So to make a long story short, while sealing my gas tank with a tank liner, I managed to seal the vent chamber.
Aside from drilling a small hole in the gas cap, or next to the fuel filler hole (probably not EPA approved...) I see two options:
1-strip the sealer and start over
2-figure out where the chamber is, and if it is accessible by way of the fuel filler.
I've already tried blowing air at about 100psi backwards through the vent line to try to burst the liner so to speak... no luck.
I've also tried dribbling lacquer down the vent tube, to dissolve the liner, but... too much liquid in too small a hole, it is essentially just sitting on top of air and won't work its way down the vent tube.
I did manage to run a small wire a good 8" or so up through the vent line but I suspect there are too many turns for the wire to push through anymore.
And to answer questions before they are ineveitably asked... yes I do need to seal it. Pinhole leaks on a Valkna tank that served well when I lived in Ohio.. and then moving to Oklahoma in the middle of a 100 degree heat wave last August did it in.
I *knew* I should have kept the bike in the air conditioned living room :lol:
Anyways, assistance and/or pictures are appreciated. I've not found anything online and I can't locate my photos from the Valkna tank assembly I did.
Hop Along
I just did a similar thing to my 83 tank. First gen vent is a metal tube that runs under the tank to the front then bends up and goes inside; my plug was only at the end of the tube inside the tank.
I was able to get a bent metal strap through the fill hole and scrape enough of it loose to get decent flow. If that hadn't worked, I was prepared to cut the vent tube a half inch before it enters the tank so I would have a straight piece of tubing to work on. I figured I could bypass the metal tube with a flexible hose clamped to the stub where I made the cut.
Rick
If I understand you. You have a valk tank on a Magna.
My vent also got clogged. I would blow it open with air and then it would eventually get clogged up again.
I eventually modified the valk. gas cap. Don't remember the details but did a search on the Internet on how to modify the cap. I thought the first gen vented with the cap because I almost got a first gen cap but decided to get a Valk cap and modify it.
If you are sitting on the bike, the vent tube is in the top right quadrant around the filler neck. If you have an inspection mirror (dental mirror) you can see it, you might be able to feel it also if you have long fingers.
will a steel braid wire knock it loose? What about a solid wire like a coat hanger?
Quote from: Imabass on June 01, 2012, 07:48:22 PM
will a steel braid wire knock it loose? What about a solid wire like a coat hanger?
I would think stranded wire would be the way to go... Stiff, but flexible enough to go around bends..
Well since I am learning the Banjo strings are cheap you could use the wound one and may chuck it up in a drill and see if that works cut it at an angle and it will have a point.
Part of today's entertainment is going at it with the assistance of an inspection mirror (thanks for the tips... I hadn't thought of that!)
I'm using the vent chamber still attached to the Valkyrie tank pan as a reference, hoping the vent holes are in relatively the same locations to start working away.
Hopefully I will have good news to post by Monday.
Thanks again!
Hop Along, whose tool collection has been growing these past few weeks :-D
Tool collecting is one of my favorite hobbys also
I have a garage full of tools that I have only used one.
Quote from: roboto65 on June 02, 2012, 10:02:51 AM
Tool collecting is one of my favorite hobbys also
AND that is why Jesse and I had to buy him screwdrivers for the first carb session he held at his house.....
I forgot the little detail you are working on a Valk conversion tank, I don't know the location of those, only for a stock 3rd Gen Magna.
Hey did not say how I collected them just that I like it :lol: :lol: :lol:
I am a tool junkie. What finally broke the habit was I purchased a "nice to have" tool, brought it home, and discovered I already had one in the tool cabinet -- which I had never used!! So now, I buy a tool only if I need it, and don't respond to the sale fliers and other come-ons.
Quote from: lragan on June 02, 2012, 09:55:14 PM
So now, I buy a tool only if I need it, and don't respond to the sale fliers and other come-ons.
Trying to do the same. I found a brand new 134a AC hose and gauge kit I never remember having.
UPdate:
Saturday afternoon was spent trying to peel away the liner off the vent chamber.
Due to the Valk splash gaurd on the filler hole, the top is not directly accessible. Easily fixed, however, with a dremel tool. I elected to go for that vent hole second.
I did get to the bottom vent hole after some trial and error of bending cheap dental picks, courtesy of Harbor Freight. However I really did myself in... I can push the pick into the hole as far as it fits, but I seem to also be just pushing the liner, which also seems to be IN the vent chamber.
Boy does that suck (or not suck, depending on which way the pun turns...)
I'm not convinced chemically stripping the liner out will do the job. Because the liner will still be IN the chamber (I understand the stripper releases the liner, as opposed to dissolving the liner).
So.. options are, I suppose:
-strip the liner and reline, with a hope and a prayer
-keep my current drilled hole at the top of the fuel filler neck (not preferable for several reasons)
-vent the gas cap
-???
Hop Along