Vn800A carburetor flooded?

backtofront · 11-10-2012, 04:57 PM

Hi guys,
2001 VN800A here
About 4 miles into my ride today slowing down for a red light i pulled the clutch and felt that the bike is not idling right and loosing power, so by the time i came to a complete stop engine cut out completely. At first i thought i was out of gas, so i turned to reserve tried to start, but no luck. I opened the gas tank and could see it was at least half full. Tried to start it a couple of more times to no avail. Then i smelled gas and noticed some was dripping from the hypercharger drain (i know hyperchargers are silly but bike came with it) onto the pipes/road. I could see that the bottom part of the air filter is soaked. I took the key out at pushed her to a nearby parking lot, waited an hour, tried to start her again and it seemed like engine was firing and actually started when i gave it a lot of throttle but cut out immediately as i eased the throttle. Then, i noticed the inside of the exhaust pipe was wet and it turned out to be gas (gas would also drip from the drain opening on the bottom side of the hypercharger). I'm fairly new to motorcycles (this is my first bike, got it 5 months ago). What do you think it might be?
A couple of things that came to my mind. Right before the ride i put on my saddlebags, so i had to take off the seat and put it back on. Could I have squeezed a hose that caused the problem?
Also, I suspect the bike is set to run rich since it would start with no choke even when it was 40 out and my gas mileage was not as high as other people report (i would get ~40 mpg sometimes even a bit lower). Could that have contributed to the issue?
Any input will be greatly appreciated! Bike is currently sitting at parking lot about 5 miles from my house, so i can either go fiddle with it tomorrow and possibly have it towed to the shop.

Phil in Maine · 11-10-2012, 05:32 PM

Well its most likely not something major, but obviously its a pain in the ass.

Since the bike was leaking gas out while running you most likely have an issue with the float or the needle valve or its just plain gunked up.

Hopefully you can get the bike home and then you can remove the carb and take a look. Personally, I would give it a solid cleaning while you are at it.

If you have zero experience with doing this then I would recommend picking up a Clymer manual.

There is a lot of info in the forums and on the web. The carb on the 800 is a CVK36.

Good Luck!

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backtofront · 11-10-2012, 05:36 PM

I have the clymer manual, previous owner gave it to me along with bike. He also said carburetor was cleaned two weeks before I bought the bike. I think I will take the seat off tomorrow inspect all hoses and try starting her again. If that doesn't work I will have to figure out a way to get the bike back to my house

Phil in Maine · 11-10-2012, 05:52 PM

Well unfortunately its hard to determine what that person might have defined as "cleaning". For a lot of people that is defined as maybe dropping the bowl and spraying some carb cleaner around and closing it up.

The issue is pretty much guaranteed to be carb related since this happened while it was running.
There is also the possibility that the petcock is bad, but that usually results in gas leaking from the carb or into the rear cylinder when the bike is not running.

The related hoses are the 2 that run from the petcock to the carb. The larger is the fuel and the smaller is the vacuum that operates the petcock.

Unfortunately removing the seat will really only show you the battery and fuses.

Hopefully in the morning you can keep it running enough for the trip back home.

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Phil in Maine · 11-10-2012, 06:05 PM

Actaully you might as well test out the petcock in the morning since its very easy.

The quick easy way is to have it set to ON and remove the fuel line, the large hose that attaches at the bottom of the valve. Only a small amount of gas should come out and then fully stop. If it doesnt stop, go online and buy a new OEM petcock.

If the petcock is fine then you know its the carb.

You have to remember that the bike is basically 12 years old and probably didn't have the worlds greatest maintenence.

With a little love it will perform well.

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knightrider · 11-10-2012, 06:58 PM

backtofront, I had the exact same problem a couple days ago, Check out my "fuel problem?" post on the same page as yours for how I fixed it