Guzzi woes..

[ShiftyAl]

I have a 2000 V11 sport that I purchased a few months ago. Up until this week it's been almost flawless. I love the damn bike, but in uncharacteristic form (compared to my other Guzzi) it is having intermittent issues.

 

I rode about 60 miles today around town and on 3 different occasions it began to sputter and act as if it were running out of fuel. The first time I just pulled over to the side of the road and goosed the gas as it stumbled all over itself. This lasted about 15 seconds and then it straightened up and ran fine. I rode a bit....parked it for a bit at my destination and then rode another couple hours on and off to various stops. No problems. Then I get on it from one of my stops and within about a minute of running it starts the sputtering thing again and will not rev past 2000 rpm. It felt like my old Guzzi does when a plug starts to foul. I coasted to a stop and it stalled. I started it several times over and it just kept sputtering and wouldn't rev up. I opened the fuel cap thinking it could be sucking air....nothing. It did the same thing for a few minutes. Then I let it sit for about a minute and tried again. It started up and I rode the ten minutes home with nary a sputter.

 

....whew.....now tell me....what the hell could this be? I should mention that it did this once before a month ago and I coasted into a gas station thinking it was running out. After I filled up it ran fine.....even though it only really took about 2/3rds of a tank. I should also mention that the first time it happened today, the low fuel light suddenly came on so I filled up. This time it took 4.5 gallons. Am I correct in assuming it really was running out? I'm not sure of the total capacity of the tank yet.

 

Anyway.....I'm simply puzzled. Any help?

[Guest Mattress]

I'm not sure of the total capacity of the tank yet.

 

Anyway.....I'm simply puzzled. Any help?

4.5 Gallons (U.S.) is about right for an empty tank.

[ShiftyAl]

4.5 Gallons (U.S.) is about right for an empty tank.

 

Now the real puzzler......why would it act that way with an almost full tank?

[Alex-Corsa]

There has something to do with the fuel hoses- lines, prhaps is something twisted under the tank?

had anyone removed your tank (i.e. service, ect?)

Other thing I could thing on fueling is the filter inside the tank if it is somehow blocked from too much dit or so.

Or look at the top of the left throtle body , when you open throttle-to full throttle ,play a little (bike doesn't have to run-just stopped) does this "buttefly" (C shaped yellow brass color) move along to the end?

Hope this helped, sure there will be more helpfull ideas to your issue from more experienced Guzzisti over here (i.e. professor pete ropper,ect.ect.).

[Guest ratchethack]

Shifty Al, my take is that y'er running out of fuel. Don't know if you've yet become acquainted with the lovely "feature" that we've all (OK, not all ) come to cherish more than our Guzzi's themselves -- er, that is the fact that the Luigi's have blessed us with gas tanks where the last 1/2 gallon (or thereabouts) is INACCESSIBLE due to the FI circuit return being on the opposite side of the tank outlet, with the traditional "hump" in between.

 

There've been a few Rube Goldberg-style plumbers' nightmare solutions tried, and I've given it an entirely ridiculous amount of time in thought meself in search of a solution -- but as far as I know the only "solution" is to keep 'er from gettin' low.

[ShiftyAl]

Shifty Al, my take is that y'er running out of fuel. Don't know if you've yet become acquainted with the lovely "feature" that we've all (OK, not all ) come to cherish more than our Guzzi's themselves -- er, that is the fact that the Luigi's have blessed us with gas tanks where the last 1/2 gallon (or thereabouts) is INACCESSIBLE due to the FI circuit return being on the opposite side of the tank outlet, with the traditional "hump" in between.

 

There've been a few Rube Goldberg-style plumbers' nightmare solutions tried, and I've given it an entirely ridiculous amount of time in thought meself in search of a solution -- but as far as I know the only "solution" is to keep 'er from gettin' low.

 

 

Still.....the bulk of my issues occurred AFTER I filled up!

 

Anyone?

[svjj]

mmm puzzler <_>

So you could have a fuel pump dying but before you get hung up on fuel issuse maybe you should check your spark plug wires. This might be a long shot but if they have developed cracks in the sheathing this could cause suporatic idle or a lack there of. A easy quick test is to spray a mist of water on the wire while the bike is running. If the plug wires are bad you will know right away

 

This is my good luck!!!

[guzziownr]

Still.....the bulk of my issues occurred AFTER I filled up!

 

Anyone?

 

Tank suck

 

Tank suck

 

and

 

Tank suck

 

Air must go in for fuel to go out to your injectors.

 

Check the archives. My solution was to zip tie the fuel hose one-way valve in the upright and locked position. It sucked from new and was cured instantly with this fix.

 

 

DW

[Guest Mattress]

mmm puzzler

A easy quick test is to spray a mist of water on the wire while the bike is running. If the plug wires are bad you will know right away

 

This is my good luck!!!

I prefer to wet my hands and stroke the wires carefully.

 

Could you have possibly had a bum tank of gas? About this time of year I would think the southern states would be switching over to winter formula gas, and usually some funny things can happen.

 

Did Willie Nelson drop a roach in your tank?

 

I guess also check your rubber boots on your throttle bodies. It doesn't sound like the problem, but a loose fit can cause coughing, spiting, farting, etc.... although I experienced it constantly.

[ShiftyAl]

Tank suck

 

Tank suck

 

and

 

Tank suck

 

Air must go in for fuel to go out to your injectors.

 

Check the archives. My solution was to zip tie the fuel hose one-way valve in the upright and locked position. It sucked from new and was cured instantly with this fix.

DW

 

perhaps I'm new to this, but wouldn't "tank suck" be quickly remedied with the gas cap flipped open? It continued to run badly with the cap left open.

[jrt]

Were you riding it hard (i.e. hot)? If so, my guess would be vapor lock. That's exactly what mine did.

The argument against vapor lock is that you had it AFTER you filled up. If you filled up with cold gasoline, and it had time to circulate but not heat up, then vapor lock is a poor diagnosis.

In that case, I would suspect a bad or intermittant electrical connection.

[Guest Gary Cheek]

Go over all of the connections and connectors in the fuel delivery and ignition systems. You should also check fuel delivery pressure and TPS for noise.

[docc]

I've played the 'outta gas ' game with my Sport on numerous occasions. Me and "Rube" are cookin' up solutions to get that extra gallon as the single malt level goes ever down . . .

 

The electric (pet)cock is known to be sketchy in it's fuel delivery. Swapping to a mechanical unit is a good way to isolate that part of the equation.

 

Otherwise, check that very last fuse for the 'electric cock' to be sure it is seated well.

[todd haven]

Frayed wires on fuel petcock?

 

Just tossing it out there....

 

Replace with manual if the wires look goobered. Cheaper and trouble-free

 

Bad wires normally cause an abnormally loud fuel pump buzz.

 

Wiring connectors are often crossed between level sensor and petcock.

This shorts the level sensor.

Does no harm to the petcock, they have their own issues.

[Steve G.]

It really sounds to me like a vapour lock caused by the fuel lines which are too close to the cylinders. 1 or 2 stops are enough to heat up the fuel in the tank, which then cannot cool the lines when the pump is turned on. This exact thing happened to me several times, always after I'd stopped for something. I spent alot of time re-routing the lines away from the cylinders [one of which was actually nestled right up against the inside of the left barrell]. They really were frickin' idiots when the routed the lines at the factory.

Ciao, Steve