Foiled again. Fuel filter replacemaent.

[2Laner]

Well I finally decided to get around to replacing fuel filter on my B11 after reading about air box mods. No big deal right. I'm screwed. Actually factory mechanic srewed me. 1 of 6 bolts holding fuel filter assembly is cross-threaded or stripped. Unable to remove 1 stinking bolt to gain access. Tried applying upward pressure being carefull of gasket, but no luck. Half turn either direction- snugs then slacks but will not tighten or remove. Any ideas? Dealer 100 miles away best choice or local mechanic and maybe a heli-coil? Anyway did the oil breather bypass to ext. container and drain, cut a bit off tube extending down air filter box and drilled a small hole in baffle of stock exhaust. Very short ride ahead of storm and galeforce winds here exhibit very positive affects. Defininetly revs quicker and love the intake whoosh. Exhaust is certainely louder with small hole. Still experimenting. Thank for any input.

 

[Roblatt]

you may need to drill it out and re thread it for a new bolt

where/how exactly did you drill the hole in the baffle? is it only for noise or does it change performance? And, any chance of a pic?

cheers

Robert

 

[john zibell]

Take it to the dealer. The tank is plastic and the brass inserts may be un-repairable. Since it is a manufacturing defect, you may need a new tank. Hopefully it will be a warranty claim as a defective item no matter the age or mileage.

 

[2Laner]

Thanks John. That's what I was afraid of. Bike is out of warranty. Rob, The hole is an experiment short of a total bafflelectomy to reduce restriction for power and to make Guzzi growl a little. I just used a drill bit extension, hole is about 2/16ths.

 

[2Laner]

Mild update. Ran the tank down to dealer today 5/2. Have very confident feel with mechanic. Sincerely, a good guy and knows what he is doing. He drilled bolt head off + used an old plate froom discarded fuel pump asssembly to prevent drill shavings from contaminating tank. I ended up leaving tank with him as he was in need of a diffferant tool to extract the cross threaded bolt. Worse case he told me JB weld and re-thred. Replalcement tank $800. Gee only $800 might as well get 2. See what happens when I put off off a simple fuel filter check until riding season! No one to blame but myself. Blowing off steam. 64 degress here today and I could of been riding.

 

[zoom zoom]

Well, grinding off the head was going to be my suggestion for the first step. It sounds like the dealer is thinking along the same lines. The kicker is that if you were to not have tried, you could have ended up with a filter failure along the side of the road. I just replaced the filter on my Norge, and I can tell you that it was a failure waiting to happen. I would much rather work through it at home, than 900 miles from home. Hopefully, they can fix you up. It will be worth it in the long run.

This is what my filter looks like. The plastic portion is very soft. There is no doubt that it could have seperated at the seam in the middle at some point. Better for you to pick the time.

Zoom Zoom,
John Henry

 

[Brian UK]

Only just read this thread.
So the bolt turned but didn't come out because the thread was knackered.
I know it's now too late, but did you try sliding a thin blade under the edge of the bolt head while you turned it with a spanner. Twist the blade at the same time to lever the bolt head upwards.
This has worked for me a few times.

 

[Mike.C]

zoom zoom wrote:

There is no doubt that it could have seperated at the seam in the middle at some point. Better for you to pick the time.

Which raises the question; why is it inside the tank in the first place? If it is sonething that might fail, or need maintenance (replacing) then why on earth is it buried inside the fuel tank?

In light of this revelation, I am going to remove it, replace it with some hose and install a filter outside the tank that is easier to service.

Might just prevent a long roadside wait, as you say.

 

[Geordie]

I haven't heard of a fuel filter failing yet and these have been installed since 2005 on Brevas.

 

[Mike.C]

That depends of course on the quality of the fuel put into the tank - a bum load and the filter might need replacing. depends I suppose on the level of filtration, if it is a very coarse filter than it might go for years without causing flow restriction.

 

[ncassidy]

Now that sounds like a novel idea. Replace the fuel filter in the tank with a piece of copper hose and install a fuel filter outside of the tank. Sounds like it would be much easier to service, not having to remove the tank, the fuel pump, replace the filter and hope you didn't bugger the gasket up or strip the small bolts that hold the fuel pump in the tank.

 

[Roblatt]

ncassidy wrote:

Now that sounds like a novel idea. Replace the fuel filter in the tank with a piece of copper hose and install a fuel filter outside of the tank. Sounds like it would be much easier to service, not having to remove the tank, the fuel pump, replace the filter and hope you didn't bugger the gasket up or strip the small bolts that hold the fuel pump in the tank.

Fair comment but it may be a waste of time since every so often we will need to pull the things apart to replace the fuel gauge anyway. I had all the fuel gauge stuff replaced under warranty about 9 months ago, and now it's starting to play up again (out of warranty). When I get around to it, I will replace the filter too. And then again next time the gauge plays up.

FYI - the gauge started to never show full, then never went past 3/4, then never past 1/2 etc etc. Luckily I always zero Trip 1 when filling so I know the distances traveled.


Robert

 

[Mike.C]

Unless of course the fuel pump is sensitive to crap in the fuel, then as they say we have a problem.

 

[zoom zoom]

Geordie wrote:

I haven't heard of a fuel filter failing yet and these have been installed since 2005 on Brevas.

Actually, there have been several reports of this failure. I purchased an all metal replacement from MPH. There is some speculation as to why, ethanol or whatever. I am not sure if anyone knows for sure. In any case, I am confident that the metal filter will hold up, so no more worries.

Zoom Zoom,
John Henry

 

[RJVB]

Oh, super ... it's becoming increasingly difficult to be sure how much ethanol there is in our SP95 — for once the French government implemented an EU directive way early, authorising the sale of E10 SP95 (10% ethanol) while the industry is still evaluating compatibility. (AFAIK, Germany reversed its decision).

 

[ncassidy]

I remember previous threads on the fuel filter on early models being metal and plastic concoctions, the plastic swelling up and letting loose. Not sure if they are still available, but the better alternative is all steel. My fuel gauge screwed up after the fuel pump was replaced and at the time the only fix was to replace the pump. Now, I believe there is a fix for the gauge mechanism, instead of replacing the whole fuel pump unit.

 

[londonrob]

I changed my filter ages ago to an all metal BMW one, its not a job i'd want to do at the side of the road in the rain.

 

[Geordie]

zoom zoom wrote:

Geordie wrote:

I haven't heard of a fuel filter failing yet and these have been installed since 2005 on Brevas.

Actually, there have been several reports of this failure. I purchased an all metal replacement from MPH. There is some speculation as to why, ethanol or whatever. I am not sure if anyone knows for sure. In any case, I am confident that the metal filter will hold up, so no more worries.

Zoom Zoom,
John Henry

Well there you go then... now I HAVE head of failures ;-)
I'll keep my fingers crossed mine doesn't fail and keep up my AA membership until I can be bothered to replace it.

 

[2Laner]

Picked up my tank last night. Dealer mechanic was able to lightly re-tap with a slighlty larger screw. Said it tourqued up and I should be able to remove it in the future if neccesary. He ended up draining and cleaning the tank to be safe(metal shavings from drilling old out). Anyway I feel $75. well spent and a fair deal. True it was a factory defect, but out of warranty at any rate. Moto Italia in Edwardsville, IL. did the work. I guess having the filter inside the tank would prevent a failure from gas spraying all over engine and rider, an external one easier to replace. I like the safety myself. Oh yeah, my filter looked just like photo above but it was not soft. Replaced with all metal version now.

 

[azccj]

Well I finally got around to changing out the, (who knows when it will leave me stranded ), plastic and metal fuel filter on my Norge, to the full metal one that MG Cycles sells. Was a fairly easy job, but those hose clamps are a pain to find. I first though I would just use the fuel injection screw down clamps you can normally get at Checker, Autozone or Napa, but everywhere I went, six different stores, only had sizes that were too big. I don't know if this has been covered already, but I eventually found out what type of clamps were originally used on the hoses inside the tank. They are called Oetiker clamps and use a special crimp tool to tighten them down. Finally found a guy on ebay that sells the 11.3 mm size clamp that's needed to do the job. The clamps are cheap, $2.48 for ten but the tool is $28.00. I paid about $35.00 with shipping for both because I didn't want to try and jerry rig a pair of pliers to crimp the clamps down. When the clamps and tool arrived I compared one of the original removed clamps with the new ones, and they both have the same size markings and look identical. I see why manufactures use this type of clamp, they are quick to clamp down with the tool and once crimped the hose isn't going anywhere. You can't even rotate the hose on the filter once it's crimped down. For anyone interested you can get what you need here, http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... 0059178665 . I wrote the guy and told him to try selling the clamps to Guzzi guys and it appears that he took my advice. I have no interest with the seller, never talked with the guy. Just passing along the info.