Marty Posted June 21, 2020 Share Posted June 21, 2020 Hi recently I ran out of fuel with my fuel guage showing full.it turned out that when I had my bike serviced at a local Honda dealership they pinched the breather pipe which resulted in the tank pressurising the result was the bottom of the tank bending downwards against the angle of the fuel pump unit giving a false reading of full I had checked all ohms readings which were good with the unit out of the tank but faulty with it in so with some well placed blows from a hammer the ohms reading have returned to spec. has anyone else experienced this Thanks in advance Marty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Grum Posted June 21, 2020 Member Contributer Share Posted June 21, 2020 Hi Marty. Severe Vaccum (not pressure!) can build up in the tank if the breather hose is pinched, it can be so strong it will start caving the tank inwards, and virtually impossible to open your filler cap. With the 8gen, the breather starts off as a small hose then there is an adapter to the larger hose. It's the smaller hose that gets crushed as you lower the tank from the up maintenance position. When lowering the tank you must take up the slack by pulling on the hose at the small to large adapter. Check out this link and it explains it all. Honda dealerships should be aware of this. Why isn't the Honda dealership sorting out the problem you had, they caused it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Posted June 21, 2020 Author Share Posted June 21, 2020 Sorry but it wasn't a vacuum i had no problems opening the fuel tank but when I did I ended up covered in fuel and the was a large expulsion of gas, the tank did not distort inwards,the floor of the tank had a bulge and the pump mounting location had also moved in away from the fuel cap, there is now a crease on the bottom left side underneath,when I tried to put the tank back down I discovered it was hitting on the air cleaner thats when I noticed the bulge it was later that i realised the pump mount had deflected as well,what I discovered was the angle of the fuel pump had changed enough that the float was on the bottom of the tank but the guage displayed three quarters to full a few well placed blows have pushed the mount towards the cap and now when empty the ohms reading is as per design. I live in a hot climate summer temp is 40c plus I think this plus a pinched breather have caused the pressure to build. I also live to far away just to run back to the service place to have an argument over whether they installed the breather properly denial will always be there first reply Thanks for you reply Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Grum Posted June 21, 2020 Member Contributer Share Posted June 21, 2020 Hi Marty. Thanks for the extra info. Think you're the first we've heard of Tank damage due to positive pressure because of a kinked breather. I am surprised that the pressure didn't just blow the breather hose off the tank! In fact I would pop the hose off the tank and place some silicon grease or similar around the tank connection point and refit the hose, that way excess pressure would hopefully just blow the hose off, before doing tank damage. So hopefully the link above has provided you some good info on how to avoid a kinked hose, and if you can't easily see that small to big hose joiner on the upper right side of the engine, just below the tank then the slack hasn't been taken up and a kinked breather could result.Something that MUST be checked if the tank has been raised to the Maintenance position. I've had my tank up and down numerous times now and provided I "take up the slack" with the breather hose while lowering the tank, had no further issues. Good luck hope it NEVER happens again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Posted June 22, 2020 Author Share Posted June 22, 2020 Thankyou I think the way it kinked and the lack of room contributed to it happening it may have folded in such a way that it became trapped the short pipe has two fold marks and there is a rub mark on the air cleaner cover from the crease that occurred I wish I had taken a heap of pics as I went now I see what you mean by the hose should just pop off, i like the idea of some grease on the stem,I'll give it a try. I'll attach a photo of the kinked pipe its a different set up to your pics, now that I'm pretty certain that I've sorted it out I'm going for a 200k ride tomorrow thanks again something for the newer bikes to keep In mind I'm even considering replacing or rerouting the pipe to avoid this Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Grum Posted June 22, 2020 Member Contributer Share Posted June 22, 2020 Ahhh. So the 2017 is different to the 2014 8gen. They have installed that plastic section, BUT you still have a short rubber section, very interesting, but obviously doesn't solve the issue. In fact it might make the issue worse. Is that plastic section flexible? Does it connect up with the small to large adapter as per the 2014 model? It's just a shame that the tank breather outlet sits right above a very cramped area. Not sure if there is a better way to route this hose, I'm going to look into that the next time I have the tank up. Looks like your tank isn't showing any battle scars! Hope there wasn't any deformation to the tank exterior? Can assure you that in the cooler weather, if that hose kinks the Fuel Pump is powerful enough to keep supplying fuel and as the level drops creates a vaccum so strong it will pull the sides of the tank in! Poor breather hose design by Honda. Thanks for the photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Posted June 22, 2020 Author Share Posted June 22, 2020 The plastic section is hard with a 80 degree bend it is the short pipe is small at the tank then the other exit end is larger I have put some grease on it fortunately here is not super cold here . No battle scars thankfully and all deformation occurred underneath but as the angle of the fuel pump a small change at the mount could be significant at the sensor end does the 2014 vfr have a separate mounting for the fuel level sensor, on the 2017 the pump and level sensor are one complete unit and not separable if there's a fault that is you can replace the pump but to replace the level sensor you have to buy a complete unit I think for peice of mind each and every time the tank is lifted either run some fuel or air through the breather to confirm its working A learning curve, fortunately it did not split the tank that would be expensive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Grum Posted June 22, 2020 Member Contributer Share Posted June 22, 2020 36 minutes ago, Marty said: The plastic section is hard with a 80 degree bend it is the short pipe is small at the tank then the other exit end is larger I have put some grease on it fortunately here is not super cold here . No battle scars thankfully and all deformation occurred underneath but as the angle of the fuel pump a small change at the mount could be significant at the sensor end does the 2014 vfr have a separate mounting for the fuel level sensor, on the 2017 the pump and level sensor are one complete unit and not separable if there's a fault that is you can replace the pump but to replace the level sensor you have to buy a complete unit I think for peice of mind each and every time the tank is lifted either run some fuel or air through the breather to confirm its working A learning curve, fortunately it did not split the tank that would be expensive The 2014 and 2017 seem to have the same Fuel Pump assembly (16700-MJM-D01). And yes you could replace the pump with a non OEM, but as you say if the fuel level sender went dead then it looks like you'd need a complete unit, bit of a concern. Fortunately no reports of a failed sender that I'm aware of. Easier breather test might be to have a length of hose with a nozzle you can easily connect to the breather at the underneath of the bike (should be the first from the front out of the three hoses). Open your filler cap and hear the air come through as you blow into the hose. You shouldn't feel any restriction as you blow. Apart from this Tank issue you've unfortunately had, hope you're enjoying the bike, it's a great machine? Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Posted June 22, 2020 Author Share Posted June 22, 2020 Love the bike I took one for a test ride when I got back to the dealer I said yes please didnt even bother to look at any others he said what colour I said red, Honda bikes should only be red and even though it's a couple of years on now it is still a head turner as i go by Just unlucky about the tank it is a great bike shame they're not making them or importing them to Australia anymore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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