And then it just died...........

[Dilbert]

Ok I'm feeling great riding along, the overrun popping has more or less stopped and it's running great guns down the A50, when all of a sudden it just died, red fuel light comes on (but goes off when I stop) so I figure I'm out of fuel, switch the reserve on, pressed the button, spins the motor, no start.
After a while a Gixer rider in his car stops on the way home from work, runs me to a petrol station, back we go, fill her up, still nothing and all this time the fuel warning lights only come on with the ignition an go off again.
Figured if it's electrical it may bump start (no kickstart-arggh), Gixer guy gives me a push, fires up a bit lumpy and back popping again till it warms up.
Popping seems to be exhaust leak (see my other recent thread), but why did it just die? do you need to prime the pump if you run out of fuel?
p.s. big up to the Gixer guy, see they're not all boy racer pratts.

[kiroh]

Sounds like the fuel pump has died. Filling up with petrol usually fixes the problem.

[Dilbert]

Kiroh
do you mean died as in terminated? i.e. only working on gravity and the head of fuel above the carbs, this would explain why the fuel warning lights didn't get a chance to come on and why switching the reserve on had no effect, but not why it bump started Ok?

[kiroh]

Do you have a fuel warning light? Or do you mean the red warning light on the top left, which is the Oil warning light?

Don't know what caused your problem, but I had a similar experience before, which I linked back to worn out contacts on the fuel pump. I was doing steady 70mph when the engine cut off and the red light came on. Pulled the clutch in and stopped on the side of the road. The bike would not start for about 10 minutes, and after that I had to hold the starter button for about 15-20 seconds before the engine winds up and starts running properly.

The same thing happened a few weeks later, but after replacing the fuel pump contacts the problem disappeared.

The fuel pump is very easy to get to, so I suggest you take it off the bike and give it a good clean. If the contacts look worn off - replace them. Have a look in the Articles section of this site for a document on this - it's got plenty of pictures and good instructions on how to do it.

[fewtrees]

Can anyone point to a good replacement on the web for the fuel pump? It may be worth changing even if it OK and keeping the old as a spare..

Is it a "just do it anyway" thing?

[kiroh]

Can anyone point to a good replacement on the web for the fuel pump? It may be worth changing even if it OK and keeping the old as a spare..

Is it a "just do it anyway" thing?

It doesn't cost much to buy a replacement fuel pump, and if you don't want to end up with the engine cutting off on the most unexpected place, you better change it sooner than later.

The problem with the standard fuel pump appears because of the contacts being worn off. There is an easy fix which is described in the article by Thomas Hedlund. I've done it myself 6 months ago, and since the fuel pump works fine.

Just to be on the safe side, I always carry a piece of tube, which I can use to bypass the fuel pump and gravity feed the carbs with fuel in case the pump fails again.

[Dilbert]

Kiroh/ Fewtrees
thanks for the tips I will check the contacts and probably get a new pump keeping the old one as a spare as suggested, the piece of tube sounds like a necessity too.
Just to clear up your initial comment I have an '88 Belgian manufacture XRV 650, it has six lights plus the side stand light above which looks like an add on, the oil light is at the bottom right and says "Oil" under it, there are two lights at the top, the right one is amber and the left one is red underneath and centralised between them is a barely legible (17 yrs old) label which says "Fuel" (check out the tech data pages ref RD03-MS83-F0200).
I kinda assumed that the amber was "time to switch to reserve" and the red was "time to start pushing to nearest petrol station", anyway neither come on with any predictability but the red one does have a habit of coming on when you stop/ slow down which is most disconcerting!

[Dilbert]

Kiroh
Checked out the article, my fuel pump looks nothing like the RD07 one, its not an aluminium casting but a plastic tube with an electrical connector at the rear and the in/ out nozzles at the front, looks like a washing up liquid bottle, I guess the principle of operation is going to be the same so I will check the electrics first and whether it pumps or the fuel is just gravity feeding through the pump, I've got a full tank at the moment so plenty of head pressure to be going on with.

[kiroh]

Interesting, I always though that the older models don't have a fuel pump.

Check the microfiches on the Tech Data page, look for RD03 MS83-1400B.

Before you disconnect the pump, make sure you switch off the fuel tap. There'll be some petrol left in the hoses, so make sure you put a cloth down to soak it up. Disassemble and clean the pump on a flat surface - it can be a bit tricky. Clean the contact with a file or replace them with new ones. Then connect the headlamp relay as described in the article. It will reduce the amount of current running trough the contacts, which will lead to less wear.

Good luck!