| Author | Message | ||
     Ksc12c |
I have one of those handlebar bags in which I kept some lip balm. When I stopped to refuel, I reached for my sun glasses and they snagged the lip balm. I watching in horror as the lip balm dropped right into the Open Gas tank. What a dumb move! The question is how do I get it out of my gas tank? I tried siphoning all the gas out, laying the bike on its side. I jacked the back end, hoping it would roll toward the front. No luck. Do I have remove the Fuel Pump? The service manual says you have to remove the Swing arm. Looks like allot of work. Any ideas on how get it out? What a crappy ending to a really nice ride. Kevin | ||
| Dmmblaze |
Try a powerful shop vac. Hopefully it can suck it out | ||
| Gamdh |
Remove the bolt on the bottom of the rear shock then jack the bike up a bit.. that will give you clearance to get the fuel pump out. | ||
| Ksc12c |
I thought about the shop Vac. I was worried about the Gas Vapors igniting. | ||
| Dmmblaze |
Hmm, I didn't think about that. I have used shop vac's in the past to clean up some pretty flammable crap.... maybe I am lucky I didn't blow up.. hehehe... I wonder if filling it with water before you tried would safe guard against any potential gas vapors igniting... or having a hepa filter on it | ||
| Okc99 |
Come on guys, remember those old fashioned tools...like a siphon! Hardware store for $5 with a little pump. Or just use your garden hose and suck. | ||
| Dmmblaze |
He said he tried a siphon... maybe he needs to find someone with a bit more sucking prowess Okc. you available to help him out? hehehe... jk | ||
| Dentguy |
The good news is the mouth of your throttle body isn't going to get chapped. Now that I got the joke out of the way. Is it possible that the lip balm floats or did you see it sink? If it floats (fingers crossed) you might be able to fill it and grab it. If not, pull the pump. | ||
| Mikef5000 |
What about one of those little borescopes, and one of those little little claw jobbies. Like this:  Combined with this:  I wouldn't go out and buy the stuff, but find somebody with one that will let you use it for 5 minutes for twenty bucks or a case of beer. I would call up some home inspectors first. Also the automotive program at the local college has a nice one of those borescopes. Just some food for thought. | ||
| Okc99 |
Buy window insulation that is stick on 1 side. That black stuff 1 inch this. Stick a piece on a hangar and fish for it. That stuff is very sticky and should pick it up. | ||
| Dio |
The thing I'd be concerned with is the gas dissolving the lip balm tube and it's contents, and the results it may have on the fuel delivery system! Gas will dissolve weatherstrip and adhesives and make for a real mess. I'd advise against using that. | ||
| Mikef5000 |
I thought he already drained the gas tank!? | ||
| Court |
It'd be my luck to find out the two combine into a powerful binary explosive . . | ||
| Mikef5000 |
sweeeeeet | ||
| Rwven |
Lip balm is mostly waxes and oils isn't it? I don't think it will do any harm. | ||
| Ratbuell |
It'd be my luck to find out the two combine into a powerful binary explosive . . Call Adam and Jamie at Mythbusters. If anyone would know about what's good stuff to make things go "boom".... +1 on the fill-n-float method. Fill cap is the high point; if its a plastic chap-stick kinda tube, it should bob right up to the top. Grab another, and a jar, and some gas...and try. If you don't want to dissolve it, sacrifice 4.4g of cheap gas to float it...then put the gas in your mower or something, and put "real" gas in the bike. | ||
| Cyclonedon |
Dropped lip balm into the gas tank I bet you wish you had a Blast now! all kidding a side, drain the gas and remove the fuel pump, it should come out there. While the fuel pump is out you can check the wiring to see if it's in good condition. I know this is lots of work, but that would be the only way I know how to get it out. Good Luck & keep us posted on the out come. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
DON'T use a shopvac! The sparks from the motor will ignite the vapor! | ||
| Pso |
I just took out my fuel pump to check the wireing and do the p.m. so that I would not get stranded by chaffed wires (this was a problem w/06 Uly's). Easy to do just remove lower bolt of shock, jack up bike and wiggle out fuel pump. U DO NOT need to remove swing arm to remove pump. I did need a spare O ring for the base of the pump because I had not removed the rear shock bolt when taking out pump and ended up tearing the O ring while wiggleing out pump. The rear shock lower bolt is also very easy to do. I have some spare O rings on order from Al so when they come in ( Al says they are on back order)if you need them I will get them out to you. | ||
| Ronmold |
Borrow or rent a couple of come-a-longs or block & tackles, strap to the wheels and hang it upside down. And please post pictures!  | ||
| Dmmblaze |
Yeah the Shop vac was a bad initial idea since even though he siphoned out the gas there is undoubtedly still some in there. I wonder if a drum pump would have enough suction to get it out? http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/serv let/product_6970_137382_137382 | ||
| Dmmblaze |
I would call some local auto shops, I bet they have commercial grade pumps way better then that cheap one I listed from northern tool. Plus one of em more likely then not has seen and dealt with a similar issue in the past. | ||
| Johnboy777 |
You might wanna try the ChapStick Hotline: 1-800-322-3129 Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. . | ||
| Dmmblaze |
Hmm, Pfizer does make Viagra, do you think they have a research team dedicated to different forces of sucking and how said forces affect people taking their product Johnboy777? | ||
| Alchemy |
I would be VERY sure it dropped in the tank. It can be quite a hassle looking for something that is not there. Murphy's law and all. | ||
| Panhead_dan |
"Borrow or rent a couple of come-a-longs or block & tackles, strap to the wheels and hang it upside down. And please post pictures!" I know most won't take this seriously but the truth is that a whole bunch of work can be saved by laying your bike on it's side (or upside down in this case). I have done it several times. Drain the oil and gas, remove your mirrors, lay the bike carefully over onto a padded surface like your old lady's couch cushions, tie the wheels to a lifting device and hoist her up. It should either fall out or hang up right at the lip. You should be riding again in a couple of hours at little or no expense. | ||
| Ksc12c |
You guys are funny  I drained the fuel out and tried the Shop Vac which was pretty scary. I kept the bike and Vac as far as possible from house, just in case things went bad. I was picturing a giant mushroom cloud coming up from the shop Vac and engulfing me and the Uly. I think the angle is to great to suck the lip balm up hill anyway. The Lip balm sunk like a rock, so I know its at the bottom of my tank. I'm going to pull the Fuel Pump out and see what I can see. (PSO) I should be able to wiggle the pump out instead of using the special tool? | ||
| Tootal |
I heard on the CB radio about this young lady that hangs out at the truck stop. They say she can suck the sand out of cement, might try finding her. I think she charges about 10 bucks!!  | ||
| Hughlysses |
Kevin- is this lip balm like chapstick ("lipstick" type container) or some of the stuff that comes in a small metal tin? If it's a metal tin, you might snake a magnet down there and snag it. Very little in there is magnetic so you would have a good chance at getting it. If it's plastic, I'd be tempted to leave it. The gas probably dissolved the lip balm stuff pretty quickly so I'd bet it's all gone. The plastic tube might just sit there for the next ~20 years without hurting anything. | ||
| Etennuly |
 This is the first thread in a long time that made me laugh this hard!!(South Park Episode excluded). Don't forget there is supposed to be some kind of coating on the inside of the tank. Scratching it with tools can't be a good idea. The fuel pump removal is relatively easy, and seeing that you have an '06 it would be a great time to do that little bit of preventative maintenance by coating the wires with heat shrink and putting in new filters(which may now be necessary). I did mine in under a couple of hours including taking pictures of the program and having to answer the phone a couple of times. Probably at best a three beer job. |
