Fuel Filter Causes No Start Condition -- Fuel Starvation!

I pushed my 900 home Sunday because it died and I couldn't figure it out.
It rolled to a stop like it was out of gas. But, the Fuel Filter was full of gas ...

So, I assumed ...

Today I got around to shaking this 900 out and figuring-out why it wouldn't start with ample Spark and a Fuel Filter full of Gas.

The answer ...
(Chorus)

The Fuel Filter was defective, One in a million? No. One from China.
The Paper element showed clean.

I thought it was the Petcock. I took off the line and ran it into a jug on Prime.
Then I took off the Fuel Filter and poured it out and Blew through it.
It didn't blow-out the gas.
It was clogged.
Not by any foreign matter ... but, by the adhesive they used to secure the paper element to the inside body.
When pressed together and sealed the adhesive clogged the exit tube.
No Fuel was getting OUT of the Filter down to the Fuel Bowls.

If I hadn't blown-out the Fuel Filter; I'd be half-way through checking the Floats for sticking.

I'm glad this story has a wake-up call for me, because checking the Fuel Filter by blowing through it was an old habit.
It saved me from pulling the Carbs and thinking I had messed-up the rebuilding of the Carbs after their recent Cleaning.

We've been preaching "Inline Filters" since the gas started to be in short supply and tanks were starting to deteriorate from the inside-out.

Before you install an Inline Filter ... "Blow through it."
Make sure its not defective.
A clean-looking filter full of gas encourages you to look elsewhere for the problem.
Don't be fooled. It might be one that slipped through Quality Control!

The 900 is running great.
Two or three more Plug Chops and I'll have it right where it needs to be!

 

I was told by a wise repairman always start with the easiest things to check and check thing two different ways. For example check a switch for continuity then see if you got voltage.

 

One thing rick...
Where was the filter bought?
What brand?
Model number or physical decription?


Paper filter was used, I am only familliar with the metal looking guy. Is there a diff to the performance of either?

 

The filter was a small, clear, paper element filter ... in a plactic, "Bubble Pack" bought off a shelf where they were hanging at my local AutoZone Store.

I second guessed myself.
I looked at the filter closely enough to determine the "Flow" direction.
Never thinking twice about it,, after just cleaning the Carbs, I plugged the filter in the gas line coming out of the Petcock to the Fuel Bowls.

Tonight, after examining the remains of the filter as closely as possible after destroying it in my vice ... It's Made in the USA!
It had numbers on it but I can't read them because I smeared them in the jaws of the vice.

I'll be off to AutoZone to look for one like it and get the number from it. In the mean time ... the Fram replacement is working just fine.

The filter was not Made in China.
It clearly showed Made in USA.

 

i tossed a cone shaped one with the plastic screen inside after i noticed the screen wobbled around inside, if the screen is loose how much could it filter ?

 

"i pushed my 900 home"
i know it ain't funny but would any of your neighbors have pictures they would be willing to sell ?

 

I imagine the image of me pushing that 900 about three-quarters of a mile would be a photograph you'd like to see.

I think I evaded the shutterbugs and paparazzi on that one. But, on a bad knee that had been "Scoped" not to much earlier ... it was an adventure not to re-injure the knee while pushing that load uphill.

I did ride it down the slopes and downhill part,, though.