My 82 GS 650GLZ Ran Out of Gas Today...

[Clay01]

On my way home from work. The tank selector valve was in the "on" position, which should have let me run more than 109 miles. Pushed it the last quarter mile to the gas station. Only took 2.15 gallons to fill, yet the tank size is 3.2 gallons. It's acting as if the selector valve is really in the reserve position. Any ideas???

[tkent02]

Reserve uses all of the gas. On uses all but a gallon or so, to save some for reserve.

It sounds like your petcock is working correctly.

[BassCliff]

Hi,

When you run out of gas in the "ON" position, move the petcock lever to "RES" so that you can use the rest of the gas in your tank. This is your "REServe".


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Steve]

Yep, that's about what my son puts into his 650L, too.

I have calibrated the gauge so that it hits the REServe about the same time the gauge hits the red part of the line, so it's easy to see when it's coming up.

.

[BigD_83]

Steve,

did you do a writeup on how to calibrate the fuel gauge?

[tkent02]

It involves the use of a hammer. A very small delicate hammer.

[ThrottleBack]

[Clay01]

My bad! For some reason, I thought the on position ran the tank empty. My fuel gage doesn't work too well either. When I fill up, the gage reads full, but drops to empty by the time I go about 20 miles.
Thanks for the clarification!

[Steve]

Steve,

did you do a writeup on how to calibrate the fuel gauge?

No, I have not (yet) done that, but it's not all that hard.

Start with the Fuel Gauge Sending Unit Repair tutorial written by Jethro. Your sending unit might just need the attention, anyway.

To calibrate the gauge, use some longer hoses so that you can run the fuel into a can beside the bike and to apply some vacuum to open the petcock. If you have a Mity-Vac, it works very well for this. The tank does not need to be full, only to have more gas than the REServe. Place the fuel line in the catch tank, make sure the petock is in the RUN position, apply vacuum to allow the fuel to flow. When the fuel stops, turn the bike ON, look at the gauge to see where the needle is. If it is not where you would like it, decide which way you want to move it. If it is already in the red area and you want to move it toward the transition from white to red, you will be raising the needle. To do that, you will need to lower the float. Move the petcock to the PRIme position to finish draining the tank. Remove the sending unit, bend the float down a bit, re-install it in the tank. Fill the tank, repeat as necessary. Yes, it's time-consuming, but you will only have to do it ONCE, and it may keep you from unnecessary miles on your riding boots, walking to a gas station.

Bonus time: If you drain the REServe amount into a separate tank, you will be able to measure exactly how much you have available in reserve. If you have ever been lucky enough to get to a gas station right after moving the lever to REServe, you already know how much is in the main tank, now you will also know how much is in the reserve.

.

[sparki]

or.... you could always pop the cap off and give it a shake to listen for sploshing noises

wild idea but...