Fuel Gauge & Miles to Empty Stuck - any ideas on fix?

[cjctucson]

I have a 2019 Ryker 900 ACE. On a recent road trip with a couple non-Ryker riders, I tried to fill my gas take as full as possible each time with an extra couple of clicks of the gas pump after its auto shut off. After the second last attempt, the fuel gauge and the "Miles to Empty" both did not budge from Full for the fuel gauge and jumping from 90-110 on the "Miles to Empty". Is the gas measurement a mechanical thing (i.e. is some sort of float stuck all the way at the top of the tank) or is it electronic sensors along the side of the inside of the tank? Either way; got any ideas for the way to fix it. I have been through about 3 tanksful and some rough roads, so a bouncing and shaking hasn't fixed it. Any guidance will be appreciated. Thx, Chuck

 

[DickB]

There is a float that is a part of the fuel pump assembly. The pump has to be aligned precisely to prevent the float from sticking. Try rotating it slightly to see if it frees up.

 

[Gwolf]

As you are probably already aware........before there were fuel gauges on motorcycles, we went by the odometer or trip meters if there was one. You know about how many miles you can go before you need to fuel up. Set trip meter when you fuel up and don't worry about it until nearing the max miles for a tank.

Antway, it is something to fall back on until you get the fuel gauge fixed.

Spyder was the first motorcyle I ever owned that even had a working fuel gauge on it, and that is a lot of motorcycles, and a lot of miles.

 

[Mikey]

:agree: And if you want a real acid test take a small can of gas with you and fill your tank on the bike to the brim like you did before and run it out of fuel, that way you know rock bottom, verses miles and keep that back in the brain bucket! Please don't make it a habit of draining you tank to vapor, the fuel pump would not like that! Miles to dead would be my choice of weapons.

 

[Peter Aawen]

:agree: And if you want a real acid test take a small can of gas with you and fill your tank on the bike to the brim like you did before and run it out of fuel, that way you know rock bottom, verses miles and keep that back in the brain bucket! Please don't make it a habit of draining you tank to vapor, the fuel pump would not like that! Miles to dead would be my choice of weapons.

PLEASE DON'T DO THAT!!

If at all possible, JUST DON'T DO IT!

NOT ONCE; NOT EVER!! :yikes:

With modern fuel injected engines like those our Spyders and Rykers have, running the fuel tank dry WILL DAMAGE the fuel pump &/or more things in the injector system itself - the damage done is irreversible, and even if you never run it dry again; that initial damage does and will gradually get worse over time, slowly but inevitably reducing your engine's ability to produce power, to run as economically as it can, and ultimately, to run at all!! :banghead:

So please, if you don't want to either destroy your engine or eventually bring down an expensive repair/replacement bill on yourself,

NEVER RUN YOUR FUEL TANK TO EMPTY!!

It NEEDS at least a few litres of clean fuel remaining in it ALL THE TIME it's running!! :lecturef_smilie:

 

[cjctucson]

Thanks everybody. I certainly am used to using a trip odometer and reset it to zero at each gas fill. I just liked having the clock up there and the instant reading of the "miles til empty" reading. Having only played with the trip odometer once I thought I remembered it was harder to get to try to go through all those possible items for the upper button. Certainly I can switch back and forth between Trip A and Clock as I wish. I always have someplace in the back of my mind how far along I am on a tank of gas. I have no skills, nor intention of running the Ryker empty on purpose. I also have for a long time carried a siphon that is easy to use and a very small bottle approved for gasoline. The siphon will only work from a gas tank higher than mine, to mine. With the bottle, I could always use the siphon to the bottle (on the ground), then pour into my tank using that nifty funnel they provide. While I like to use back roads for all my riding, I am never quite that far from some gas if I need. So, my chance of running empty is only from my own neglect of checking how far I have gone on this tank. Lastly, I do not wish to delve into trying to get inside the tank and release the stuck float. I appreciate all your help and suggestions and I am quite happy with the final outcome (short of getting the miles to empty reading). Now let's get out there and ride these things. Thanks again, Chuck

 

[Raven]

The Ryker has a odd shaped tank, so your fuel gauge is not even close to being right.
I have never trusted a miles to empty gauge. If you are in hilly country or were there are a lot of speed changes, it is going to drop really fast.
My Ryker shows full till about half a tank, then drops.
The Ryker has a 20 liter (5.28 US gallons).
Reset the trip when you fill up, next fill up see how far you have ridden and how much fuel you have used.
Say you rode 100 miles and used 2 gallons, you have 3.28 gallons left so you could go at least another 100 miles and still be in the safe zone.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

The Ryker has a odd shaped tank, so your fuel gauge is not even close to being right.
I have never trusted a miles to empty gauge. If you are in hilly country or were there are a lot of speed changes, it is going to drop really fast.
My Ryker shows full till about half a tank, then drops.
The Ryker has a 20 liter (5.28 US gallons).
Reset the trip when you fill up, next fill up see how far you have ridden and how much fuel you have used.
Say you rode 100 miles and used 2 gallons, you have 3.28 gallons left so you could go at least another 100 miles and still be in the safe zone.

I also use the 'monitor your mpg's via the odo' method .... However, how much the tank holds in fuel isn't necessarily how much of that gas that can actually be used! .....Mike :thumbup:

 

[Mikey]

PLEASE DON'T DO THAT!!

If at all possible, JUST DON'T DO IT!

NOT ONCE; NOT EVER!! :yikes:

With modern fuel injected engines like those our Spyders and Rykers have, running the fuel tank dry WILL DAMAGE the fuel pump &/or more things in the injector system itself - the damage done is irreversible, and even if you never run it dry again; that initial damage does and will gradually get worse over time, slowly but inevitably reducing your engine's ability to produce power, to run as economically as it can, and ultimately, to run at all!! :banghead:

So please, if you don't want to either destroy your engine or eventually bring down an expensive repair/replacement bill on yourself,

NEVER RUN YOUR FUEL TANK TO EMPTY!!

It NEEDS at least a few litres of clean fuel remaining in it ALL THE TIME it's running!! :lecturef_smilie:

Peter, you mean to tell me as old as you are you NEVER ran out of gas in your life? You are one lucky SOB!!:bowdown:

 

[Peter Aawen]

Peter, you mean to tell me as old as you are you NEVER ran out of gas in your life? You are one lucky SOB!!:bowdown:

No Mikey, I'm saying that I have run out of gas, more than once, only the last time I let that happen (& deliberately at that! ) I learnt the lesson not to ever run out of gas again the hard way! :yikes:

Cos I'd done it before & got away with it on older vehicles, I thought that surely I'd get away with doing it just once on one of these new style fuel injected engines, only instead of getting away with it, I learnt that even running a fuel injected engine dry JUST ONCE can be a very painfully expensive experience!! :shocked:

And I've seen since the irreversible damage that occurs even if you do think you got away with it; and the cumulative damage that will occur once that's happened, even if you are lucky enough to avoid (in the short term) the hard learned lesson that I got; so I try my hardest to make sure that no-one else does something as idiotic as what I did by deliberately running their gas tank dry; &/or has to pay the penalty for doing something so foolish as choosing to risk their expensive engine like that!! :banghead:

But I can only share what I learnt thru my foolishness... if you want to ignore that warning and damage your bike by running the gas tank dry deliberately, risking expensive damage in the process, then you just go right ahead! :banghead:

 

[Gwolf]

Running the tank dry may not have anything to do with the lack of gasoline for the fuel pump or the injectors. Fuel floats on water, any water in the fuel tank is in the very bottom of the tank where it will be sucked up as the tank goes completely (as possible) dry. Any trash that might have been collecting in the fuel tank over a long period of time will also likely be in the very bottom of the tank and it will be sucked up as the tank goes dry. What small amount of fuel that was left in the tank will be sloshing around in there and mixing with the water and trash to feed to your engine.

Just one more FYI ---- Do not ever fill your fuel tank at a service station where the tanker truck is pumping more fuel into the underground tanks. If you are wondering how the water and trash could get into your fuel tank, it could have been in the bulk tank and got stirred up by the fuel from a tanker truck unloading. If possible, it would be better to wait until the fuel has time to settle, or to just go to a different service station where they are not unloading a transport tanker.

 

[blackphoenix38]

There is no fix for the gas tank reading wrong. Can Am did not design a gas tank for the Ryker, they took another tank from another machine, turned it sideways and fit it into the frame.

Thats why it reads wrong and every single Ryker sold. You have to go by mileage.

 

[2dogs]

Yes! Never fuel up at a station while a tanker is filling the belowground tanks. And learn to run by the odometer and not the gas gauge. Some old school lessons are still applicable today. Always think ahead.

 

[DickB]

There is no fix for the gas tank reading wrong. Can Am did not design a gas tank for the Ryker, they took another tank from another machine, turned it sideways and fit it into the frame.

Thats why it reads wrong and every single Ryker sold. You have to go by mileage.

There is a fix for a stuck float.

The tank is unique to Rykers. It is an odd shape and due to the location of the float it has huge dead spots at the top and bottom of the tank, but does read inside the dead spots.

 

[OregonRyker]

I bought my Ryker last Thanksgiving and realized early on the fuel gauge was not accurate. I liked using the miles to empty feature, giving what I considered a more accurate idea on when to refuel. When the local dealer replaced my fuel pump assembly on factory recall, that feature stopped working reliably. At fillup it would read around 90, then after 30 or 40 miles jump to 110 or so, then just stay there. I brought it back to them, they say they called Cam Am support and were told to recalibrate the ECM. They did that, and the problem is still there. I've owned lots of motorcycles and am OK with using the trip meter to know when I'm low on fuel but it was a nice feature and I'll miss it. I guess I can just use the odo, but it's irritating that a feature I once used and appreciated is no longer working, especially after a recall done by the local shop. Maybe I'll pull the plastics off and see if they aligned the fuel pump assembly as shown in that photo above.

 

[blackphoenix38]

There is a fix for a stuck float.

The tank is unique to Rykers. It is an odd shape and due to the location of the float it has huge dead spots at the top and bottom of the tank, but does read inside the dead spots.

thats even worse if they really built it like that lol

 

[DickB]

Maybe I'll pull the plastics off and see if they aligned the fuel pump assembly as shown in that photo above.

That would be my guess based on what you described. I had to replace my fuel pump twice; the first time I did not get it right and it stuck on full.