Dropped Sta-bil round plastic seal thing into gas tank

[spoonyfork]

So I am winterizing my 2008 R1200R because winter finally came to Michigan. I topped off the gas tank and went to pour in some Sta-bil when I noticed the round plastic seal thing (not the cap itself) was stuck to the mouth of the Sta-bil bottle but before I had a chance to upright the bottle and remove it the damn seal slid off the top and bounced perfectly to land inside of the gas tank. Panicked, I looked around inside the tank for the seal but it must have sunk to the bottom.

As you might imagine I'm now freaking out about the gas line getting stopped up by this plastic seal. I fear that I need to remove the tank and fish it out. Thoughts?

[dbrick]

There's a strainer (part no. 2) on the fuel inlet; if the strainer is in place and not damaged, the plastic seal thing can't get to the fuel pump.

[spoonyfork]

Thanks for the reply David. I guess my concern would be if this round flat disk seal thing about 1/2 to 3/4 inch in diameter could somehow completely block the screen. Based on your knowledge do you think something like that is possible and if so, how likely?

[dbrick]

Who knows? The bike's not decades old, so the strainer is probably intact and in place. It's hard to imagine a 3/4" plastic disk getting sucked into the fuel intake within the strainer.

I can appreciate your anxiety about it. Removing the whole fuel pump assembly is doable, 'tho you have to pull the tank and disconnect the fuel line connections. Originally, those connections are plastic (many owners have replaced them with sturdier metal ones) and can break. An easier investigation could be done by removing the tank filler (half-a-dozen smallish Torx fasteners), which opens a pretty good hole into the tank, should be big enough to get one's hand inside. Perhaps you can feel around the bottom of the tank and retrieve the disk manually.

[mogu83]

This is kind of basic so excuse me if you already tried this.

Try running the bike low on fuel and then look in the filled cap with a flashlight (turn it on before you go near the open tank) to see if you can see the thing laying on the bottom or floating around. If you can see it consider getting a universal mechanics pickup tool to grab it.

If that don't work you may have to take the tank off put a half gallon of fuel in it, sloch it around and then dump it out through the filler cap. Keep doinguntiltill the cap floats out with the fuel. OR just leave it there, worst case scenario is you'll feel like it's running out of gas and you will have to rock the bike back and forth till the cap floats away from the gas filter screen.

IMHO

[Bob Ain't Stoppin']

Just a thought here, but if this seal fell on the right side of the center hump, it can't get a the fuel pump. Also, if it sinks, it won't get sucked up anyway.

Next time you pull the tank, just turn it upside down and let the thing fall out.

[David R]

I don't think it could possibly cause the bike to shut down. The "sock" or pick up screen is much bigger and not exactly 3/4" round.

I would not sweat it at all. Find it at next filter change or fuel pump removal for another reason.

David

[tinytrains]

When I replaced the float assembly in my K75, I found a strange 1/2" plastic filter screen in the tank that was not part of the bike. I have no idea when or how it got in there, but it was there a long time and never caused any problems. I would still fish around with the grabber for it just on principal.

[Clem]

It's a non-issue. Bob, DavidR & Tiny are right on. Worry about the Super Bowl or the ice in Antartica...

[spoonyfork]

I tried to let it go but I couldn't. Today I fished it out. Thanks for the protip Harry.

Gotcha!

[mogu83]

Congratulations: Now you have nothing to do while your waiting for the nice weather to come back.

[metalclaus]

I tried to let it go but I couldn't. Today I fished it out. Thanks for the protip Harry.

Gotcha!

Nice catch!!

[deilenberger]

It's great to see someone as obsessive as I am..