put 2-3 oz. of seafoam in gas tank; now won't start/dies
 

hey all, i've got a 2001 gz250 w/ 23k miles, bought about two months ago as my first bike.

dealer i bought it from replaced the clutch cable, i think (or was it the choke?), after i was complaining about the bike wanting to die at lights. it was decent after that, but still 'jerky' pretty often; it's like, when i'm cruising in any gear, there's always this point on the throttle that, if i cross it rolling on or off the throttle, the bike jerks and feels uneasy. it's subtle, but a bit disconcerting, especially when i'm rolling on the throttle during a turn.

mechanic at the dealer told me the carb is easy to clean, so that i really didn't need to use seafoam in the gas tank; he did tell me to use non-ethanol, which i've been doing (and also added an inline fuel filter for me). nonetheless, i read about peoples' experiences with seafoam in their bikes, and thought it was worth a try to see if it helped with the jerkiness.

two days ago, i *thought* i filled the tank with gas (see below), then added a small amount of seafoam that couldn't have been more than 2-3 ounces. rode around a little that same day and it was fine. yesterday and today, it's a massive struggle to get the bike started (was worried i was going to burn out the starter), and i need to set the choke near max to keep the bike from dying as i ride around.

could it be that, even though i have an inline fuel filter, the seafoam broke up some gunk in the gas tank or elsewhere, which is now blocking something? any other ideas?

about the gas tank: i thought this was a 2-3 gallon tank, and since i got it have been confused about how quickly i'm going through gas; figured the bike's just old and not getting good mileage anymore. i thought i filled it two days ago, but today when i looked in the tank, it was low enough that i could see some of the bottom of the tank (toward the front). when i fill it at the pump, i keep going until it gets close to the top of the gas tank; i don't wait to see if the level drops if i wait without continuing to fill it (that is, if it takes a few seconds for it to fill somewhere other than the tank?), so is that a possibility? i've gone about 20 miles since i 'filled' it two days ago; there's no way it could have used that much gas, and i don't think there's a leak.

appreciate anyone's advice.

Sounds like you need a carb. clean. As you suspect, it is likely that the Seafoam has disturbed some dirt. Even though you have an inline filter, if the carb was dirty the Seafoam may have disturbed it.

Are you sure you have no gas leak? Check the air filter for signs of gas. Check your oil and see if it smells of gas. Unplug the drain tube that runs from the air filter box and see if there is anything in there.

More advice will follow from better qualified members soon. Good luck.

Have you checked the oil level window? If fuel is getting, somehow, into the engine, the window will appear full (with the bike on the side stand). If this is so, don't run the engine until you find out why.

Make sure your petcock is not set to the PRI position. It needs to be set to RUN.

If it was left in PRI, for example, it would fill the air box, flood the carb, seep into the engine, leak past the rings and start filling the crankcase with gas. All of these scenarios are bad things.

If your petcock is not in the PRI position, it's still possible that something is clogged or stuck in the carb as a result of being loosened up by the seafoam (like the float, for example) which would result in a similar scenario.

And, for the record, your mechanic is a bone head. All carbs everywhere benefit from staying clean. Seafoam, or Berryman's, or MMO do that and maintain a nice happy environment in the carb. Without a happy carb, there are no happy bikes.

Remove the oil filler plug and take a sniff. If you smell gas that will be a strong indication of where the gas went. No Smoking when you do this.

Also change/clean the spark plug.It may of got fouled with carbon. ;) :)

thanks guys. i apparently don't to have the tool needed to get to the air filter, but i removed the oil filler plug, and it seemed to smell like gas inside...kinda hard to tell (it was windy and i'm an idiot with cars/bikes), so i'm not sure.

i've never had the petcock set to prime - it's always been on 'on'. i don't think this disappearing gas problem is new - it's been going through gas like this since i got it two months ago. i just did the math and realized i've only put about 200 miles on it (!), but i've been to the gas station at least 3 times. the dealer i got it from gave me a 30 day warranty, and i had it back to them for a leaking gas smell and some other issues, but nothing major was discovered or repaired.

so it seems like i have two problems: seafoam treatment might have mixed things up so that i need to have the carb cleaned, and i need to figure out why gas is going where it's not supposed to go. unfortunately and predictably, i'm just about broke, so i guess i'll have to figure out how to break things apart myself.

I'm not a big mechanical guy, I prefer wires really, but if gas mixing in with the oil was the first thing on people's mind here from a description... Shouldn't the dealership have known what was going on when they had the physical bike???

They were likely thinking the gas was an exterior leak rather than an interior leak and found nothing.

yeah, i don't know if WW remembers this, but in an earlier post from january i mentioned that i thought the bike had a gas leak. dealer checked it under 30 day warranty and didn't find anything. shortly after that, i took it back to them as regards the problem with idle speed and dying at lights.

i'm tempted to try to press them by saying this problem was obviously there within the 30 day warranty period (indeed, when they sold me the bike), but i doubt they'll be willing to help me out. i'm guessing a repair bill would be upwards of $200-300.