Kind of slipped away from this form. Just been riding the old bike without a second thought. Gas, oil, tires, battery and all WAS good....Until my "last ride of the season ride" Sunday. The grey lady, '93 K100LT/46,000 milers died within 5 miles of town after a 250 mile run. But its time to check to the forum now.

Symptoms kind of indicate fueling. Simply quit when I slowed for a car slowing ahead. Plumb dead. Coasted to a convenient driveway. All lights and power seemed good. Turned over briskly, but no fire. Finally fired and would run at a very slow idle speed, but stall/die if any throttle was applied. Then no more fire again. Called Spouse taxi and recovered the bike the next day. Bike has been totally trouble free since I picked it up three - four years ago. Nice tour up through Canada last August.

So any advice before I start looking? Somewhere I have a shop manual, but can't locate it as yet.

Does the ol' girl have the original fuel pump?  Could be something as simple as that or, perhaps the fuel filter is full of crap?  Checking that the fuel is flowing would be an easy place to begin your trouble shooting.

A good place to start before you do any troubleshooting (see the link on the Portal page) is to remove the tank and clean all contacts and connections paying particular attention to the earths connections under the tank, gearbox, starter motor brushes.
Also, make sure the plug on your ICU (under tank behind the steering head) and the FICU (below seat) are properly clean and securely plugged. Its not unheard of for these to come loose.

brickrider2 wrote:Does the ol' girl have the original fuel pump?  Could be something as simple as that or, perhaps the fuel filter is full of crap?  Checking that the fuel is flowing would be an easy place to begin your trouble shooting.

Very likely has the original fuel pump.

Does one have to remove fairings to remove the tank? Have it loose, but it appears fuel lines or such on front corner are holding it back.

wansfel wrote:Does one have to remove fairings to remove the tank?  Have it loose, but it appears fuel lines or such on front corner are holding it back.

Partial fairing removal is required to get the tank off.

Remove both glove boxes and remove left hand lower fairing (no need to touch the right hand lower fairing). This will now give you access to the jubilee clips that secure the fuel supply and return lines to the fuel tank stub pipes under the front left side of the tank. Once slackened, with some gentle wiggling, the hoses should slide off (you will get a small discharge of fuel - so no naked lights!!). You will then be able to lift the rear of the tank out of the retaining slots (assuming you've removed the circlips, if still fitted) and lift the tank up and back until it is clear. Don't forget to unplug the fuel pump connector situated at the rear right of the tank...and plug it back in again when you complete your rebuild. Of course, the fuel pump plug could be a source of you problems too - it's not unheard of to find the connection becomes loose over time, which obviously will affect the running of your fuel pump.

Probably much easier to work on the pump etc with the tank on a work bench (especially if you have crud in the tank that needs swilling out etc.), but I'm not sure whether it is essential to remove the tank in order to change/inspect the fuel pump - some wiser member will advise you on that score.

Remove both glove boxes and remove left hand lower fairing (no need to touch the right hand lower fairing). This will now give you access to the jubilee clips that secure the fuel supply and return lines to the fuel tank stub pipes under the front left side of the tank.

That's assuming it does have Jubilee clips. The original clips don't seem to be screw on types and you may have to cut them. Holister popped up a post with some stainless steel clips that are used on the BMW R bikes and are really good, make sure to get some. Total of 6 needed if you so all the fuel lines.

Have some new fuel line because they go brittle and you should replace them. A metre length is not expensive over here. 8mm/13mm rated for fuel injection systems. Mine cracked on the LT first time I took the tank off.

Be careful taking the fuel lines off the tank, heavy hand can break the spigots off the tank.

The fairing parts are quite easy to get off, once you get the hang of it its a 10 minute job. The only painted part that you need off is the lower left panel with the vents. Even better is that if you align the clips on the fuel lines at the tank when you put it all back you can remove the tank without taking off the painted panel, just get a screwdriver in through the vents. You make the new fuel lines longer so you can lift the rear of the tank to access the electrical box without disconnecting the fuel lines, it also allows you to pull the tank back to access the refill cap on the radiator.

Thanks for the advice. Before I fully pull the tank, I'll pull the filter and pump to check them out, but no mater what, I'll go ahead and pull the tank and replace hoses etc. and air filter.

Quick question. Pulled the fuel filter. Seems clear, flows easily. Checked voltage on fuel pump. Getting voltage, but no fuel movement. So, can I assume the fuel pump is bad?

No pump movement? The pump is noisy so if noisy and no fuel it will look like a new pump.

Pulled the pump and bench tested it. Locked up solid. Disassembled the pump - bent back the dimples on top. Couldn't find anything, but its hard to catch anything when you pull the pump part and the five little rollers leave their assigned place. Got them back in place. Reassembled (brushes where fun to get back onto the commutator). (Just so you know I am a curious sort and did do a lot of electric motor work - 40 years ago.)

Ran fine on a 12v bench source. The pump holder inlet screen and tank look surgically clean. But, if something in the pump was warn to the point it bound up once, it could in all honesty happen again, so I will source a replacement and refit. I see lots of potential auto pumps searching the Internet. Looks like you just have to be creative fitting the pump into the rubber vibration holder. But its good to know how these things work and that a person could shade tree one if required back in the middle of nowhere.

You will find that most fuel pumps will work quite well however getting one that will fit easily narrows the range.
This is a list of pumps that do fit. Have a hunt around on ebay and get a good price, I have seen some of these for as little as $25 USD.


SUITABLE FOR:
HOLDEN Commodore VK EFI, VL turbo and non turbo, VN onwards V6 and V8 sedan wagon statesman
HOLDEN Camira JD JE Astra Calibra
FORD Falcon XE XF EFI
FERRARI 412i Coupe
NISSAN Skyline Pintara Pulsar Bluebird
 
ALFA ROMEO 33 Alfetta 75 90 GTV Spider
BMW M3 E30 M5 E28 318i 320i 323i 325e 325i 520i 525e 528i 535i 633Csi 635Csi E23 733i, E23 735i
CITROEN
FIAT Argenta Brava Regata Strada Ritmo X19
JAGUAR XJ6 XJs Sovereign
LANCIA Beta Delta Gamma Prisma Trevi Y10 Turbo
LOTUS Esprit Turbo
MASERATI Bi Turbo
MERCEDES-BENZ
MG Metro Turbo Maestro Montego
MITSUBISHI Colt Turbo Lancer
OPEL Ascona Corse Kadett Manta Monza Omega Rekord Vectra
PEUGEOT 205 309GTi 405 505
RENAULT R5 Turbo R11 Turbo R18 Turbo R19 R21 Turbo R25 Turbo Espace Quadra Fuego
ROVER SD1 Vitesse 3500 Vanden Plas RANGE ROVER LAND ROVER 3.5 & 3.9 EFI
SEAT Ibiza Malaga
VOLKSWAGEN Transporter Caravelle
Mapco 22301

Thanks for all the input. Picture from Sunday before the "incident". The bike was probably getting back at me for taking it on a dirt stretch that had some killer pot holes and slimy mud sections. Skalkaho Falls. This stretch is seasonal and will close for the season shortly.

A good many of the pumps on that exhaustive list that could be used in our bikes are pretty rare here in the US.  If you are willing to pay a (likely) slight premium over what you could find on eBay, I suggest you contact EME, right here in the Rockies!  I've come to depend on them for both airhead and K-bike parts.  They are close (Colorado) and reliable.  EME can have you on the road again well before you have to winterize the ol' girl!

Ebay sourced an E8023 fuel pump. $10.98 - free shipping. Dimensions virtually identical to the OEM. Terminals identical. Only the case diameter was a couple mm shy which I corrected with a couple of wraps of heavy duty aluminum foil. Used the original screen filter. Seems to fit & work perfect. Impeller looks to be a turbine design as opposed to the original design. Had to give it a try given the price. Fired up immediately and seem to garage test perfectly. Road test tomorrow.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/162031698005