Slow to pick up from reserve fuel setting...?

Here's one I've been meaning to ask for a while.

Ever since I moved from sea level to almost a mile above sea level, in 2009, my XJ600 has been really really slow to pick up fuel when switching to reserve. It takes several minutes before the fuel flow evens out. Have to keep the throttle open a bit at stops, and it really jerks along when trying to move. When on a freeway, sometimes I even have to exit because I can't keep speed.

It used to pick up in seconds when switching over.

Anyone else have this behavior at high altitude? Is it just a lack of air pressure pushing the fuel down the bottom of the tank? (Certainly, my toothpaste tube gushed out when I opened it on my first day at this altitude, making me quite aware of the difference in pressure up here.)

 

I'd pull the petcock and give it a once over to make sure something isn't amiss.

 

Yeah, pull the petcock. I live just over 3,000 feet up according to the local AWOS and my XJ runs great. And welcome to Nevada, if your info shows the new place.

 

You might have a partial blockage in the tank vent. With the head weight of fuel it may be able to overcome it but as the tank nears empty it creates a partial vacuum. Try opening the fuel cap when it happens and see if there's an improvement. If not the petcock probably does need work.

 

What YEAR XJ600 is that? You're not afflicted with a fuel pump, are you?

 

"When on a freeway, sometimes I even have to exit because I can't keep speed."


If you are getting OFF the freeway while using the fuel reserve setting, why aren't you buying gas?!?!?! (Regardless of petcock issues).

 

Guess I hadn't turned notifications on.

Anyway, since I needed a new tire and brakes, I let the shop handle this problem, which actually got so bad that the bike was no longer rideable.

It was perhaps altitude related. A clamp in the fuel line which certainly was fine at sea level was not tight enough at this altitude and it was letting air into the system, which made it progressively worse to the point where it was beginning to starve even before going on reserve, and finally constantly starving even on a full tank (unless I kept it below 45 mph).

They fixed that, then started up the bike prior to me picking it up, and SPLOOSH all the oil dumped out. The big black plug/seal on the side of the engine (the "stator cover plug") broke. Possibly unrelated and fortuitous that it failed in their hands and not while I was on the road. But maybe the increased fuel pressure from the repaired fuel line had something to do with it? Who knows.

Anyway, I finally have the bike back and running after these three major problems in a row (clutch failure, fuel starvation, broken plug). My fiancée is happy that she can sleep in now rather than always having to take me to work!

And boy, do I have a mountain-roads jones...