"Dumb question: How and where does the gas leave my tank to the carbs? I
could see gas in the tank but is there a 'dead zone' that never really
drains because of the angle of the tank? If not, I should have been able to
keep it off reserve after popping the gas cap and kept moving on the gas I
could see. Is the gas 'sucked' out or does gravity do it's magic?"
Wa,
I'm a little late here. You now know that your problem is not vapor lock
per se, but more likely the tank-air-lock thing. The gas cap is not hard
to remove, disassemble and clean. Just be careful of little parts jumping
out and note where they go back. There are not that many of them. I agree
with the theories of why you may get the problem some times and not others.
And your comparison to water chugging out of a jug until a vent is poked
into the top is a good one - not exact, but close.
The gas runs freely with gravity from the 3.6 gal main tank to the .8 gal
"sub tank", or reserve, located behind the engine on the left. It is then
pumped from the sub-tank to the carbs. The fuel is under gravity pressure
to the pump until the sub-tank gets kinda low, and then the fuel actually
gets pulled uphill a little on the way to the pump. The higher the fuel
level in the system, the less suceptible to this air-lock phenomenon.
I think I might try the extra key in the cap for a while until the problem
surfaces again and the engine starts sputtering. When it happens, open the
tank first thing without stopping. If that's the problem, the engine will
pick up steam again almost immediately.
Jeff, I have to use the key to close my gas cap.
Jeremy
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