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Blocked fuel/water overflow pipe

A

Andyc1511

Joined Oct 2011
32 Posts | 0+
Hampshire, UK
Evening all (UK time). I'm a new member on here so a big hello to all of you.

Got a question regarding a blocked overflow pipe, the one inside the filler cap where water/fuel/crap drains away. Its bugging the hell out of me as its blocked at the bottom end and I've tried pushing wire down it but it just hits what seems like the bottom (approx 10 inches). Doesnt take long out in the elements for water to back up then unload into the tank when I open the filler.
Does anyone know where the bottom of the pipe fixes to and how to get to it? Cant get to an airline at the petrol stations as they're of the fixed psi variety rather.

My bikes a 2001 Mille. Let me know if you need more details.

Thanks very much

Andy
 
I had the same problem last year and tried poking stuff down it and airlines, neither worked.
If you lift the tank and take the offside underseat mesh panel off there are two short blue pipes from the tank to the undertray, take these off.
There are two nipples screwed into the bottom of the tank that the short blue pipes were pushed onto, unscrew them. I found the blockage was in the nipple so i twirled a drill bit through the hole with my fingers to unblock them. :thumbup

PS, I cant think of a better name than a nipple for it , if its not a nipple i dont know what the **** its called.

PS, PS..............................****S ARE GREAT!
 
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Hi Lone Ranger, thanks for the reply. Thats a great top tip and one I doubt I would ever have found. Ive had the tank lifted up, filler cap out, the works. I'll give that a bash at the weekend and let you know how I get on.

Cheers bud.

Andy
 
Yeah this happens on a regular basis, the screw in nipples are aluminium and the water corrodes them, as the holes so small it doesn't take long before the corrosion completely blocks them & it's a pain in the *** as you have to take the tank off to remove them to get the crud out. Noticed mine was blocked again the other day, next time I do them I'm gonna nickle plate the ali to stop it happening again.
 
Hope the weather clears up at the weekend cos there's no room to swing a cat round in my shed so it'll be an outdoor dismantle. All the hassle just for a small drain tube. Clutch slave cylinders next to get some treatment.....

And talking about nipples and ****s being great (Lone ranger), love your profile pic nikfubar. She's got a nice action!
 
Help!!!!!! Located the ali nipple, loosened it and now fuels pissing out! Any ideas?? please
 
That don't sound good :eek: is it just a bit of fuel or is it emptying the tank, if so one of the vent pipes in the tank must have detached.

Another thought :confused is your tank full of fuel cos one of them is a vent and depending what angle it is it may be flowing down this pipe.
 
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At first I thought it was just excess fuel that had built up in the pipe, but it just kept going and going. It was just flooding out. Then, like you thought its because the tanks raised up so I lowered it back in to its normal position. No change, flooding out round the screw of the nipple. So I thought **** it I'll carry on removing the nipple and get drenched. The nipple itself looks like its been deliberately blocked up with something rock hard. The small rubber o-ring had split which is why fuel was running down the thread when i loosened it. Put another o-ring on, tightened the (blocked) nipple back up and at least its stopped it. The bikes just drying out now. What a friggin' afternoon!! Need to go for a smoke now, well away from the bike. But then again the mood i'm in......
 
All I can suggest is to drain the tank & remove it, take out the pump so you can see inside the tank. Looks like you've inherited someone elses bodge up :angry
 
I think you're right, looks like someone else's bodge job. I'll just keep it parked under cover on the rainy days to stop water getting into the drain tube. Why is it always the simplest jobs that turn out to be the hardest. Thanks for your help though, its much appreciated.
Cheers bud.
 
Thanks for this thread. Thought I'd add to it as I found this post most helpful. I too had the same problem and someone mentioned it was in the aluminium nipple bit that screw in to the bottom of the tank. There are two. One for fuel overflow and one for water ingress. The one for fuel obviously won't corrode but the water one does and that is what had happened to mine.

Any road, found a quick and easy way to do it as I am guessing apart from the end of the pipe getting blocked the fault most likely will be inside the nipple. I just propped up the tank so I could get at the nipple and drilled out all the corrosion by hand with a very small drill. Only took a few minutes. It worked fine. After that I sprayed some WD40 down the hole in the tank and it came out through the nipple. After that I just refitted the pipe and put everything back.

Preventative maintenance I think it would be a good thing to put some oil down there every now and then to keep the inside of the nipple clear.

Thanks for this post everyone. Most helpful.
 
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