TOPIC:

Both great ideas ! My $0.02 - I'd help the procedure by first filling the vent tube with.........Wait for it Kawboy !.......Lacquer-thinner. (with an appropriate length of hose on the vent-drain to get the fluid into a can - not all over the engine.) If and when you get some drainage you'll know the blockage is starting to clear and then some compressed air may do the job. Repeat a few times as needed. I posted something a few weeks ago with some pictures showing how a small dia. string can be blown through the tube and then attached to a pipe-clean. The pipe-cleaner will trap the debris and you can determine the nature of it. The string will pass through a partial? blockage, which is the advantage. If that didn't work then I'd introduce Your "Cable idea" and ream the shit out it ! (With an appropriate volume of lubricant !!!) Seize or break that cable inside the tube and no amount of Lacquer-thinner is going to cure that !

I had a blocked vent tube on one of my tanks so I threaded a piece of picture hanger wire down through the tube. After reaming it out I put a small amount of 99% ISO alcohol down the tube and blew it out with the compressor.

No luck, sprayed WD-40 both ways into tube, hit with compressed air, nothing coming out either end although I do think I did force some into the blockage which i'm pretty sure is rust, I tried the curtain hanger wire, cut the plastic cover off, tried getting it in and you could feel the roughness inside the tube, and it didn't want to go in too far, just past the first bends, even with lube, didn't want to try it with a drill connected as I had images of it jamming and snapping off, so I just kept putting wd in and then air again and again, maybe a while down the track it might loosen up, but for now it is how it is. Also thinking of the rust I was also imagining a pin hole or chunk of rust coming off and my fuel would leak out and down the drain hose, might check my spare tank and see if that one is clear, i'd use that tank but one of the side mounts (the metal bit) for the badges is broken in half, cheers Pete.

P.S. when I had the cap off I noticed one of the little "O" rings under the 2 screws for the cap is missing in action, other one is pretty flat and chewed up, anyone know what size they are so I can buy some ??, i'd measure the grooves but I've put the cap back on, thanks in advance