97 flhtc i had the fuel tank changed at a dealership last fall and the old vacuum shut off was reinstalled. it had caused no problems before. the bike sat all winter with the fuel valve in the off position. i started the bike last week but did not ride at that time. the valve was left in the main position . today i noticed the oil level was higher than normal on the dipstick and smelled strongly of gas. i think the only logical reason is a bad vacuum shutoff valve is allowing fuel to leak into the crankcase, which then gets transferred to the oil pan. anybody have any other possibilities? the recall on the valve was done in 97. if it is the valve should i stay with the stock hd part, since it has worked fine since the bike was new or should i upgrade tp a pingel vacuum unit? thanks in advance for any help.
oil contaminated with gas
- Thread starter lawbil
- Start date
Saw one of those Pingle valves on an HD and was wondering what it was...
http://www.pingelonline.com/powerflo.htm
One thing I did notice, some are plain valves, with both reserve position and vacumn operation to me is a rather important feature...so do your homework before you buy.
http://www.pingelonline.com/powerflo.htm
One thing I did notice, some are plain valves, with both reserve position and vacumn operation to me is a rather important feature...so do your homework before you buy.
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J
Jack Klarich
Guest
Piece of junk, LOL, remember in Sturgis when every one had to have a new one and forgot about the vacum line LOL made for a lot of lean running bikes, Pingel on the other hand has been making great products for years check out there trailer some time at an event
BUBBIE
Well-Known Member
My neighbor tried to get ahold of me one day to ask a question.. His bike wouldn't start.. what could it be? MSG.left on my recorder.
Well, I was gone on a long bike ride that day and didn't get his question he asked me until I got home. I called him to ask if he fixed it...
He repeated all about My bike wouldn't start and where were you when I needed help?
He explained the FIX... so far, He Took Gas tank off... Then the carb off and cleaned both... Put it all back together with new gas in it and it still would not start.
My question to him was: Did you check the vacuum line at the petcox?
What vacuum line?.....
Well you don't need the rest of the story do you?
I did advise him to ride it and run it dry as possible and change to a better style, Pringle was mentioned..
That was a lot of work for a small problem.
I think his vacuum line was off from the start. The valve held vacuum when I checked it after he replaced it with a new (no-vacuum valve)
signed....BUBBIE
Good choice, vacuum fuel valve is for safety reasons, if you should forget to close the valve (on carb equipped rides) the only thing preventing flooding the engine is the float valve. BUT think about in an accident, what is to prevent the fuel from leaking all over the place in a closed system, an automatic vacuum shutoff makes good sense, much as we hate 'em. And how many of us will wear out the shutoff valve seals if we use the fuel valve shut off after every ride (as if we all would remember to do that).
On EFI not so much a problem...but then I for one would love to have reserve mode, rather then rely on a silly inaccurate fuel guage...JMO
On EFI not so much a problem...but then I for one would love to have reserve mode, rather then rely on a silly inaccurate fuel guage...JMO