Did I just run out of gas?

[glassguy]

About 15 minutes into my ride this morning my '01 started running on only 5 cylinders and backfiring a little.  I use my trip meter as my gas gauge and seeing as how I had only 70 miles on the meter i was sure I wasn't out of gas.  A mile or so down the road I lost another cylinder. I made it about 4 miles total before the motor stopped.  I switched on the reserve after the motor died and cranked the starter for several seconds.  Nothing.  I finally called a friend for a haul home.  He was there in about 30 minutes.  I cranked the starter with the choke on and off with no results just before my friend showed up.  At home 20 minutes later I pushed it into the garage and hit the starter again.  It backfired.  Hit it again and it backfired twice then cranked up and seems to run normally.  Idle is good etc.  Would this seem to be a fuel issue or some kind of electrical problem that happens when a component warms up and then goes away when the component cools off?
If I am actually lower on gas than I thought and I ran the carbs dry, how long should it take for the fuel to flow into the carbs after I switch to reserve?  Any response will be appreciated.  Merry Christmas!  Steve B

[Valkpilot]

About 15 minutes into my ride this morning my '01 started running on only 5 cylinders and backfiring a little.  I use my trip meter as my gas gauge and seeing as how I had only 70 miles on the meter i was sure I wasn't out of gas.  A mile or so down the road I lost another cylinder. I made it about 4 miles total before the motor stopped.  I switched on the reserve after the motor died and cranked the starter for several seconds.  Nothing.  I finally called a friend for a haul home.  He was there in about 30 minutes.  I cranked the starter with the choke on and off with no results just before my friend showed up.  At home 20 minutes later I pushed it into the garage and hit the starter again.  It backfired.  Hit it again and it backfired twice then cranked up and seems to run normally.  Idle is good etc.  Would this seem to be a fuel issue or some kind of electrical problem that happens when a component warms up and then goes away when the component cools off?
If I am actually lower on gas than I thought and I ran the carbs dry, how long should it take for the fuel to flow into the carbs after I switch to reserve?  Any response will be appreciated.  Merry Christmas!  Steve B

I'm betting your petcock is failing.  It will cause the symptoms you describe as it will provide inconsistent fuel flow.

[Thunderbolt]

disassemble the petcock and check the two rubber diaphragms for holes.  There should be no fuel flow or drips with the petcock in any position with no vacuum applied to the small hose.  With vacuum on the small hose, there should be fuel flow in the on or res position if there is sufficient fuel in the tank.  I put a petcock repair kit in my Interstate when it seemed to start stumbling and acting as if it were out of fuel, before it was actually out.  It solved the problem.

[Willow]

It could also be a bad vacuum hose to the petcock.  The symptoms seem familiar.

[wizard -vrccds#125]

Sounds like a problem I had a couple years ago. I had a pinched tank vent tube. Bike ran 5 miles or so and quit. A quick check, if it does it again is to open gas cap and try to start it if it takes off thats the problem. Mine did it on a 10,000 mile trip, I pulled the tube off and ran the rest of the trip. Good Luck and Merry Christmas !     

[Farther]

I would bet on a bad vacuum line or obstructed vent line.  It could also be a bad diaphram in the petcock and the petcock in the off position restricting fuel flow at low vacuum.  Your symptoms are the same as when I had a kinked vent line.

[fudgie]

Pingel is not that bad of a price. For years of trouble free pc of mind its worth it. By the time you d!ck with the oem a few times you already got the pingel paid for. The more you take the tank off the easier it gets. I can have mine off in less then 5 min by myself.

[N8171S]

In the future switch to reserve before the enging quits.  It takes vacuum to open the petcock and a cranking engine does not produce vacuum.

[Patrick]

Hi Mark,, A Cessna 150 Huh ??

[John U.]

If you decide to rebuild the stock petcock, get a new screen as well. They don't come with the "cover set". Check the condition of the tank with a flashlight and mirror . A rusty tank can clog a screen which can starve the carbs as well as  clog the slow jets.

[Jess Tolbirt]

check your charging system,,,

[Baloo]

Exact same symptoms as I ran into this summer. My 99 IS left me stranded on a highway ramp. Acted like I was going out of fuel. Completely died short after. Switching to reserve didn't do no good. I called a towing and while waiting for it, I decided I'd give it one more try. She started right up. I called back and cancelled the towing. She acted 2 other times, then rode me back home without a problem, some 300 miles away.

I rebuilt the stock petcock (which I did around 2 years earlier) and no more problem. I would definetly rebuild or replace the petcock.

[Baloo]

When I happen to run out of gas on mine, I don't have to crank long after switching to reserve before she fires right back. Also, while driving, if she's starting to act like she's starving for gas, I reach under the tank and switch to reserve. It takes a few seconds and she's back to normal

When I had the same kind of problem that your are talking about this summer, I could not see anything wrong with the petcock diaphragm either.... But the fact is that after rebuilding it, I never had the problem again. In my case, I'm positive, I did not run out of gas.

I'm still thinking that the petcock was your problem...

[John U.]

It probably was the petcock diaphragm. It would be a good idea to replace the vacume line from #6 to the petcock at least. If they are old, they all should be changed, including the caps. Redeye tech sells Viton B vacume lines which will last much longer than OEM . Might be a good time to think about a desmog if you haven't done it already.
http://redeye.ecrater.com/

[John U.]

I'm pretty sure Redeye will sell you whatever you want, a good guy to deal with.

[Ricky-D]

If you look closely at the Redeye lines you find an inner plastic support within the lines to prevent collapse from the vacuum pulses.

Very smart and forward thinking.

Myself, I've done the desmog.

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