Leaking from the overflows

Guys,
Just rebuilt the carbs on my '80 750ltd. It runs awesome, starts right up. But, after about a minute of sitting with the engine off, my 2 center carbs start to drip. it is a strange drip, not like any I have ever seen. they will drip for about 3 seconds, then stop for 10 seconds, then drip for 3, etc etc.

I have checked the emulsion tubes in the bowls for cracks: found none. Checked float height: I am probably closing the float needles too soon.

The only thought I have about it is that my float needles are not fully seating in the seats? I cleaned those vigorously last night, same result. I suppose it is possible that the opening in my seat has been "egged out". Anyone had any problems like this before? Anyone know of a fix for an egged out seat? I am thinking small oversized drill bit to make it round again. Thanks for the help in advance


Jason

the drill bit trick makes it worse. or it has in the past for me, use a piece of green 3m pad and a wood dowell
if the wear ring on the tip of the float needle is visible get new ones save yourself the time and hassle sanding is little help once they leak they are gone

I don't think there is enough pressure to egg the seat out

in cold weather the overflow tubes crack and leak its good that you checked that detail

If you park the bike, turn the gas off. If the petcock is vacuum type, it isn't functioning properly. It seems to be still flowing gas when the bike is parked. The most common reason for the drip as you indicated is a partial seal. The reason is that there is CRUD between the needle and seat. You can clean all you want but if crud is FLOWING IN FROM THE GAS TANK, even a small piece of crud can hold the needle from seating. Try using an inline filter. Also, adjust the float level in the event they are set too high.

Wired,
I have had a filter on the bike since I re-built last weekend. I have cleaned the seats vigorously with a q-tip on a drill and some carb cleaner.

I did some testing last night and it seems that if my carbs are not perfectly level, then they begin to drip. This leads me to believe that I have a float height issue. Can anyone tell me what my floats should be set at? Thanks for the help everyone!

Wired,
By the way, good point on the petcock. It has one of the annoying vacuum dealies, so it probably is not shutting off correctly. Do I need to rebuild, or does cleaning work?

You can get a petcock rebuild kit from these guys cheapest I have seen for the kit ( www.siriusconinc.com/default.asp ) K & L Parts/ Petcock repair kits without going to Ebay.

You could clean up the gaskets, but when I took the diaphragm apart it tore in pieces.

If you get the kit the big circle o-ring is actually used as a gasket between the petcock and tank. It isn't a formed gasket like original one but it does work.

Kit will probably be similar to my 1980 KZ650 LTD