Fuel Pump Fix

First topic message reminder :

After 4 days trying to fix my ruining problems of no power, top speed of 10 kph OR 110 kph and no acceleration. I traced the fault to the fuel pump assembly. Sometimes it would work, other times it wouldn't. Pressure was either good or poor. It looked like a dodgy fuel pump which Suzuki want $700. If i had taken it to a dealer they would have replaced the assembly which would have fixed the problem but cost me $1000.

I'm unemployed at the moment so that was out of the question. I doubt VERY much I'm the only person to have this problem in the past
or future.

Photos and instructions following

46K km and a weird squealing sound has just started. Put my war against the tank and seems to be reverberating in line with the squeal. Is it the fabled fuel pump clogging????

my bike is mucking about at the moment in a similar fashion -Cameron very kindly pulled it to bits and  put a new filter in it for me as i know my limitations, but it's still not right although significant  improvement at higher revs resulted .  it's still farting about in low revs, so its in the shop.  just out of interest the filter was $40........and O rings are $20 each

I've got no running issues as yet. Maybe tomorrow!!!

Seems to have done the trick. Minimal squeal from the fuel pump after a clean. Didn't go the full hog with the copper wire. Just a lotta carb cleaner spray and compressed air.

Last week the bike seemed to lag, and the fuel economy went to the dogs. It would bog down once the revs got above 6500 rpm. Had trouble getting to 100 km/h in 2nd gear. I did the fix like you wrote up except I used a heavier gauge copper wire (old house grade wire) and some carbie cleaner as well. I let the unit sit in the cleaner for a bit and flushed the filter with the cleaner as well. As I suspected a whole heap of brown and black gunk spewed forth.

I took her for a spin and she works well now, with over 150km/h indicated on the change from 2nd to 3rd, with no hesitation.

Thanks a lot mate.

geekay007 wrote:Last week the bike seemed to lag, and the fuel economy went to the dogs. It would bog down once the revs got above 6500 rpm. Had trouble getting to 100 km/h in 2nd gear. I did the fix like you wrote up except I used a heavier gauge copper wire (old house grade wire) and some carbie cleaner as well. I let the unit sit in the cleaner for a bit and flushed the filter with the cleaner as well. As I suspected a whole heap of brown and black gunk spewed forth.

I took her for a spin and she works well now, with over 150km/h indicated on the change from 2nd to 3rd, with no hesitation.

Thanks a lot mate.

Would it be able to be done out on the road if the problem occured ?  And what special tools if any would you need ?

Good question Hammy - the answer is probably a qualified "yes".  But qualified because:
- it's better if there is a 2nd person to hold the tank whilst the electrical connectors are pulled apart
- disconnecting the electrical connectors can be tricky with their locking tangs - small screwdriver or pointy object required
- can't recall if the allen key for hex bolts holding the unit into the tank is in Bandit's toolkit as I used a set from the shed - I raise this because it may be the same size allen key that is required for the mirror adjustment on the 1250s, which isn't in the toolkit (or wasn't in mine at least when bought new)
-obviously a piece of electrical wire, with bared ends, is required 
- cleaning fluids required
- clean area required to do the work (not much point pulling it all apart in the field if doing so puts dirt and grass into the tank)
- locktite to ensure the hex screws holding the pump in don't come loose (if they did, you'd have fuel dripping directly onto the top of the engine)

Can't think of any other tricky bits but I have a feeling I've missed something.

It just casts doubt in your mind, especially just before a big ride.  Should I attack it now to be sure. Or am I just worrying about something that may not happen. Does injector cleaner in the tank help ?

Hammy wrote: Does injector cleaner in the tank help ?

I would have thought so ....................I put it in mine every few thousand / if it can dissolve crap in the injectors , you would think it would help in the filter/pump.
I may be wrong , but that's my theory .

Hammy wrote:

geekay007 wrote:Last week the bike seemed to lag, and the fuel economy went to the dogs. It would bog down once the revs got above 6500 rpm. Had trouble getting to 100 km/h in 2nd gear. I did the fix like you wrote up except I used a heavier gauge copper wire (old house grade wire) and some carbie cleaner as well. I let the unit sit in the cleaner for a bit and flushed the filter with the cleaner as well. As I suspected a whole heap of brown and black gunk spewed forth.

I took her for a spin and she works well now, with over 150km/h indicated on the change from 2nd to 3rd, with no hesitation.

Thanks a lot mate.

Would it be able to be done out on the road if the problem occurred ?  And what special tools if any would you need ?

Apart from a 10mm spanner, 5mm Allen key and a Phillips head screwdriver, the only other necessary bit is the copper wire. If I had to do it by the side of the road, I'd do it, but slow and steady. You would need water to flush the crap out of the regulator assembly, as the copper wire ends will wear into fine particles. Fine metallic particles are an engine's worst enemy. Also the fuel mesh filter needs flushing as well. You would also have to wait until everything dries. The O rings would have to be treated carefully, especially the one sealing the tank. Be sure to torque those Allen bolts going in a criss-cross star pattern in 2-3 stages otherwise the whole thing is liable to go up in flames!

The best bet is to do it before a long trip, especially if the bike has over 30,000 km. Mine had 33,000 km when I started to notice a significant loss in acceleration. I will probably include this procedure with every 4th oil change (24,000km) just as a prophylaxis.  Many other members had roughly that many kilometres on the clock before the problems started.

Got the best of me so I took her apart today just in case. All ok. Clean as a whistle. Cleaned it all anyway. Sweet.
Big cheers to Gus.

A sense of satisfaction no doubt - what you want now is a trouble free run for at least another 24,000kms.  

Hammy wrote:Got the best of me so I took her apart today just in case. All ok. Clean as a whistle. Cleaned it all anyway. Sweet.
Big cheers to Gus.

peace of mind anyway  

paul wrote:

Hammy wrote:Got the best of me so I took her apart today just in case. All ok. Clean as a whistle. Cleaned it all anyway. Sweet.
Big cheers to Gus.

peace of mind anyway  

Yes Paul. But I will now tellya what happened next. After putting her all back together I turned the key. Silence. No buzz from the injectors. Strange. Hit the botton. Nothing. What ? Checked everything. Kill switch ok. Seat off. Turn key. No power to PowerCommander. No lights flashing. Panic is now setting in. Oh no ! maybe a blown fuse. Check. No. Tank off. Again. Maybe I did not connect plugs properly. No. all ok. Back together again. Turn key. "Chec " warning on dash. Hmmm. Look again.  Ding !  No neutral light.  Surely not. Flicked gear shift lever into neutral. Bizzz, click click, fizz.  Hit button .  Frrrrrmmmmmm.  Heart rate back down from 450. Dog comes out of hiding.  Lucky Jan was not there to witness that one.  Hey!  I'm gettin'old.  That's my excuse.

   
Now you've told us tho, & you're seeing a few of us within a week! 

    Shit like that happens to the best of us .

Kiwisteve wrote:   
Now you've told us tho, & you're seeing a few of us within a week! 

It's OK. I can laugh at myself.

Hammy wrote:

paul wrote:

Hammy wrote:Got the best of me so I took her apart today just in case. All ok. Clean as a whistle. Cleaned it all anyway. Sweet.
Big cheers to Gus.

peace of mind anyway  

Yes Paul. But I will now tellya what happened next. After putting her all back together I turned the key. Silence. No buzz from the injectors. Strange. Hit the botton. Nothing. What ? Checked everything. Kill switch ok. Seat off. Turn key. No power to PowerCommander. No lights flashing. Panic is now setting in. Oh no ! maybe a blown fuse. Check. No. Tank off. Again. Maybe I did not connect plugs properly. No. all ok. Back together again. Turn key. "Chec " warning on dash. Hmmm. Look again.  Ding !  No neutral light.  Surely not. Flicked gear shift lever into neutral. Bizzz, click click, fizz.  Hit button .  Frrrrrmmmmmm.  Heart rate back down from 450. Dog comes out of hiding.  Lucky Jan was not there to witness that one.  Hey!  I'm gettin'old.  That's my excuse.

That's funny but strangely familiar.

Hi Gus and Co. I picked up a bad batch of juice, only $10 of ULP(I always use Premium but none was available) in a little town on the way back from Sydney last fortnight and almost didn't get her home. I found your post on this forum and summoned the courage to try the fix. All went O.k but I took the bike for a run and still missing and farting. Definitely no better I would say worse. Drained the tank again today,more crap in the fuel so again carby cleaner from the fuel pump outlet to the screen at the pump connection and a definitely healthy flow through the troublesome screen and a good washout of the screen on the pump suction. Too dark to reassemble the tank now so wait till tomorrow and more fresh fuel and try again. Do the plugs foul or give trouble when this sort of thing happens? Will the rough running damage the engine internally?

Thanks for the tip Gus, something I'll have to start looking at in the next 10-15000km.

Craig67, welcome aboard, why don't you drop into the intro thread and tell us a bit about yourself

Plugs and everything will be fine  .I'm going through the same thing on the sv ,runs fine all day and then splutters .I wish it would just stop then I could trace the problem . Its carbs so no pump .

Changed out those plugs, no different. Checked all the plugs/electrical connectors, fuel lines whatever I could think of, no improvement. PUCK. Then I spoke briefly to a local mechanic about my drama and he suggested disconecting the battery to reset the ECU. Did that, had a coffee and reconnected the battery, Hey presto four cylinders back in action and back to normal. took it for a good run this arv and no problems so riding to Sydney next week yay. And thanks Mondo.  

A BIG thankyou to Gus!
I've had the "fuel pump fix" in the back of my mind for a while now, just waiting for the tell tale signs. Well, it happened for me on the way to work this morning. No power past 3 or 4 grand, and the gradual loss of power over the past week or so. Not bad for 63000kms!!
I got home ok, and decided to give Gus' fuel pump fix a go. Piece of piss! Pretty easy job really, and I found a new aftershave lotion in the process!!! Nulon carb cleaner........mmmmmmmm!  
The whole job took just over 2 hours (taking pics, and consuming an ale)! Reckon next time will take under an hour. Best of all........the ol Bandit goes like its supposed to!
Thanks again Gus..........bloody legend!

sb1250 wrote:A BIG thankyou to Gus!
I've had the "fuel pump fix" in the back of my mind for a while now, just waiting for the tell tale signs. Well, it happened for me on the way to work this morning. No power past 3 or 4 grand, and the gradual loss of power over the past week or so. Not bad for 63000kms!!
I got home ok, and decided to give Gus' fuel pump fix a go. Piece of piss! Pretty easy job really, and I found a new aftershave lotion in the process!!! Nulon carb cleaner........mmmmmmmm!  
The whole job took just over 2 hours (taking pics, and consuming an ale)! Reckon next time will take under an hour. Best of all........the ol Bandit goes like its supposed to!
Thanks again Gus..........bloody legend!

Great news ...............plus you'll smell nice now,& be a huge hit with all the ladies   

Gus, the Bandit fuel pump legend, is owed!!