Gas gauge issue

[frog13]

Nc700x manual transmission.
Last fall right at winter time storage filled gas tank up. So, when I took bike out of hibernation 2 weeks ago or so and rode around gas gauge showed full.....as it should. Few days later, went for another ride, no change in gauge, hmmmm.
Few days later, bike won't start......5 year old battery died.....ordered new battery, installed it. Gauge still shows full tank of fuel......can't be.......over 100 miles on trip meter I use for fuel MPG calculations.
First thought was the dying battery had something to do with the gauge......apparently not. I have no extra electrical gadgets hooked up etc. Bike has less than 10k miles. Bike has had no accidents, tip overs etc. May sound odd,but, when I was installing my rear rack, I placed a magnetized light on tge gas tank for lighting purposes......it was only there for about 2 minutes though......odd angle. Any possibility that magnet could've fouled something up inside the tank. ......float arm, electronic thingy????. Odd situation. It wasn't an electron magnet......just a normal magnet.

 

[frog13]

Also, bike already had gauge cluster changed out due to recall prior to my purchase in 2016. Just FYI

 

[showkey]

Try shaking the bike side to side.........its possible the float is just stuck.
There is delay or gauge dampening build into the gauge.........so the fuel gauge does not constantly move.

 

[670cc]

The service manual lists resistance readings for the fuel level sender for lowest and highest float positions.

 

[frog13]

Thank you for the responses! .
I'll try shaking it tomorrow.
If nothing occurs, I'll look into how bad my metering skills are.....lol.

 

[Janus]

A few months after I bought my brand new 700 I ran out of gas without warning. Took it to the shop and they drained my tank. Filled it up again. Charged me $200 and said nothing was wrong. It's never happened since.

Here's hoping it's just a sticky float

 

[frog13]

Yes......hopefully. If it doesn't resolve.......it'll be ridden anyway. Gas gauge is nuce, but not mandatory. Had to many bikes without fuel gauges to matter......I can still calculate

 

[Jt105]

My car gas gauge got stuck on full After sitting last spring. I took it out and cleaned it. Works great again.

 

[670cc]

My car gas gauge got stuck on full After sitting last spring. I took it out and cleaned it. Works great again.

Took the gauge out of the dashboard, or the sender out of the gas tank? and cleaned it how?

 

[bigbird]

My car gas gauge got stuck on full After sitting last spring. I took it out and cleaned it. Works great again.

Same thing happened about 10 years ago to my late mother's car.
It would sit for months and not be started or driven.
When I took it home to start the selling process, the gas gauge was on empty.
I knew it was at least 3/4 full, so I assumed someone had syphoned the gas.
When I filled it up, it only took about 10 L of fuel, and it held 60 L.
I knew the fuel level pickup had been coated with sludge when the methanol separated from the mixture.
I put in 1 bottle of Gumout Regane Complete Fuel System Cleaner, and then when the tank was due for its next fill based on the odometer reading, I put in another bottle.
I was driving it a few days later, looked at the fuel gauge, and it had started working again, measuring the correct level in the tank.

Will this work on a motorcycle fuel gauge?
The car in this case (a Saturn Ion) had a fuel gauge that worked on the electrical resistance or capacitance measurement (I'm not sure which) of a tube in the tank and not a mechanical float.
If that's how the level is determined on the motorcycle, I think it would be worth a try.

 

[the Ferret]

If it were mine, I'd put about 6 oz of Seafoam in the tank and ride it out

 

[showkey]

Sea Foam is naphtha, alcohol ((IPA) and pale oil not sure how that going to help ? Especially if you paid extra money to avoid ethanal fuel during storage.

 

[Jt105]

Took the gauge out of the dashboard, or the sender out of the gas tank? and cleaned it how?

The sending unit

 

[frog13]

Excuse my ignorance. Seafoam is a type of alcohol, generally speaking? . So the alcohol is the "cleaning ingredient "?

Sea Foam is naphtha, alcohol ((IPA) and pale oil not sure how that going to help ? Especially if you paid extra money to avoid ethanal fuel during storage.

 

[the Ferret]

Sea Foam is naphtha, alcohol ((IPA) and pale oil not sure how that going to help ? Especially if you paid extra money to avoid ethanal fuel during storage.

Frog is from Cincinnati, like me, and there aren't a whole lot of ethanol free service stations around here, and I didnt read in his original post that he filled up with ethanol free, so I assumed he filled up with 10% ethanol. He also said he had just gotten it out of winter storage which for this area is generally 4-5 months for most motorcyclists, and he never mentioned using a fuel stabilizer for storage. Further he said the 5 year old battery died and the bike had approx 10,000 miles on it (2000 miles per season) so I'm thinking since the fuel float sits in barely used possibly untreated gasoline for months on end, it may just be a little gummed up. Seafoam is a cleaner/fuel stabilizer which helps keep carbs and fuel injectors clean, so I thought it would be worth a try to run some thru the tank and see if it helps. That's what I would do first. A can of Seafoam runs about $8 and would do several tanks of fuel. I use it in all my equipment that gets put up for storage and find it does a great job of keeping things running cleanly. It's worth a shot and certainly wont hurt a thing. Worst case scenario, he's out $8.

 

[showkey]

Yes....Seafoam is one of the controversial topics........so you can make your own conclusions.

points made on many other forums:
1. Seafoam is $70/gallon +/- The idea $8.00/can is no big deal is selling point on all these products.
2. Seafoam is naphtha (aka some call it white gas), isopropyl alcohol and pale oil. MSDS sheets.
3. None of those really address fuel stabilizer except maybe the oil floating on the surface to retard light hydrocarbon evaporation.
4. For years the old timers use to add SEAFOAM to the crank case oil to free rings and stuck lifters.......modern engine maybe not a great idea. But, each to their own.
5. Example, if you had the carb float bowl with bad fuel, debris, varnish and corrosion. You can soak the bowl in 100% Seafoam and likely see no change in the problem. But again your results may vary.

The market place is full of similar fuel and oil additives and claim all sort of benefits. So it’s buyer beware.
Yes, running solvents mixed with fuel can remove some carbon deposits in say a lawn mower.
Their several guys making a very good living on YouTube testing and publishing test results on all sorts of oil and fuel additives.

 

[the Ferret]

With motorcyclists, it seems EVERYTHING is controversial. Riding gear, tires, oil, windshields, seats, brake pads, batteries, fuel octanes, what rpms you should run in, setting up suspension, how to store a motorcycle, cleaners/polishes/waxes, whether to run on a plugged tire or not,... ad nauseum. All I can speak of is my personal experience with certain products. There are certain products that from personal use over the years, that I trust and have faith in. Seafoam is one of them. Others are Honda motorcycles, OE Yuasa batteries, NGK spark plugs, Michelin tires, Battery Tender Jrs, Tourmaster clothing, HJC helmets and sticky ropes. None have personally ever let me down to the extent that I would not whole heartedly recommend them if asked.

Of course, as always, YMMV

 

[670cc]

With motorcyclists, it seems EVERYTHING is controversial. Riding gear, tires, oil, windshields, seats, brake pads, batteries, fuel octanes, what rpms you should run in, setting up suspension, how to store a motorcycle, cleaners/polishes/waxes, whether to run on a plugged tire or not,... ad nauseum. All I can speak of is my personal experience with certain products. There are certain products that from personal use over the years, that I trust and have faith in. Seafoam is one of them. Others are Honda motorcycles, OE Yuasa batteries, NGK spark plugs, Michelin tires, Battery Tender Jrs, Tourmaster clothing, NGK helmets and sticky ropes. None have personally ever let me down to the extent that I would not whole heartedly recommend them if asked.

Of course, as always, YMMV

NGK helmets? I couldn’t find any info on that. Did you mean NHK or HJC or some other letter combination?

 

[the Ferret]

NGK helmets? I couldn’t find any info on that.

LOL fixed it, HJC helmets. Sometimes brain and fingers don't communicate well enough. That happens when you get into your 70's. Wait...you'll see.

thought of a few more controversial subjects for motorcyclists... maintenance schedules, tire pressures, exhaust noise, and a new personal favorite for me since joining THIS forum "The definition of a road" lol

 

[Deleted member 4372]

Slightly off topic
i’m a Seafoam fanboy. Also enjoy FortNine on YouTube.
take a look at