Junk in the carbs of today

derrick woods · Mar 26, 2024

So I've been seeing this a whole lot more lately I go to fire up my 81 last night and I noticed I'm down on one cylinder. This will be the second time this has happened check the fuel bowls and one is barely got any in it so I pull the carburetors off and there is algae building in the fuel system now. I've seen this before with some of the other bikes I restored but not this much, I ride year-round so my bikes never sit more than 3 weeks at a time. But I've been noticing algae building in the carbs more frequently this happened on an old GMC pickup I had and it was so bad the float would hang on the buildup,i always use pure gas I never let them sit. Pull the carburetors off they'll be algae in the screens every time my GL 1000 same thing. Has anyone else been noticing this problem lately? Is our fuel so bad now that not only do we have to fight ethanol we now have to fight red algae

mcgovern61 · Mar 26, 2024

Algae needs water to grow. I would be under the opinion that maybe where you are getting your gas there may be water in their storage tanks. Just an opinion.

derrick woods · Mar 26, 2024

mcgovern61 said:
Algae needs water to grow. I would be under the opinion that maybe where you are getting your gas there may be water in their storage tanks. Just an opinion.

Could be moisture I know diesel will get algae during winter in tractors still I'm wondering what has been causing it lately it's very annoying

julimike54 · Mar 27, 2024

Do you run anything extra in the fuel?

derrick woods · Mar 27, 2024

julimike54 said:
Do you run anything extra in the fuel?

No but now with the mention of moisture I may start running some heat or a similar product

Donniebnd · Mar 28, 2024

To keep things working great I run 1 to 2 oz of automatic transmission fluid per gal of gas. Been doing this for years and have always been able to just fire it up after a long winter set. Bonus is trans fluid when mixed with gas is a really good cleaner.

julimike54 · Mar 28, 2024

Having been around small aircraft most of my life, water in fuel is always around (in varying degrees). Pre-flight checks always included draining a sample of fuel from the tanks to look and see if water was excessive. I've seen tanks of fuel pumped out and new put in, because of this, dependent on the severity. Note this was long before the new fuels of now. Storage of fuel will gather water (reason the pilots test) and it will vary with time, humidity and how well the tank is sealed. Maybe you should try draining off some fuel to look for the moisture in the tank, before starting a bike, but pre-treatment would be the best course for me given what you're seeing.