Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Running out of gas on an EFI URAL Sidecar Rig: What worked for me.

So, Scarlett, my 2014 URAL Patrol Sidecar, developed a leak on the right side fuel injector sometime after Mike and I left Dan's home in Black Hawk on Saturday.  It was slowly leaking gas all the way home apparently but I failed to notice until I saw the spots of gas on the garage floor.

No problem, it was just loose where the fitting plugged into the injector on the throttle body.  The screw securing the fitting was loose, probably knocked about (since I use it to anchor a metal tab to protect the delicate plastic fitting) while on the trails Saturday.  Protecting the Injectors: LINK

The allen head screw above had come loose, and the fitting
had been jostled loose.

Of course, Sunday and Monday came and went and I forgot to fill up the tank again since my fuel level was now unknown.

I rode out this morning to run an errand, pick up a couple of bottles of Sidecar Malbec wine which had been created by fellow Uralista Jay B.  I of course ran out of gas on Arapahoe Road, one of the busier roads in the area and had to pull over onto a left exit lane.

Got to use my four-way flashers for real!  They worked fine, as I realized the problem, put gas in from my spare gas can that I carry on the rig.  Went to start the engine....nothing.  It would crank and crank but wouldn't turn on.  Damn.

Figured there was air in the system since it had run out of fuel.  I tried the "pressurize the gas tank" by blowing into it while creating a seal with your face....not only did that not work for me, I am sure I provided quite the sight to passing drivers!  :(   (this "technique" had been posted on SovietSteeds)

source: google

Pushed the rig over to a nearby sidewalk to get out of the danger area.

NOTE:  My apologies to the nice lady (who said she rode) who stopped to offer assistance, I was in the hate phase of the love/hate relationship with my rig and I was rude while declining her help.  I am sorry.

So anyways, I called up Randy the dealer to let him know and perhaps he had some ideas.

He agreed with me that it was probably air in the fuel system and to disconnect one of the fuel lines, and turn on the fuel pump for a few seconds to clear the air from the system.

Did that, Scarlett fired right up!  Once again, I was mobile and I went to Jay B.'s home to secure the wine:


So, if you drive a fuely or EFI rig, and run out of gas....don't try giving the fuel tank mouth to mouth (doesn't work for me), do the procedure above.

8 comments:

RichardM said...

So the low fuel light doesn't work anymore?

It sure would be nice if someone made a replacement tank that would give you over 200 miles of range. Not that it would've helped much in this case.

SonjaM said...

Running out of gas? It happens to the best ;-) Thankfully my bike fired up right away after filling in the spare gas. I would have never thought of blowing into the tanks...

VStar Lady said...

Sounds like a different kind of adventure.

redlegsrides said...

My EFI rig can theoretically reach 180 miles before empty, assuming it's normal 36mpg. I have a replacement low gas level sensor just haven't gotten around to installing it.

redlegsrides said...

Always thought it an improbable solution but the folks who posted it know their motorcycles

redlegsrides said...

VStar Lady

With a Ural its always an adventure

Trobairitz said...

Mouth to mouth on a gas tank. Now I've heard of everything. At least you managed to get going again.

redlegsrides said...

Trobairitz, weird huh?