly cleaned it with wire wool. Then flared the end with a tapered rod - anything will do even a pozi screwdriver so that it fitted snuggly over the spiggot I'd left on the rim. Clean this thoroughly too to remove all the laquer/plating. I then bent the tube to resemble the one I'd cut off. You might find that in order to get the exact fit you need a couple of interstage annealings to resoften the copper as it workhardens each time you bend it. Once done, clean again including the inside of the flared end so you can solder it.

Next post for assembly.

 

[Borderbob]

Finally, assemble the two and solder. I decided simply to soft solder them together. Plenty strong enough and less danger of distorting the steel pressing as little heat necessary. Use either soldering paste or Bakers fluid. I also applied a small amount of solder betweent the tube and the neck where they touched to make the whole thing rigid.


Sorry thought I'd taken more pics of final job but cant find them. Anyway this should be enough. I also then thoughly cleaned it to get rid of any flux and sprayed it silver. Looks like new. Rest is the exact reversal of the disassembly. Of course use new clips (crimp over the rubber tube using side cutters if you haven't got the crimp tool).
Now the only bit of the pipe that is suseptable to rust is the top 15mm, easy to clean and anyway now coated with a very thin layer of solder which will prevent it rusting. Whole thing took me no more than an hour, then left it overnight before fitting back in tank. 'Jobs a goodun' as they say. And I'm £50 up. Hope this helps folk. Just seriously pissed off I had to do it. BMW QA!!!!

PS: Put back toghether and all dressed up ready for a ride, only to find that the battery was fecked! Replaced now though and found a pair of Steptoe's side cutters lurking under the tank in the process. Must remember to return those to him

 

[iftikartaxis]

new mod

looks a really neat job
i thought you were going to use petrol resistant fuel pipe but thats looks much better
wonder how many 1150's are riding round with blocked pipes
cheers