Intermittent fuel starvation

Ok, I had an interesting problem over the weekend.
I was 150 miles into a 400 mile trip to Memphis, Tn. from the Mississippi gulf coast
when i stopped and refueled my '96 R1100RS. Within 20 miles of the fuel stop the bike started losing
power and hesitating as if running out of fuel.
Long story short after shutting the bike off a couple of times I realized something was resetting as it would
run fine for about 5 miles then start acting up again. Recycle the kill switch and back to normal running.
I haven't got to look through my Clymer's manual yet, probably tonight's project.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Butch Johnson


p.s.- I made it to Memphis for my wife's birthday and back to the coast with the same problem.
I ran the fuel down to 1 bar and added some Startron fuel additive and almost 5 gallons of
non-ethanol premium and it didn't act up for the last 30 miles to the house.

You may have to look at your fuel hoses inside the tank for cracks and replace the fuel filter. It does look like you got some crud in the tank from that one fuel station..

erljhnsn2003 said:

Within 20 miles of the fuel stop the bike started losing
power and hesitating as if running out of fuel.

Click to expand...

Bad batch of fuel?

Bad fuel was my first thought, but why would it run ok after cycling the kill switch?
Maybe allowing the crud blocking the filter to drop to the bottom of the tank
just to be sucked up again?

erljhnsn2003 said:

Bad fuel was my first thought, but why would it run ok after cycling the kill switch?
Maybe allowing the crud blocking the filter to drop to the bottom of the tank
just to be sucked up again?

Click to expand...

1. Replace fuel filter and flush tank. You can check hoses while you have the pump plate out-if the curved one is original you are due for a replacement, either a new OEM hose or the less costly replacement sold by BeemerBoneyard. Be sure to include your code from the ON to get a discount. Normal failure for the hose(s) is complete failure, with no pressure getting to the fuel rail and the bike a non-starter.

2. Check venting on the tank to assure the tank is able to draw in air to replace consumed fuel volume. That includes checking your charcoal cannister if it’s still on the bike. A quick check is to bypass the cannister with some spare tubing—if the cannister is plugged it won’t vent properly and can cause fuel starvation after running a while. A quicker check for venting is to pop open the fuel cap when the stumbling begins to appear, and see if the issue resolves. If so, try the cannister bypass to see if it’s the source of the issue.

3. The cannister is regulated by a vacuum valve, so check those connections and hoses to make sure that a functioning cannister is actually being utilized.

4. Use a little Vaseline on the o-rings of the QD fittings and make sure they “click” together completely when reassembling.

Good luck,
DG

Do you still have a charcoal canister. May be a partial vacuum.

Thanks for the help. I'll be pulling the tank this weekend. I'll check back in with what I find.

erljhnsn2003 said:

Thanks for the help. I'll be pulling the tank this weekend. I'll check back in with what I find.

Click to expand...

Sorry it took so long to get back with y'all.
I pulled the tank and found a nearly clogged fuel filter and lots of crud in the tank.
Cleaned out the tank, changed the fuel filter and reassembled.
Took it out for about 20 miles and ran much better, still had a slight surge issue.

Rode 230 miles yesterday with clean premium fuel with 2 oz. of Startron fuel additive.
Surge issue seems to have cleared up. Dirty injectors maybe?
It's now running better than it was before.

Thanks for the help/suggestions.

The injectors have small filter screens that may have some crud on them too. Just pull the fuel hoses off and you’ll be able to see if there is crap on them too...