E-Ticket said:
basementsafe said:
There is a big difference between your gas tank having a ton of pressure (hissing noise is air escaping, I've seen it push fuel out if you disconnect part of the breather hose) and boiling gas.
So you guys are removing that plastic section on the breather hose with the little ball on it because of the build up of pressure in the tank? So what if your gas tank is under pressure? The berg is fuel injected, and gas under pressure will have a higher boiling point.
If the pressure gets high enough --- gas can force its way past the seal on the fuel pump base-plate --- and raw gas can run down the back of your bike. Which is not so good....
E-Ticket hit it on the nose. Last month I was doing the Sandy Lane Enduro on my 09 FE450 and they had a loooong section of VERY tight trail through scrub pines. Crawling along at slow speed the bike was running hot with an occasional boil over due to the lack of air flow through the radiators. I pulled over to let the bike cool down and as I was getting off the bike I noticed fuel pouring (not dripping) on to the hot motor. The fuel was boiling and steaming on the motor and pipe and I was afraid it was going to go up in flames at any second. Initially I suspected I melted a hole in the fuel hose. I could hear a hissing so I took off the seat and discovered that the fuel was squirting out of the bottom seating surface of the pressure regulator where it mounts to the fuel tank. My air filter was soaked with fuel which was squirting out because of the pressure built up in the fuel tank. I first attempted to tighten the 4 screws but that didn't resolve the problem. I proceeded to remove the 4 screws and pull the fuel regulator out. It appeared as though the mating surface had a small depression in the middle and the lower left threaded hole had a raised surface. My initial conclusion was that the heat from the motor was rising up through the small square opening in the fuel tank and caused a deformation. Another rider that stopped to help me used a knife to remove the plastic protrusion around the threaded hole which was now partially stripped from the pressure build up. I remounted the pressure regulator and started the bike and the fuel leak was resolved (at least for the rest of the ride).
When I got back to the start area one of the guys I was riding with told me that at the gas stop he witnessed another guy unscrewing his Husaberg gas cap and the pressure built up inside the tank blew the cap right out of his hand and sprayed fuel out. He also said there was talk at the gas stop of the exact same thing happening to another guy with a Husaberg. This got me thinking on the drive home. I concluded that the pressure built up in the tank forced one corner to pop up creating the gap due to the raised plastic.
Two observations when I got home:
1) Page 17 of my chassis spare parts manual shows item 15, a metal mounting plate (p/n 81206019000) with 3 sides and 4 mounting holes. My mounting plate only had 2 sides and 3 mounting holes. The threaded hole that partially stripped was the one that was not covered by the mounting plate.
2) Page 17 of chassis spare parts manual only indicates 3 item 16 screws (p/n 0017060303). It does not specify a screw for the fourth hole. Page 19 of the manual shows 4 item 20 screws (p/n 0017060303). The screw in the corner described above (without the mounting plate) was shorter than the other 3.
I am VERY lucky that the bike did not go up in flames and that I was able to ride it out.
Fast forward......I contacted my dealer after the race and he assisted me with getting a replacement fuel tank under warranty because the threaded holes and mating surface to the regulator had been compromised. It says a lot about Husaberg that they stand behind their product. I wasted no time in removing the ball from the gas cap which, in hindsight, I believe is the root cause of the problem. I also installed a CV4 heat blanket to my tank. I also plan on installing a fan. I should mention the metal mounting plate referred to above had 3 sides/4 holes on the replacement tank (just like the picture in my manual). I'm told the 2010 tanks have metal inserts for the 4 mounting screws.
