Rust in fuel tank

[makarov9]

Hey folks, I'm new to the forum and hope to become a regular.

I picked up a 2005 FZ6 yesterday with only 1910 miles on it, looks new. The chain is a little loose and hasn't even been adjusted since initial break in, that's how much this bike has been ridden by the previous owner in the last 6yrs or so.

The previous owner said that since the bike set more than it was ridden, he decided to replace the fuel pump, have the injectors cleaned and the fuel lines checked and cleaned out, before he put it up for sale. Why he really chose to spend $600 on a new fuel pump and have all this done is a mystery to me, he never told me if he ever had any issues with the fuel pump actually not working or anything, he just said that he felt it might be necessary

It was kept in a garage and kept clean, it looks fantastic, like a brand new bike.

I rode it briefly around the parking lot, never getting out of 2nd gear and it started up strong and ran fine, considering the chain had a lot of slack in it and needed to be adjusted, I didn't ride it alot. I trailered it home and when I arrived, opened the gas cap and "rust" on the inside of the cap and appears to be on the top part of the inside of the gas tank, visible enough. I was shocked that the guy didn't tell me about this and was pissed at first. There appears to be a little over a 1/4 of a tank of gas in it. When shining a flashlight down into the fuel, it doesn't appear to be clouded or see any rust particles, appears clean. The rust just appears inside the tank on the 1/4-1/2 section of the fuel tank and the cap. Looks like maybe he had a little over half a tank of gas in it when the bike spent most of its time in the garage setting. What should I do about this rust? Please give me some advice.

I thought I might pull the tank off and see if I can check the fuel filter for any rust residue. Is the fuel filter hard to get to on this bike?

 

[zackattack784]

First, shame on you for not doing a thorough inspection of the bike. I ALWAYS take a flashlight along when I look at bikes to check for this very thing. I coated the inside of my last bike to help prevent rust. I used kreem. ** Welcome to Kreem Products.com **

You can buy kits online that include all the stuff you need to get rid of rust and then coat the tank to prevent future rust. I'm not 100% sure if you'll be able to coat the tank though. I wanna say the fuel filter is in the tank. That stuff would clog everything up on you.

In the future, always store the bike with a full tank. No rust that way .

 

[FinalImpact]

Hi and Welcome to the forum. This seems to happen to many cars and bikes as they sit with a little moisture in an empty fuel tank.

Your options are:
Clean it, Treat it, or Replace it. The filter is more of a mesh screen and slows the bigger chunks but doesn't stop the small stuff from going through the pump and injectos. It is part of the pump. If you use the search function in the Garage or Technical section you'll find many pictures showing the good, the bad and the ugly.

fleebay could find you used tank in good condition of the proper color. Consider that.

Another option is to read the directions about how to remove the pump and filter; remove them and do something crazy. Fill it with 2 cups of pea gravel and shake it for 20 minutes to break up the rust. This will require lots of flushing to get it clean but once clean you can inspect it for further damage. Its a single wall and if it rusts through you have issues and MUST replace it.

You can wash it with boiling hot water and detergent. Promptly rinse this with kerosene or diesel dumping all of it out and recycle them. Inspect it and see if its safe to use. This will get it clean so you can examine it. Options after that are to A) leave and use as is. B) use a chemical to treat it to kill more rust.
I wouldn't ride it or risk damage to the rest of the system until you get the rust out or replace the tank.

Get used to the search function as you are not the first!

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Hey folks, I'm new to the forum and hope to become a regular.

I picked up a 2005 FZ6 yesterday with only 1910 miles on it, looks new. The chain is a little loose and hasn't even been adjusted since initial break in, that's how much this bike has been ridden by the previous owner in the last 6yrs or so.

The previous owner said that since the bike set more than it was ridden, he decided to replace the fuel pump, have the injectors cleaned and the fuel lines checked and cleaned out, before he put it up for sale. Why he really chose to spend $600 on a new fuel pump and have all this done is a mystery to me, he never told me if he ever had any issues with the fuel pump actually not working or anything, he just said that he felt it might be necessary

It was kept in a garage and kept clean, it looks fantastic, like a brand new bike.

I rode it briefly around the parking lot, never getting out of 2nd gear and it started up strong and ran fine, considering the chain had a lot of slack in it and needed to be adjusted, I didn't ride it alot. I trailered it home and when I arrived, opened the gas cap and "rust" on the inside of the cap and appears to be on the top part of the inside of the gas tank, visible enough. I was shocked that the guy didn't tell me about this and was pissed at first. There appears to be a little over a 1/4 of a tank of gas in it. When shining a flashlight down into the fuel, it doesn't appear to be clouded or see any rust particles, appears clean. The rust just appears inside the tank on the 1/4-1/2 section of the fuel tank and the cap. Looks like maybe he had a little over half a tank of gas in it when the bike spent most of its time in the garage setting. What should I do about this rust? Please give me some advice.

I thought I might pull the tank off and see if I can check the fuel filter for any rust residue. Is the fuel filter hard to get to on this bike?

+1 on the above.. They also make kits to treat the gas tank that's somewhat involved using chemicals and sealers, somewhat a PIA. A friend of mine got a Kawasaki 500 twin (for free) as the tank was BADLY RUSTED from sitting under a tarp, under a carport with a mostly empty gas tank. As is yours, the rest of the bike looked cherry. We ended up treating the tank but my friend always carried a spare fuel filter (carb'ed engine) as it continued to have flakes of rust crap come out.

Pulling the tank and at least loosen the fuel pump to look inside will give you a better idea what your dealing with. With the FI and the fuel filter built in the pump, you can't plug in another filter. The fuel pump is NOT CHEAP should it clog/fail...

 

[fb40dash5]

+1 on the above.. They also make kits to treat the gas tank that's somewhat involved using chemicals and sealers, somewhat a PIA. A friend of mine got a Kawasaki 500 twin (for free) as the tank was BADLY RUSTED from sitting under a tarp, under a carport with a mostly empty gas tank. As is yours, the rest of the bike looked cherry. We ended up treating the tank but my friend always carried a spare fuel filter (carb'ed engine) as it continued to have flakes of rust crap come out.

Is there anything besides Kreem for that?

I was going to Kreem the tank on my old bike, it had a bunch of surface rust inside the tank. I asked a bike junkyard about it, and was told that Kreem is pretty difficult to get just right, and if you don't, it peels off and your tank is pretty much trash.

 

[DefyInertia]

Tough one. Congrats on the new bike though! Good luck.

 

[FinalImpact]

If you use the rocks and keep it full when not in use it should be ok. But you have to get all the rust broken free and removed. Again - its the sitting the kills stuff.

 

[MiFZ6]

You might also be able to add an inline fuel filter. They are usually dirt cheap and used on lawnmowers and such. I'd do this in addition to the pebbles and a good long kerosine soak. At least that's one of the cheapest options, but I haven't done it on a FI bike before.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

You might also be able to add an inline fuel filter. They are usually dirt cheap and used on lawnmowers and such. I'd do this in addition to the pebbles and a good long kerosine soak. At least that's one of the cheapest options, but I haven't done it on a FI bike before.

I believe there's around 40 PSI coming from the fuel pump, most aftermarket lawn mower(etc) filters probably would not handle that pressure. Even if it did, it would have to be installed AFTER THE PUMP, before the fuel rail. It would keep the injectors clean however should the fuel pump clog up, it'll burn out the pump.

The tank needs to be cleaned until its spotless or a replacement tank installed.

When we did my friends tank, the chemical that came with the cream, did a good job of removing/cleaning the inside of the tank (AFTER we put small pebbles/lots of water/flushing in the tank to get the heavy stuff out). We never finished with the actual cream coating as the inside of the tank looked that good. It did NOT have an opening the size of the FZ on the bottom (which would make it easier to treat)...

Added info, spec's for the 07-09 model call for a little over 36 PSI from the fuel pump
Good luck..

 

[FinalImpact]

++ ^

I second the filter motion. It must be a high pressure filter. They can be found and I would go that route however you will have to fab up some fittings as a hose clamp on a barbed fitting IS NOT ACCEPTABLE and could come off and you'd burst into flames!!!! Hint pull up some filters from a late model low displacement gas filters from an auto. You may stumble upon something or look for a universal one.

I'm guessing here, but I'm pretty sure the stock tank has no coating of any kind so getting it clean and keeping it full is going to be acceptable.

 

[vinmansbrew]

Is there anything besides Kreem for that?

I was going to Kreem the tank on my old bike, it had a bunch of surface rust inside the tank. I asked a bike junkyard about it, and was told that Kreem is pretty difficult to get just right, and if you don't, it peels off and your tank is pretty much trash.

Kreem sucks to use in most cases. It is very touchy. Most people have a better time with POR-15.

Por-15 can be used to clean the tank as well.
A person can also do the electrolysis method too but that takes a while.

 

[vinmansbrew]

Makarav, do you have a 9x18? If so, do you know where it was made? I have one, it was made in East Germany. I think they made them in Russia, East germany, Yugoslavia, and I can't remember where else but it was like 4 different countries.

 

[makarov9]

Thanks fellas, for the advice.

I took the pump out and cleaned the tank with Yamaha's 2 part rust remover/inhibitor, of course scrubbing inside the tank with a pot scrubber and some mild dish soap to remove excess. I was able to get about 90% of the rust out, of course the tank will never shine like new again, but the worst was gone, cleaned the small flakes of rust out of the pump with a toothbrush and compressed air. I reinstalled everything and the bike runs great, with now fueling issues.

My speedometer doesn't work 70% of the time, coming on and off iradically, but I was aware of this when I traded for it. I went for a 200 mile ride today and the bike ran great, but the speedo was of course acting up, not working most of the time and my check engine light would come on and go off, sometimes staying on for long periods of time. I'm assuming the problem with the speedo is throwing a code. My dash shows a code #42 when my key is turned on, before I start it.

I'm a veteran rider of 25yrs on many different kinds of bikes, but I've only owned 2 Yamaha sportbikes, so I'm a bit new to their quirks. I'm looking for advice if anyone has any.

 

[makarov9]

Makarav, do you have a 9x18? If so, do you know where it was made? I have one, it was made in East Germany. I think they made them in Russia, East germany, Yugoslavia, and I can't remember where else but it was like 4 different countries.

Yes, I have 4. 2 Russian, Bulgarian and the German. I've not been able to find a good Chinese copy, they are the most rare.

These were produced in East Germany, Russia, Bulgaria and China. Yugoslavia made a Tokarev variant in 7.62x25mm, of the Russian design, but they didn't produce a Makarov pistol. The Hungarians, Polish and Czechs made a pistol chambered for the 9x18mm makarov cartridge, but are not actual Makarovs. The Hungarian Pa63, Czech CZ82 and Polish P64 of which I have all three of these as well. Gotta love the milsurp guns

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Thanks fellas, for the advice.

I took the pump out and cleaned the tank with Yamaha's 2 part rust remover/inhibitor, of course scrubbing inside the tank with a pot scrubber and some mild dish soap to remove excess. I was able to get about 90% of the rust out, of course the tank will never shine like new again, but the worst was gone, cleaned the small flakes of rust out of the pump with a toothbrush and compressed air. I reinstalled everything and the bike runs great, with now fueling issues.

My speedometer doesn't work 70% of the time, coming on and off iradically, but I was aware of this when I traded for it. I went for a 200 mile ride today and the bike ran great, but the speedo was of course acting up, not working most of the time and my check engine light would come on and go off, sometimes staying on for long periods of time. I'm assuming the problem with the speedo is throwing a code. My dash shows a code #42 when my key is turned on, before I start it.

I'm a veteran rider of 25yrs on many different kinds of bikes, but I've only owned 2 Yamaha sportbikes, so I'm a bit new to their quirks. I'm looking for advice if anyone has any.

________________________________________________________________

From the fault codes section listed in this section at the top:

Fault Code: 42
Diagnostic Code: 07, 21
Symptom: No normal signals are received from the speed sensor; or, an open or
short circuit is detected in the neutral switch.
Probable cause of malfunction:
Open or short circuit in wiring harness.
Defective speed sensor.
Malfunction in vehicle speed sensor detected unit.
Defective neutral switch.
Malfunction in the engine side of the neutral switch.
Malfunction in ECU.


The speedometer pickup is at the rear of the engine and the wire lead goes up either below the tank, or under the seat(forgot). It'll have a three wire connector plugging into the main harness.

This plug is where you plug in a "Speedohealer" inline if you were inclined.

I would check the contacts, clean and put dilectric grease in the connector and try that. If that doesn't work, you'll have to test the pick up sensor (should be in the shop manual). It is not unusual, especially if you live near the water, to get corrosion (and problems) in the connector.

Should that not help, post the problem in the "electrical section", Cliff, (MotoGiro) and others can pin it down...