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XDiavel Fuel Sensor Fail

16390 Views 52 Replies 23 Participants Last post by  digidesigner
My fuel sensor just went out completely. It had started being flaky a few months ago. I had half a tank and it went empty. Filled it up and still empty. All the other times, it would reset with tank empty to a new fill up. Same thing happened on my Diavel at 9500mi. I have 16000mi on the X. Will contact dealer tomorrow.
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Mine started acting up before the riding season ended last year. At a full tank it would show empty. My Xdiavel is a 2017 model purchase in Feb 2018. Been using shell octane 91 since new and finally crapped out at 15K miles. Just replaced it in January. Cost me at the dealership about $275 CAD. Hardest part of the job was removing the gas from the tank. Purchase a siphon type hose from amazon for $20 CAD. What I have noticed with the original fuel sensor was I had to force it out as it was getting stuck close to the end when I was pulling it out. So it actually has expanded. Dealership wanted $140 for labor.


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would some sort of fuel cleaner/additive help? maybe a can of seafoam?
would some sort of fuel cleaner/additive help? maybe a can of seafoam?
Reading thru couple of these threads and looking at some posted videos I get an impression the problem has nothing to do with gas as the sensors do not get in contact with gas. I would assume it's either contact issue of the connector to the sensor (as some people have got their sensor back working just by reconnecting the connector or cleaning the contacts) or then it's the electrical part of the sensor that fails and my gut tells me the reason is the vibration this bike creates. Someone said HD's have similar issues and these vibrate a lot as well. As sensor in my bike is bad as well, I will start by checking just the connector to the sensor first. If cleaning and re-connecting that does not help then I will get a new sensor and then take the bad one apart to see if I can see the problem and if it's just the solder points failing (due to vibration is my guess) I will just properly re solder them and see if that fixes it.
Reading thru couple of these threads and looking at some posted videos I get an impression the problem has nothing to do with gas as the sensors do not get in contact with gas. I would assume it's either contact issue of the connector to the sensor (as some people have got their sensor back working just by reconnecting the connector or cleaning the contacts) or then it's the electrical part of the sensor that fails and my gut tells me the reason is the vibration this bike creates. Someone said HD's have similar issues and these vibrate a lot as well. As sensor in my bike is bad as well, I will start by checking just the connector to the sensor first. If cleaning and re-connecting that does not help then I will get a new sensor and then take the bad one apart to see if I can see the problem and if it's just the solder points failing (due to vibration is my guess) I will just properly re solder them and see if that fixes it.
Replying to myself as looking at yet another video I might have been wrong and it looks like gas actually does get inside half of the tube to move the float and then we might have possibly a problem that when we keep the bikes sitting steady over winter the ethanol in fact gets sticky in there and makes the float get stuck, maybe? Or maybe it's combo of all these possible issues. Checking out a faulty sensor should tell the story I guess.
Replying to myself as looking at yet another video I might have been wrong and it looks like gas actually does get inside half of the tube to move the float and then we might have possibly a problem that when we keep the bikes sitting steady over winter the ethanol in fact gets sticky in there and makes the float get stuck, maybe? Or maybe it's combo of all these possible issues. Checking out a faulty sensor should tell the story I guess.
Would be interested to hear if cleaning connection works for you.
Mine is still factory new after plug clean giving reduced fuel indication one block at a time. These sensors work on resistance and a poor connection would be read as low current...
Would be interested to hear if cleaning connection works for you.
Mine is still factory new after plug clean giving reduced fuel indication one block at a time. These sensors work on resistance and a poor connection would be read as low current...
Ok, in my case cleaning the first connector from the sensor to bike cabling with contact cleaner spray did not help. Looks like I need to remove the tank to get the sensor out to do the other steps to see, if the old sensor is actually fixable. Any advice how to drain and remove the tank would be much appreciated!
Ride the bike till mostly empty.
Then you can lift the tank and tilt it forward on its nose without emptying fully.
Ride the bike till mostly empty.
Then you can lift the tank and tilt it forward on its nose without emptying fully.
Do I need to unhook all the hoses and connectors to have it upright and what about the display part, it seems to be the first thing getting in the way when trying to get the tank upright, should it be removed first? Thanks!
Make sure you have the bike on a rear stand and keep the front wheel straight. If you have the handlebar slanted you’ll hit the bolt underneath the clutch reservoir and hit your tank. Don’t ask me how I know, lol. Once you take off the bolt you will need to lift the tank. A second set of hands will make the removal easier, if not. You can use a piece of 2x4 to lift the tank and unplug 2 wires and pull 2 hoses buried closest to the front. Make sure you don’t lose the clamps on the hoses. Take a pic or note to yourself where the hose plugs back where. Once your done you are able to lift the tank slightly and pull away from the front. Here is also a good video from Jaret when they did a brushed tank on his Xdiavel build so you have a better idea of the removal



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Ok so I got the tank off and sensor out. It was a bit tricky to get the fuel hose off so I will insert a pic for anyone trying to do this to show how the hose comes off of the fuel pump.

Long story short - I did not get my sensor to work.

It looked visually all good, float was not stuck and the float chamber did not have dirt in it or anything like that. Still I cleaned it out and put the sensor back together hoping for a miracle but no. I will get a new sensor from a dealership and if new one works fine then I will drill the bad one open to see if the circuit board was bad. At this point it has to be it as there is not much left. One thing I was a bit unsure of was the little gasket they have up and down that is supposed to keep the gas from the float chamber entering the circuit board side. It did not look too solid, I would not be surprised if gas actually gets to the circuit board and maybe that is the fault we are getting. Not sure if there is any way to test it but once I get the sensor open I will try to find any signs of gas on the circuit board. Oh and only now, after I have already put the bike back together I realised I could have tested the sensor on the bike without the gas and gas tank on just to see if it would have worked when dry. Oh well... at least now I know hot to tear it apart and I will be much faster next time.

Also a quick tutorial for those taking the tank off for the first time:

Drain the tank
Bike on rear stand, handlebar straight
Remove seat
Unscrew the only bolt holding the tank
Unhook the ground wire first on the left side
Measure and make a wood block with perfect height to give you as much space as possible to work below the tank. Insert the wood block to hold the tank higher.
Now unhook the fuel hose (look at the pic how to get it off - push the sides of part E, pull the part D, btw the pic from the manual is wrong as the tank is upside down but you get it)
Now unhook the fuel pump connector,
Now unhook the fuel sensor connector, it's a tricky little bastard, there is a little pin in there that should be moved "outward" at the same time pulling the connector apart
Now there are two hoses left that are located at the upper left side under the tank. Dont waste time trying to get these off from under the tank, there is too little room.
Remove the wood block, pull the tank slightly down, out of the top two sockets
Cover the left side of the bike frame upper part closest to the tank with something soft, turn handlebar to the right and move your tank's right side up and lean to the left, on the frame, hopefully on the soft material you did put there so you don't scratch the tank. This way you get to the two hoses more easily, once again, be careful not to scratch the tank and be careful looking how far the hoses let you lift the tank. Unhook them and you should have your tank off.

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Great write up. I'm sure this will help many.
Good luck with new sensor.
My sensor crapped out at about 23000KM. Been using shell premium 93 throughout the life of the bike. Also noticed during removal of the sensor, when I got to the top of the sensor it actually got stuck and had to yank it out. Seems like it had expanded. Aside from the maintenance light on the bike, I’m happy I have a fuel gauge again


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Just to update on my posts here, I got new sensor from the dealer. I took the old one out of the tank and tested it out-of-the-tank (dry) connected to the bike wiring harness and even out-of-the-tank it did not work. New sensor worked fine out-of-the-tank (dry) and also after being installed (wet). So without opening the old sensor I would make a conclusion the old sensor electrical part is most likely damaged. Most likely the circuit board has cracks and I would assume due to vibration. The new sensor cost me €156.- for this price I don't think it will make much sense to try to fix the old sensor as drilling out the screws, replacing the cable, finding the problem and fixing the circuit board and re-glueing it all back together all takes time and effort and I am not sure if it's worth the hassle. But doing the work of changing the sensor out was not hard, so if needed I will do it again and it did not take much time. As others have mentioned getting the gas out of tank was the most time consuming part of the work.
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